I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2656 

To enhance the ongoing profitability and viability of America’s farms, forests, 

and ranches by making conservation activities more cost-effective and 

efficient, by creating new revenue opportunities through biofuels, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2007 

Mr. MAHONEY of Florida (for himself and Mr. PUTNAM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in 

addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Science and 

Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To enhance the ongoing profitability and viability of America’s farms, forests, and ranches by making conservation 

activities more cost-effective and efficient, by creating 

new revenue opportunities through biofuels, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘American Farm Improvement Act of 2007’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—CONSERVATION 

Sec. 101. Farmland stewardship process. 

Sec. 102. Expansion of farmland protection tools and opportunities. 

TITLE II—RENEWABLE ENERGY 

Sec. 201. Consistent definitions of ‘‘biomass’’, ‘‘renewable biomass’’, ‘‘cellulosic 

biomass’’, ‘‘cellulosic biomass ethanol’’, ‘‘cellulosic feedstock’’, 

and ‘‘lignocellulosic feedstock’’ throughout the laws of the 

United States. 

Sec. 202. Cellulosic biofuel and emerging technology loan guarantee program. 

Sec. 203. Animal waste environmental protection and bioenergy production 

grants and loans. 

Sec. 204. Biomass feedstock commercialization initiative. 

3 TITLE I—CONSERVATION 

4 SEC. 101. FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP PROCESS. 

5 (a) PARTNERSHIPS AND COOPERATION.—Section 

6 1243(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

7 3843(f)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

9 following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use re11 sources provided under subtitle D to enter into stew12 ardship agreements with owners, operators and pro13 ducers, as described under section 1240Q, and to 

14 designate special projects, as recommended by the 

15 State Conservationist, after consultation with the 

16 State technical committee, to enhance technical and 

17 financial assistance provided to owners, operators, 


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1 and producers to address natural resource issues re2 lated to agricultural production.’’; 

3 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

4 following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) INCENTIVES.—To realize the purposes of 

6 the special projects under paragraph (1), and con7 sistent with section 1240Q, the Secretary shall pro8 vide special incentives to owners, operators, and pro9 ducers participating in the special projects to en10 courage partnerships and enrollments of optimal 

11 conservation value.’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ‘‘may’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘shall’’ and by inserting ‘‘in cooperation’’ 

14 after ‘‘stewardship agreement’’; and 

15 (4) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ‘‘Each 

16 party to’’ and inserting ‘‘The designated State agen17 cy responsible for’’ and by striking ‘‘by the party’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘under a stewardship agreement’’. 

19 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES OF THE FARM20 LAND STEWARDSHIP PROCESS.—Subtitle D of title XII 

21 of the Food Security Act of 1985 is amended by inserting 

22 after section 1240P (16 U.S.C. 3839bb–3) the following 

23 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1240Q. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES OF THE 

2 FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP PROCESS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

4 within the Department a process to be known as the 

5 ‘Farmland Stewardship Process’. 

6 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this process shall 

7 be to— 

8 ‘‘(1) ensure adequate flexibility to enable con9 servation programs administered by the Secretary to 

10 be responsive to local conditions and tailored to the 

11 site-specific needs of, and opportunities presented 

12 by, individual parcels of eligible agricultural land; 

13 ‘‘(2) reduce administrative procedures and 

14 costs, provide simplified conservation and expand 

15 conservation opportunities by allowing owners, oper16 ators and producers to carry out multiple conserva17 tion activities through one application and one con18 tract; 

19 ‘‘(3) provide a means through which the con20 servation objectives of multiple programs, adminis21 tered by multiple agencies at multiple levels of gov22 ernment can be more easily coordinated and applied 

23 to individual parcels of property; and 

24 ‘‘(4) maximize the effectiveness of existing pro25 grams by providing a mechanism through which con26 servation objectives and practices that are needed to 


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1 supplement, complement or optimize one or more ex2 isting programs can be incorporated into a contract 

3 with an owner, operator or producer. 

4 ‘‘(c) RELATION TO OTHER CONSERVATION PRO5 GRAMS.—Under this process, the Secretary may imple6 ment, or combine together, the features of— 

7 ‘‘(1) any conservation program administered by 

8 the Secretary; or 

9 ‘‘(2) Any conservation program administered by 

10 another Federal agency or a State or local govern11 ment, if implementation by the Secretary— 

12 ‘‘(A) is feasible; and 

13 ‘‘(B) is carried out with the consent of the 

14 applicable administering agency or government. 

