II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5128 

To designate phosphate and potash as critical minerals, to approve the use 

of phosphogypsum in government road projects, to amend the Food 

Security Act of 1985 to provide for the certification of certified crop 

advisors for conservation technical assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

Mr. MARSHALL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To designate phosphate and potash as critical minerals, to 

approve the use of phosphogypsum in government road 

projects, to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to 

provide for the certification of certified crop advisors 

for conservation technical assistance, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fertilizer Stewardship, 

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1 tion, and Nourishment Act’’ or the ‘‘Fertilizer SUSTAIN 

2 Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF PHOSPHATE AND POTASH AS 

4 CRITICAL MINERALS. 

5 (a) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 

7 shall— 

8 (1) designate potash and phosphates as critical 

9 minerals under section 7002(c)(4) of the Energy Act 

10 of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(4)); and 

11 (2) conduct an evaluation of other minerals nec12 essary for the production of fertilizer and other agri13 cultural products used to promote crop development 

14 for designation as critical minerals under that sec15 tion. 

16 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

18 the Interior shall— 

19 (1) evaluate any policies relating to permitting 

20 and leasing of projects to develop the minerals de21 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a); 

22 and 

23 (2) submit to the Committee on Energy and 

24 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 

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1 tives recommendations to support domestic produc2 tion of the minerals described in paragraphs (1) and 

3 (2) of subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 3. FEDERAL REGISTER AND NEPA PROCESS FOR 

5 PHOSPHATE AND POTASH EXPLORATION OR 

6 MINE PERMITS. 

7 (a) FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS.— 

8 (1) DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW.—Absent any ex9 traordinary circumstance, and except as otherwise 

10 required by law, the Secretary of the Interior and 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure that each 

12 Federal Register notice described in paragraph (2) 

13 shall be— 

14 (A) subject to any required reviews within 

15 the Department of the Interior or the Depart16 ment of Agriculture; and 

17 (B) published in final form in the Federal 

18 Register not later than 45 days after the date 

19 of initial preparation of the notice. 

20 (2) PREPARATION.—The preparation of Federal 

21 Register notices required by law associated with the 

22 issuance of a potash or phosphate exploration or 

23 mine permit shall be delegated to the organizational 

24 level within the Federal agency responsible for 


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1 issuing the potash or phosphate exploration or mine 

2 permit. 

3 (3) TRANSMISSION.—All Federal Register no4 tices relating to official document availability, an5 nouncements of meetings, or notices of intent to un6 dertake an activity described in paragraph (2) shall 

7 be originated in, and transmitted to the Federal 

8 Register from, the office in which, as applicable— 

9 (A) the documents or meetings are held; or 

10 (B) the activity is initiated. 

11 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS; RECORD OF DE12 CISION.— 

13 (1) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROJECT.—In 

14 this subsection, the term ‘‘covered project’’ means a 

15 project for the exploration or mining of potash or 

16 phosphate for which a Federal permit is required. 

17 (2) PREPARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCU18 MENT BY PROJECT SPONSORS AND QUALIFIED 3RD

19 PARTIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

20 law, the head of a Federal agency may, on request 

21 of a project sponsor for a covered project, authorize 

22 a qualified third party or the project sponsor for the 

23 covered project to prepare an environmental docu24 ment intended to be adopted by a Federal agency as 

25 the environmental impact statement, environmental 


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1 assessment, or other environmental document for a 

2 covered project. 

3 (3) DEADLINE FOR RECORD OF DECISION.— 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

5 record of decision for a covered project shall be com6 pleted by not later than 30 months after the date on 

7 which the proposal for the covered project was sub8 mitted. 

9 SEC. 4. APPROVAL OF USE OF PHOSPHOGYPSUM IN GOV10 ERNMENT ROAD PROJECTS. 

11 The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

12 Agency shall issue an approval of the use of 

13 phosphogypsum in government road projects that is iden14 tical to the approval described in the notice of the Envi15 ronmental Protection Agency entitled ‘‘Approval of the 

16 Request for Other Use of Phosphogypsum by the Fer17 tilizer Institute’’ (85 Fed. Reg. 66550 (October 20, 

18 2020)). 

19 SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION OF CERTIFIED CROP ADVISORS 

20 FOR CONSERVATION TECHNICAL ASSIST21 ANCE. 

22 Section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

23 U.S.C. 3842) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘an indi2 vidual certified crop advisor described in subsection 

3 (e)(6),’’ after ‘‘nonprofit entity,’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(6) CERTIFIED CROP ADVISORS.—An indi7 vidual possessing a current registration and creden8 tials as a certified crop advisor— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall be exempt from obtaining a cer10 tification under paragraph (4); and 

11 ‘‘(B) may provide assistance to an eligible 

12 participant with respect to conservation prac13 tices within the scope of the registration of the 

14 individual.’’. 

15 SEC. 6. INCREASED COST-SHARE PAYMENTS FOR PRECI16 SION AGRICULTURE AND NUTRIENT MAN17 AGEMENT UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 

18 INCENTIVES PROGRAM. 

19 Section 1240B(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

20 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)) is amended by adding at the end 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(8) INCREASED PAYMENTS FOR PRECISION AG23 RICULTURE AND NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT.—Not24 withstanding paragraph (2), the Secretary may in25 crease the amount that would otherwise be provided 


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1 for a practice under this subsection to not more than 

2 90 percent of the costs associated with— 

3 ‘‘(A) adopting precision agriculture or nu4 trient management practices; and 

5 ‘‘(B) acquiring precision agriculture or nu6 trient management equipment and technology.’’. 

7 SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY OF AGRICULTURE RETAILERS AS RE8 GIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PRO9 GRAM PARTNERS. 

10 Section 1271A(4) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

11 (16 U.S.C. 3871a(4)) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(K) An agriculture retailer.’’. 

14 SEC. 8. REVIEW OF CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARDS 

15 RELATING TO PLANT BIOSTIMULANTS. 

16 Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

17 (16 U.S.C. 3842(h)) is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(5) REVIEW RELATING TO PLANT BIOSTIMU20 LANTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF PLANT BIOSTIMU22 LANT.—In this paragraph, the term ‘plant bio23 stimulant’ means a substance, micro-organism, 

24 or mixture of a substance and a micro-orga25 nism, that, when applied to seeds, plants, the 


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1 rhizosphere, soil, or other growth media, acts to 

2 support the natural processes of a plant inde3 pendently of the nutrient content of that sub4 stance, micro-organism, or mixture, including 

5 by improving— 

6 ‘‘(i) nutrient availability; 

7 ‘‘(ii) uptake or use efficiency; 

8 ‘‘(iii) tolerance to abiotic stress; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) consequent growth, development, 

10 quality, or yield. 

11 ‘‘(B) REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

12 shall conduct a review of nutrient management 

13 practice standards to determine if plant bio14 stimulants should be approved for use in appro15 priate conservation practice standards.’’. 

Æ 


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