15 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This process and the stew17 ardship agreements created by this process shall be 

18 funded by the Secretary using— 

19 ‘‘(A) the funding authorities of the con20 servation programs that are implemented 

21 through the use of stewardship agreements; 

22 ‘‘(B) technical assistance in accordance 

23 with section 1243(d); 


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1 ‘‘(C) funds from the Commodity Credit 

2 Corporation as provided in paragraph (3) of 

3 this subsection; and 

4 ‘‘(D) such other sums as may be appro5 priated from time to time to carry out the 

6 Farmland Stewardship Process. 

7 ‘‘(2) COST SHARING.—It shall be a requirement 

8 of the Farmland Stewardship Process that funds 

9 that come from Federal conservation programs that 

10 are combined into and made a part of a stewardship 

11 agreement must be matched equally with funding or 

12 cost share contributions that may be made by State, 

13 regional, or local agencies and divisions of govern14 ment or from private funding sources. Funds from 

15 existing programs shall be used to carry out the pur16 poses of those programs that are made a part of a 

17 stewardship agreement. Funding for other purposes 

18 must come from the funds provided under subpara19 graphs (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1), para20 graph (3), or from the funding contributions made 

21 by State, regional, or local agencies and divisions of 

22 government or from private funding sources. 

23 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION.—Of 

24 the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation the 

25 Secretary shall use $200,000,000 for each of the fisVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:14 Jun 20, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2656.IH H2656

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1 cal years 2008 through 2012 to establish the Farm2 land Stewardship Process and to operate it through 

3 the ‘designated state agency’ selected by each 

4 State’s governor, as provided in subsection (e). 

5 ‘‘(4) CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.—The funds pro6 vided in paragraph (3) shall remain available until 

7 expended. 

8 ‘‘(e) PERSONNEL COSTS.—The Secretary shall use 

9 the Natural Resources Conservation Service to carry out 

10 the Farmland Stewardship Process in cooperation with the 

11 State department of agriculture or other designated agen12 cy within the State. The role of the Natural Resources 

13 Conservation Service shall be limited to federal oversight 

14 of the process. The Natural Resources Conservation Serv15 ice shall perform its normal functions with respect to the 

16 conservation programs that it administers. However, it 

17 shall play no role in the assembly of programs adminis18 tered by other federal agencies into stewardship agree19 ments. 

20 ‘‘(f) STATE LEVEL ADMINISTRATION.—The governor 

21 of each state shall determine which state agency shall have 

22 primary responsibility for operating the Farmland Stew23 ardship Process. The governor shall give first preference 

24 to the state department of agriculture in selecting an 

25 agency for operation of the process. A State department 


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1 of agriculture, or other agency designated by the governor, 

2 may choose to operate the process on its own, or may col3 laborate with another local, State or Federal agency, con4 servation district or tribe. The designated State agency 

5 shall consult with the agencies with management authority 

6 and responsibility for the resources affected on properties 

7 on which stewardship agreements are negotiated and as8 sembled. 

9 ‘‘(g) AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 

10 shall carry out the Farmland Stewardship Process by en11 tering into service contracts as determined by the Sec12 retary, to be known as stewardship agreements, with own13 ers, operators and producers to maintain and protect the 

14 natural and agricultural resources on the land. 

15 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—The term ‘service contract’ 

16 means a legally binding agreement between 2 parties 

17 under which— 

18 ‘‘(1) one party agrees to render one or more 

19 services in accordance with the terms of the con20 tract; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the second party agrees to pay the first 

22 party for each service rendered. 

23 ‘‘(i) FUNDING PARTICIPATION.—Any agency partici24 pating in the Farmland Stewardship Process that has the 

25 authority to enter into service contracts and to expend 


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1 public funds under such contracts may enter into or par2 ticipate in the funding of a stewardship agreement. 

3 ‘‘(j) NO INCOME LIMITATIONS.—To avoid conflicts 

4 and ensure that all the purposes and intents of steward5 ship agreements can be carried out, all owners, operators 

6 and producers who enter into or participate in a steward7 ship agreement shall be exempt from the limitations in 

8 section 1001D(b)(2)(C) of this Act (7 U.S.C. 1308– 

9 3a(b)(2)(C)). 

10 ‘‘(k) ADJUSTMENTS IN CONSERVATION PROGRAM

11 ELEMENTS TO RESPOND TO LOCAL CONDITIONS.—(1) 

12 The Secretary shall consider requests from a State Con13 servationist of the Natural Resources Conservation Serv14 ice, a state Executive Director of the Farm Services Agen15 cy, a designated state agency, or a contracting agency au16 thorized by the Secretary to enter into and administer 

17 stewardship agreements to make limited adjustments on 

18 a case-by-case basis to the eligibility criteria, approved 

19 practices, requirements, and other elements of the con20 servation programs combined into a stewardship agree21 ment. Adjustments may be made to ensure that— 

22 ‘‘(A) the conservation programs combined into 

23 a stewardship agreement can be more easily imple24 mented in the State; 


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1 ‘‘(B) all program elements are responsive to re2 gional differences and local conditions within the 

3 State; 

4 ‘‘(C) no program requirement or criteria con5 flicts with or works against the conservation prior6 ities or needs of the State; and 

7 ‘‘(D) no program requirement or criteria pre8 vents one or more programs from being combined 

9 together through a stewardship agreement. 

10 ‘‘(2) Requests for adjustments shall be granted for 

11 one or more of the following purposes: 

12 ‘‘(A) To acknowledge, accommodate and re13 spond to regional differences and local conditions 

14 within the State. 

15 ‘‘(B) To allow sufficient flexibility to enable a 

16 conservation program to better adapt to the diverse 

17 situations faced by owners and operators within the 

18 state, and adapt to the farming practices of the 

19 State. 

20 ‘‘(C) To allow sufficient flexibility to tailor a 

21 conservation program to the specific needs, opportu22 nities and challenges offered by individual parcels of 

23 land. 

24 ‘‘(D) To modify administrative requirements 

25 that, in the absence of such modification, may limit 


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1 or prevent the use of a program on eligible agricul2 tural land. 

3 ‘‘(E) To allow owners and operators to receive 

4 compensation for maintaining previously imple5 mented owner- or operator-financed conservation 

6 practices and to receive credit for incorporating 

7 these practices into new contracts. 

8 ‘‘(F) To address the conservation priorities es9 tablished by the State or locality in which the eligi10 ble agricultural land is located. 

11 ‘‘(G) To modify administrative requirements 

12 that, in the absence of such modification, may pre13 vent one or more programs from being combined to14 gether through a stewardship agreement. 

15 ‘‘(3) Requests for adjustments also can be made that 

16 will facilitate the coordination and administration of con17 servation programs in the State, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) establishing different enrollment criteria 

19 than otherwise established by regulation or policy; 

20 ‘‘(B) establishing different compensation rates 

21 to the extent the parties to the agreement consider 

22 justified; 

23 ‘‘(C) establishing different conservation practice 

24 criteria if doing so will achieve greater conservation 

25 benefits; 


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1 ‘‘(D) providing more streamlined and integrated 

2 paperwork requirements; 

3 ‘‘(E) providing for the transfer of conservation 

4 program funds to States with flexible incentives ac5 counts; and 

6 ‘‘(F) providing funds for an adaptive manage7 ment process to monitor the effectiveness of the pro8 gram for the protection of natural resources, eco9 nomic effectiveness, and sustaining the agricultural 

10 economy. 

11 ‘‘(4) Adjustments may be made only if the purposes 

12 to be achieved by the program after the adjustments are 

13 made remain consistent with the purposes for which the 

14 program was established. 

15 ‘‘(5) For a request for an adjustment to be consid16 ered, a State conservationist, state executive director, des17 ignated State agency or contracting agency must submit 

18 a request for an adjustment to the appropriate Federal 

19 official. The official may request documentation in addi20 tion to the documentation required by paragraph (6), or 

21 may suggest alternative methods of making adjustments 

22 on the property in question, prior to deciding whether or 

23 not to grant a request for an adjustment. The response 

24 shall be provided within 180 days after receipt of the re25 quest. 


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1 ‘‘(6) A request under paragraph (5) shall— 

2 ‘‘(A) explain why a subject property, owner or 

3 operator or activity qualifies for participation in the 

4 program; 

5 ‘‘(B) explain the programmatic or conservation 

6 benefits represented; 

7 ‘‘(C) describe the requested resources and ad8 justments to program implementation (including a 

9 description of how those adjustments will accelerate 

10 the achievement of conservation benefits); 

11 ‘‘(D) describe the contribution those adjust12 ments will make to the effectiveness of programs in 

13 achieving their purposes, in addressing state con14 servation priorities or needs, and in responding to 

15 local conditions; 

16 ‘‘(E) describe the non-Federal programs and re17 sources that will be available to contribute to the 

18 proposed project or activity; and 

19 ‘‘(F) request that the official grant the adjust20 ment, based on the documentation submitted. 

21 ‘‘(l) APPLICATION AND APPROVAL PROCESS.—To 

22 participate in the Farmland Stewardship Process, an 

23 owner, operator or producer on eligible agricultural land 

24 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) submit to the Secretary an application in2 dicating interest in the process and describing the 

3 owner’s or operators property, its resources, and 

4 their ecological and agricultural values; 

5 ‘‘(2) submit to the Secretary the purpose and 

6 objectives of the proposed agreement and a list of 

7 services to be provided, or a management plan to be 

8 implemented, or both; 

9 ‘‘(3) if the application and list are accepted by 

10 the Secretary, enter into an agreement that details 

11 the purpose and objectives of the agreement and the 

12 services to be provided, or management plan to be 

13 implemented, or both, and requires compliance with 

14 the other terms of the agreement. 

15 ‘‘(m) PRIMARY PROGRAM.—In applying to partici16 pate in the Farmland Stewardship Process, an applicant 

17 must designate one of the programs in this subtitle, such 

18 as the conservation security program, environmental qual19 ity incentives program, conservation reserve program, or 

20 the farmland protection program, as the ‘primary pro21 gram’, upon which a stewardship agreement will be based 

22 and around which conservation practices will be negotiated 

23 and implemented. 

24 ‘‘(n) EFFECTIVE USE OF FEDERAL RESOURCES.— 

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1 uitably and effectively distributed through the use of stew2 ardship agreements by taking local conditions, local farm3 ing practices and local costs of production into consider4 ation and by allocating resources based on— 

5 ‘‘(1) the merits of the activities to be carried 

6 out; 

7 ‘‘(2) the benefits to be derived from the prac8 tices to be installed, the services to be provided, or 

9 the management plan to be implemented under a 

10 stewardship agreement; and 

11 ‘‘(3) the opportunities that exist to advance 

12 conservation objectives in a watershed, region or pri13 ority area for a State. 

14 ‘‘(o) EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF PRODUCERS.—The 

15 Secretary shall ensure that all rules, criteria and defini16 tions used to determine eligibility for participation by own17 ers, operators and producers in the conservation, cost18 share, incentive payment, marketing assistance, grant and 

19 loan guarantee programs administered by the Secretary 

20 that may be combined into a stewardship agreement are 

21 as inclusive as possible and extend opportunities to partici22 pate to as many owners, operators and producers as pos23 sible. In particular, the Secretary shall ensure that— 

24 ‘‘(1) all owners, operators and producers that 

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1 ricultural operations and consistently derive an on2 going and substantial portion of their revenues from 

3 agriculture and agriculturally-related enterprises 

4 shall be eligible to participate in the programs ad5 ministered by the Secretary that are combined into 

6 a stewardship agreement; 

7 ‘‘(2) no producer shall be prevented from par8 ticipating in these programs, nor be declared ineli9 gible for participation under the Department’s No10 tice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) defini11 tions, if said producer is a publicly-held company, 

12 nor if said producer should derive income and reve13 nues from an integrated agricultural operation, busi14 ness activities unrelated to agriculture or as a result 

15 of land sales that make the revenues derived from 

16 agricultural production less than 50 percent of its 

17 earnings in any one year. 

18 ‘‘(p) INCREASED PARTICIPATION BY LARGE OWN19 ERS, OPERATORS AND PRODUCERS.—The Secretary shall 

20 recognize that individuals, companies and corporations 

21 that own and operate large land holdings that are devoted 

22 primarily to agricultural uses can have a positive impact 

23 on advancing the objectives of the Department’s conserva24 tion programs. The Secretary shall ensure that the criteria 

25 and procedures used for determining eligibility and evaluVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:14 Jun 20, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2656.IH H2656

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1 ating applications shall encourage participation by individ2 uals, companies and corporations, including publicly held 

3 corporations, with large land holdings devoted primarily 

4 to agricultural uses, particularly when their participation 

5 can make a significant contribution toward effectively and 

6 comprehensively addressing national, State, and local con7 servation priorities.’’. 

8 (c) FUNDING.—Subsection (a) of section 1241 of the 

9 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(8) The Farmland Stewardship Process under 

12 section 1240Q, using, to the maximum extent prac13 ticable, $200,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

14 2008 through 2012.’’. 

15 SEC. 102. EXPANSION OF FARMLAND PROTECTION TOOLS 

16 AND OPPORTUNITIES. 

17 Subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 

18 1985 is amended by adding after section 1238J (16 

19 U.S.C. 3838j) the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 1238K. RURAL LAND STEWARDSHIP IMPLEMENTA21 TION GRANTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall establish a proc23 ess to make rural land stewardship implementation grants 

24 of up to $500,000 per county available from the funds 


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1 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the Farmland 

2 Protection Program. 

3 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE AND USE.—The Secretary shall direct 

4 that these funds are to be spent in assisting the existing 

5 easement process, but that, notwithstanding any language 

6 to the contrary, special consideration shall be provided to 

7 establishing one or more rural land stewardship implemen8 tation programs in participating States by allowing these 

9 funds to be used for rural community planning and for 

10 developing and implementing comprehensive strategies for 

11 rural land preservation and the ongoing continued viability 

12 of agriculture, not just for the purchase of easements from 

13 individual owners, in order to define a process that will 

14 allow future appropriations from the Farmland Protection 

15 Program to be leveraged many times over to multiply their 

16 intended impact. 

17 ‘‘(c) STRATEGIES; MODEL.—Rural community plan18 ning and the development of comprehensive rural land 

19 stewardship strategies shall be accomplished through a 

20 science based, stakeholder generated rural planning 

21 framework that takes market forces into consideration and 

22 may use as a model the procedures that have been devel23 oped and successfully implemented in the State of Florida 

24 under chapter 163.3177(11)(d), Florida Statutes. 


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1 ‘‘(d) RELATION TO OTHER CONSERVATION AUTHORI2 TIES.—Eligible producers shall be required to specifically 

3 elect to pursue a rural lands stewardship implementation 

4 grant in lieu of using the same amount of funding for the 

5 purchase of easements from individual owners. Eligible 

6 producers must state that they understand that the use 

7 of farmland protection program funds for a rural lands 

8 stewardship implementation grant— 

9 ‘‘(1) shall not preclude any eligible producer 

10 within a Rural Lands Stewardship Area from apply11 ing for and receiving funds for the purchase of ease12 ments under the Farmland Protection Program, but 

13 ‘‘(2) will reduce the amount of funding avail14 able to the State for the purchase of easements 

15 through the Farmland Protection Program by an 

16 amount equal to the grant.’’. 

17 TITLE II—RENEWABLE ENERGY 

18 SEC. 201. CONSISTENT DEFINITIONS OF ‘‘BIOMASS’’, ‘‘RE19 NEWABLE BIOMASS’’, ‘‘CELLULOSIC BIO20 MASS’’, ‘‘CELLULOSIC BIOMASS ETHANOL’’, 

21 ‘‘CELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCK’’, AND 

22 ‘‘LIGNOCELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCK’’ THROUGH23 OUT THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

24 (a) ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005.— 


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1 (1) Subsection (a) of section 932 of the Energy 

2 Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) is amended 

3 by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting: 

4 ‘‘(1) BIOMASS.—The term ‘biomass’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) any organic material that is available 

6 on a renewable or recurring basis; 

7 ‘‘(B) any organic material grown or col8 lected for the purpose of being converted to en9 ergy (including aquatic plants); 

10 ‘‘(C) any organic byproduct of agriculture 

11 and forestry (including wastes from food pro12 duction and processing, used vegetable oil, mill 

13 residues, and storm-, insect- and diseased-dam14 aged crops and trees) that can be converted 

15 into energy; or 

16 ‘‘(D) any waste material that can be con17 verted to energy and is derived from: 

18 ‘‘(i) vegetative waste material (includ19 ing wood waste and wood residues); 

20 ‘‘(ii) invasive plants; 

21 ‘‘(iii) fibers; 

22 ‘‘(iv) animal waste and byproducts 

23 (including fats, oils, greases, offal, meth24 ane gas, and manure); 

25 ‘‘(v) non-recyclable paper; and 


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1 ‘‘(vi) municipal solid waste (including 

2 sludges and oils derived from wastewater 

3 and the treatment of wastewater). 

4 ‘‘(2) LIGNOCELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCK.—The 

5 terms ‘lignocellulosic feedstock’ and ‘cellulosic feed6 stock’ mean any portion of a plant or plant byprod7 uct from conversion that is available on a renewable 

8 or recurring basis, and is not grown for food or feed, 

9 including the nonfood, non-feed portions of crops, 

10 trees, forest residues, and agricultural residues, as 

11 well as any part of a storm-, insect- or disease-dam12 aged food, feed or tree crop.’’. 

13 (2) Paragraph (2) of subsection (c) of section 

14 932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 

15 109–58) is amended by adding the words ‘‘gasifi16 cation and’’ before the words ‘‘enzymatic-based proc17 essing systems’’. 

18 (b) BIOMASS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF

19 2000.—Section 303 of the Biomass Research and Devel20 opment Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–224; 7 U.S.C. 8101 

21 note) is amended by striking paragraph (4) and inserting 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) BIOMASS.—The term ‘biomass’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) any organic material that is available 

25 on a renewable or recurring basis; 


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1 ‘‘(B) any organic material grown or col2 lected for the purpose of being converted to en3 ergy (including aquatic plants); 

4 ‘‘(C) any organic byproduct of agriculture 

5 and forestry (including wastes from food pro6 duction and processing, used vegetable oil, mill 

7 residues, and storm-, insect- and diseased-dam8 aged crops and trees) that can be converted 

9 into energy; or 

10 ‘‘(D) any waste material that can be con11 verted to energy.’’. 

12 (c) CLEAN AIR ACT.— 

13 (1) So much of section 211(o) of the Clean Air 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 7545(o)) as precedes subparagraph 

15 (C) of paragraph (1) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(o) RENEWABLE FUEL PROGRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(A) CELLULOSIC BIOMASS ETHANOL.— 

19 The term ‘cellulosic biomass ethanol’ means 

20 ethanol, or any other alcohol- or oxygenate21 based fuel and related co-product derived di22 rectly from any lignocellulosic or hemicellulosic 

23 matter that is available on a renewable or re24 curring basis, and is not grown for food or feed, 

25 including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any plant material grown or col2 lected for the purpose of being converted to 

3 energy (including aquatic plants); 

4 ‘‘(ii) any organic byproduct or residue 

5 from agriculture and forestry (including 

6 wastes from food production and proc7 essing, used vegetable oil, mill residues, 

8 and storm-, insect- and diseased-damaged 

9 crops and trees) that can be converted into 

10 energy; or 

11 ‘‘(iii) Any waste material that can be 

12 converted to energy and is derived from— 

13 ‘‘(I) vegetative waste material 

14 (including wood waste and wood resi15 dues); 

16 ‘‘(II) invasive plants; 

17 ‘‘(III) fibers; 

18 ‘‘(IV) animal waste and byprod19 ucts; 

20 ‘‘(V) non-recyclable paper; and 

21 ‘‘(VI) municipal solid waste. 

22 ‘‘(B) WASTE DERIVED ETHANOL.—The 

23 term ‘waste derived ethanol’ means ethanol, or 

24 any other alcohol- or oxygenate-based fuel and 

25 related co-product derived from— 


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1 ‘‘(i) animal waste and byproducts, in2 cluding fats, oils, greases, offal, methane 

3 gas, and manure; 

4 ‘‘(ii) municipal solid waste, including 

5 sludges and oils derived from wastewater 

6 and the treatment of wastewater; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) other waste materials.’’. 

8 (2) Section 211(r)(4)(B) of the Clean Air Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 7545(r)) is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(B) The term ‘renewable biomass’ means 

11 any organic material that is available on a re12 newable or recurring basis. 

13 ‘‘(i) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘renew14 able biomass’ includes— 

15 ‘‘(I) any renewable plant material 

16 that can be grown or collected for the 

17 purpose of being converted to energy 

18 (including aquatic plants, but not in19 cluding those portions of a plant 

20 grown for food or feed); 

21 ‘‘(II) any organic byproduct or 

22 residue from agriculture and forestry 

23 (including wastes from food produc24 tion and processing, used vegetable 

25 oil, mill residues, and storm-, insectVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:14 Jun 20, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2656.IH H2656

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1 and diseased-damaged crops and 

2 trees) that can be converted into en3 ergy; or 

4 ‘‘(III) Any waste material that 

5 can be converted to energy and is de6 rived from— 

7 ‘‘(aa) vegetative waste mate8 rial (including wood waste and 

9 wood residues); 

10 ‘‘(bb) invasive plants; 

11 ‘‘(cc) fibers; 

12 ‘‘(dd) animal waste and by13 products (including fats, oils, 

14 greases, offal, methane gas, and 

15 manure); 

16 ‘‘(ee) non-recyclable paper; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ff) municipal solid waste 

19 (including sludges and oils de20 rived from wastewater and the 

21 treatment of wastewater). 

22 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘renew23 able biomass’ does not include old-growth 

24 timber of a forest from the late succes25 sional stage of forest development, but 


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1 does include storm-, insect- or disease2 damaged trees that can be removed with3 out damage to the forest.’’. 

4 (d) ENERGY TITLE DEFINITIONS OF THE FARM SE5 CURITY AND RURAL INVESTMENT ACT OF 2002.—Section 

6 9001 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

7 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (3), to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(3) BIOMASS.—The term ‘biomass’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) any organic material that is available 

11 on a renewable or recurring basis; 

12 ‘‘(B) any organic material grown or col13 lected for the purpose of being converted to en14 ergy (including aquatic plants); 

15 ‘‘(C) any organic byproduct of agriculture 

16 and forestry (including wastes from food pro17 duction and processing, used vegetable oil, mill 

18 residues, and storm-damaged, insect-damaged, 

19 and diseased-damaged crops and trees) that can 

20 be converted into energy; or 

21 ‘‘(D) any waste material that can be con22 verted to energy and is derived from— 

23 ‘‘(i) vegetative waste material (includ24 ing wood waste and wood residues); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) invasive plants (including aquatic 

2 plants); 

3 ‘‘(iii) fibers; 

4 ‘‘(iv) animal waste and byproducts 

5 (including fats, oils, greases, offal, meth6 ane gas, and manure); 

7 ‘‘(v) non-recyclable paper; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) municipal solid waste (including 

9 sludges and oils derived from wastewater 

10 and the treatment of wastewater).’’; 

11 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

12 (6) as paragraphs (5) through (7); and 

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol14 lowing new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(4) CELLULOSIC BIOMASS, CELLULOSIC FEED16 STOCK, LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS AND

17 LIGNOCELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCK.—The terms ‘cel18 lulosic biomass’, ‘cellulosic feedstock’, ‘lignocellulosic 

19 biomass’ and ‘lignocellulosic feedstock’ all shall be 

20 considered equivalent terms and shall mean any por21 tion of a plant or plant byproduct from conversion 

22 that is available on a renewable or recurring basis, 

23 and is not grown for food or feed, including the non24 food, non-feed portions of crops, trees, forest resi25 dues, and agricultural residues, as well as any part 


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1 of a storm-damaged, insect-damaged, or disease2 damaged food, feed, or tree crop.’’. 

3 (e) EXECUTIVE ORDER 13134.—In carrying out sec4 tion 7 of Executive Order 13134 (7 U.S.C. 8601 note) 

5 the following modifications shall apply to the specified pro6 visions of such Executive Order: 

7 (1) In lieu of subsection (a), the following shall 

8 apply: 

9 ‘‘(a) The term ‘biomass’ means any organic matter 

10 that is available on a renewable or recurring basis. 

11 ‘‘(1) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘biomass’ in12 cludes— 

13 ‘‘(A) any organic material grown or col14 lected for the purpose of being converted to en15 ergy (including aquatic plants); 

16 ‘‘(B) any organic byproduct of agriculture 

17 and forestry (including wastes from food pro18 duction and processing, used vegetable oil, mill 

19 residues, and storm-, insect- and diseased-dam20 aged crops and trees) that can be converted 

21 into energy; or 

22 ‘‘(C) any waste material that can be con23 verted to energy; 

24 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘biomass’ does 

25 not include old-growth timber of a forest from the 


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1 late successional stage of forest development, but 

2 does include storm-, insect- or disease-damaged trees 

3 that can be removed without damage to the forest.’’. 

4 (2) The following sentence shall be treated as 

5 included at the end of subsection (d): ‘‘Storm-dam6 aged, insect-damaged, and disease-damaged trees 

7 are excluded from the limitation on their use for bio8 mass.’’. 

9 (f) BIOENERGY PROGRAM OF THE FARM SECURITY

10 AND RURAL INVESTMENT ACT OF 2002.—Section 

11 9010(a) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

12 of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8108(a)) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

15 ‘‘and’’; and 

16 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

17 (i) by striking the period at the end 

18 and inserting a semicolon; and 

19 (ii) by adding the following new sub20 paragraphs: 

21 ‘‘(C) butanol; and 

22 ‘‘(D) other similar oxygenates.’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (3), by amending subpara24 graph (B) to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) any cellulosic feedstock or commodity 

2 (including crop residues, agriculture and food 

3 processing wastes, vegetative and wood wastes 

4 and residues, invasive plants, and other plant 

5 materials that can be used for energy produc6 tion such as hybrid poplar and switch grass).’’. 

7 (g) TECHNOLOGIES USING AGRICULTURAL CROPS, 

8 BYPRODUCTS AND RESIDUES TO PRODUCE CELLULOSIC

9 ETHANOL AND OTHER BIOFUELS.— 

10 (1) Subsections (a) and (b) and paragraphs (1) 

11 and (3) of subsection (d) of section 417 of the En12 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) are 

13 each amended by striking ‘‘Fischer-Tropsch trans14 portation fuels’’ and inserting ‘‘transportation fuels 

15 derived from any coal to liquid process that is envi16 ronmentally compatible.’’. 

17 (2) Subsection (c) of section 417 of the Energy 

18 Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) is amended 

19 by— 

20 (A) striking ‘‘Fischer-Tropsch transpor21 tation fuel’’; and 

22 (B) striking the period at the end of the 

23 sentence and inserting a comma and the fol24 lowing ‘‘derived from any coal to liquid process 

25 that is environmentally compatible.’’. 


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1 (3) Clause (ii) of subparagraph (D) of para2 graph (1) of subsection (c) of section 1703 of the 

3 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘the Fischer-Tropsch process’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘any coal to liquid process that is en6 vironmentally compatible.’’. 

7 SEC. 202. CELLULOSIC BIOFUEL AND EMERGING TECH8 NOLOGY LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM. 

9 Section 310B(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

10 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)) is amended by add11 ing at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(9) EMERGING TECHNOLOGY LOAN GUARAN13 TEES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

15 guarantee loans made by private institutions for 

16 the construction of facilities to use established, 

17 new, or emerging technologies to process and 

18 convert cellulosic biomass materials directly into 

19 alcohol-based fuels, bio-fuels, or other commer20 cial products. 

21 ‘‘(B) APPLICANT ASSURANCES.—An appli22 cation for a loan guarantee under this section 

23 shall include assurances, satisfactory to the 

24 Secretary, that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the project design has been vali2 dated through the operation of a pilot fa3 cility which can be reasonably scaled up to 

4 commercial size; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the project has been subject to a 

6 full technical review; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the project is covered by ade8 quate project performance guarantees (ex9 cluding process performance guarantees on 

10 new or emerging technologies); 

11 ‘‘(iv) the project, with the loan guar12 antee, is economically viable; and 

13 ‘‘(v) there is a reasonable assurance of 

14 repayment of the guaranteed loan. 

15 ‘‘(C) COST-SHARING.—An application for a 

16 loan guarantee under this paragraph shall in17 clude binding commitments to cover, from 

18 sources other than Federal grants, at least 20 

19 percent of the total cost of the project described 

20 in the application. 

21 ‘‘(D) PREFERENCES.—In making loan 

22 guarantees under this paragraph, the Secretary 

23 shall give preference to applications which con24 tain proposals that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) meet all applicable Federal and 

2 State permitting requirements; 

3 ‘‘(ii) are most likely to be successful; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(iii) are located in local markets that 

6 have the greatest need for the facility be7 cause of— 

8 ‘‘(I) the availability on a renew9 able basis of sufficient quantities of 

10 cellulosic biomass; 

11 ‘‘(II) opportunities to provide 

12 jobs and promote economic develop13 ment in rural areas; 

14 ‘‘(III) opportunities to expand 

15 markets for agricultural producers 

16 near the facility; 

17 ‘‘(IV) opportunities to dispose of 

18 cellulosic-based waste material or de19 bris; or 

20 ‘‘(V) a high level of demand for 

21 alcohol-based fuels, bio-fuels, or other 

22 commercial products of the facility. 

23 ‘‘(E) APPROVAL.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the Secretary receives an application for a 


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1 loan guarantee under this section, the Secretary 

2 shall approve or disapprove the application. 

3 ‘‘(F) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) MAXIMUM AMOUNT GUARAN5 TEED.—The total amount of loan guaran6 tees made under this paragraph for a 

7 project described in an application ap8 proved under this paragraph shall not ex9 ceed $250,000,000. 

10 ‘‘(ii) MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OF LOAN

11 GUARANTEED.—Except as provided in sub12 paragraph (G)(ii), a loan guarantee under 

13 this paragraph for a project described in 

14 an application approved under this para15 graph shall be for not more than 80 per16 cent of the cost of the project estimated in 

17 the application. 

18 ‘‘(G) ADDITIONAL GUARANTEES.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

20 may provide additional loan guarantees for 

21 a project described in an application ap22 proved under this paragraph, to cover up 

23 to 80 percent of the excess of the actual 

24 cost of the project over the cost of the 

25 project estimated in the application. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(I) MAXIMUM AMOUNT GUARAN3 TEED.—The total amount of addi4 tional guarantees issued under clause 

5 (i) of this subparagraph for a project 

6 shall not exceed 15 percent of the 

7 amount of the original guarantee pro8 vided under this paragraph for the 

9 project, subject to subparagraph 

10 (F)(i). 

11 ‘‘(II) MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE OF

12 LOAN GUARANTEED.—The Secretary 

13 may guarantee not less than 90 per14 cent and not more than 100 percent 

15 of the principal and interest due on a 

16 loan guaranteed under clause (i). If 

17 the guarantee is for less than 100 

18 percent of the principal and interest 

19 due on the loan, the Secretary may 

20 not require the Federal Government 

21 to be accorded a position superior to 

22 the lender in the event of default. 

23 ‘‘(H) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF

24 APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be 


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1 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are 

2 necessary for the cost of providing— 

3 ‘‘(i) $2,000,000,000 in loan guaran4 tees under this paragraph for fiscal year 

5 2008; 

6 ‘‘(ii) $3,000,000,000 in loan guaran7 tees under this paragraph for fiscal year 

8 2009; 

9 ‘‘(iii) $4,000,000,000 in loan guaran10 tees under this paragraph for fiscal year 

11 2010; 

12 ‘‘(iv) $5,000,000,000 in loan guaran13 tees under this paragraph for fiscal year 

14 2011; and 

15 ‘‘(v) $6,000,000,000 in loan guaran16 tees under this paragraph for fiscal year 

17 2012. 

18 ‘‘(I) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The 

19 authority provided by this paragraph shall ter20 minate 10 years after the date of the enactment 

21 of this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. ANIMAL WASTE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

2 AND BIOENERGY PRODUCTION GRANTS AND 

3 LOANS. 

4 Section 310B of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

5 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932) is amended by redesig6 nating subsection (h) as subsection (i) and inserting after 

7 subsection (g) the following: 

8 ‘‘(h) ANIMAL WASTE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

9 AND BIOENERGY PRODUCTION GRANTS AND LOANS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 

11 grants, loans, and loan guarantees to farm owners 

12 and tenants for the purchase and installation of 

13 equipment, and the construction of structures and 

14 facilities, for the processing and conversion of ani15 mal wastes and byproducts into liquid fuel, energy, 

16 and other commercial products. 

17 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing grants, loans, 

18 and loan guarantees under this subsection, the Sec19 retary shall give priority to producers who make a 

20 binding commitment to the Secretary to use the 

21 funds obtained thereby to install equipment or build 

22 structures and facilities that will lead to an improve23 ment in water quality, or that will accomplish other 

24 conservation objectives. 

25 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.—The maximum 

26 amount of a grant or loan, and the maximum 


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1 amount the repayment of which may be guaranteed, 

2 under this subsection shall not exceed 

3 $10,000,000.’’. 

4 SEC. 204. BIOMASS FEEDSTOCK COMMERCIALIZATION INI5 TIATIVE. 

6 Paragraph (1) of section 307(d) of the Biomass Re7 search and Development Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 

8 8606(d)(1); Public Law 106–224) is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (2) in subparagraph (D), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

12 the end; and 

13 (3) by adding after subparagraph (D) the fol14 lowing new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(E) strategies to— 

16 ‘‘(i) provide producers with the nec17 essary technical assistance, incentives and 

18 financial tools to facilitate a shift towards 

19 the production of crops grown for cellulosic 

20 feedstock and biomass (hereafter in this 

21 subparagraph referred to as ‘energy 

22 crops’); 

23 ‘‘(ii) provide producers with rec24 ommended practices for growing energy 

25 crops to ensure consistency with existing 


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1 recommended practices and conservation 

2 programs; 

3 ‘‘(iii) provide incentives to producers 

4 in the form of price guarantees for plant5 ing energy crops to protect early adopters 

6 from perceived risk during start up of the 

7 industry; 

8 ‘‘(iv) provide incentives to producers 

9 in the form of grants and guaranteed loans 

10 to establish new cropping systems for the 

11 production, collection and harvesting of 

12 biomass and to remove old cropping sys13 tems; 

14 ‘‘(v) provide incentives in the form of 

15 grants and guaranteed loans to establish 

16 breeding programs for propagation mate17 rials, which will be necessary to make com18 mercial-scale energy crop production pos19 sible; and 

20 ‘‘(vi) encourage development within 

21 the private sector of the necessary support 

22 services for energy crop production and 

23 biorefinery operations.’’. 

Æ 


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