II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 900 

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 

to establish a competitive grant program under which the Secretary 

of Agriculture provides grants to land-grant colleges and universities 

to support agricultural producers in adopting conservation and innovative 

climate practices, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade 

Act of 1990 to establish a competitive grant program 

under which the Secretary of Agriculture provides grants 

to land-grant colleges and universities to support agricultural producers in adopting conservation and innovative 

climate practices, 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 ‘‘Conservation and Inno5 vative Climate Partnership Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) farmers and producers engage in innovative 

4 climate and conservation practices that may include 

5 a wide variety of activities, such as— 

6 (A) carbon retention or carbon sequestra7 tion cropping practices; 

8 (B) resource conserving crop rotation; 

9 (C) alley cropping; 

10 (D) integrated livestock-crop systems; 

11 (E) advanced grazing management; 

12 (F) improved forestry or agroforestry man13 agement; and 

14 (G) the insertion of buffers or saturated 

15 buffers; 

16 (2) the purpose of implementing innovative cli17 mate and conservation practices on farm or ranch 

18 land is to increase sustainability through— 

19 (A) improved soil health and tilth; 

20 (B) improved water quality, quantity, and 

21 management; 

22 (C) improved nutrient management; 

23 (D) reduction in tillage; or 

24 (E) wildlife promotion and management; 

25 and 


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1 (3) the benefits of engaging in innovative cli2 mate and conservation practices include— 

3 (A) a reduction of greenhouse gases emis4 sions, including carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur 

5 dioxide, and nitrous oxide; 

6 (B) carbon sequestration; 

7 (C) soil health improvement; and 

8 (D) reduced exposure to climate-related 

9 risk. 

10 SEC. 3. CONSERVATION AND INNOVATIVE CLIMATE PART11 NERSHIP COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle H of title XVI of the 

13 Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 

14 is amended by inserting after section 1672 (7 U.S.C. 

15 5925) the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 1672A. CONSERVATION AND INNOVATIVE CLIMATE 

17 PARTNERSHIP COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO18 GRAM. 

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) 1862 INSTITUTION; 1890 INSTITUTION.— 

21 The terms ‘1862 Institution’ and ‘1890 Institution’ 

22 have the meanings given those terms in section 2 of 

23 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education 

24 Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601). 


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1 ‘‘(2) 1994 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘1994 In2 stitution’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta4 tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 

5 103–382). 

6 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi7 ble institution’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) an 1862 Institution; 

9 ‘‘(B) an 1890 Institution; and 

10 ‘‘(C) a 1994 Institution. 

11 ‘‘(4) PRACTICE.—The term ‘practice’ has the 

12 meaning given the term in section 1240A of the 

13 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1). 

14 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

15 the competitive grant program established under 

16 subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

18 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

19 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab20 lish a program to provide competitive grants pursuant to 

21 section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) to 

22 eligible institutions to carry out projects to increase the 

23 voluntary adoption of practices through public awareness 

24 campaigns, workshops, and specialized technical assist25 ance. 


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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under the program, an eligible institution shall submit to 

3 the Secretary an application, including a demonstration 

4 that the applicant will— 

5 ‘‘(1) increase interaction with local agricultural 

6 producers by a rate of not less than 25 percent 

7 above the outreach rate before the implementation of 

8 the project under the program, as determined by the 

9 Secretary; 

10 ‘‘(2) assist agricultural producers in imple11 menting new practices on farms or edges of fields, 

12 improving existing practices on farms or edges of 

13 fields, or any combination thereof; and 

14 ‘‘(3) assist agricultural producers in imple15 menting a combination of practices that contribute 

16 to— 

17 ‘‘(A) the overall improvement of conserva18 tion; or 

19 ‘‘(B) a decrease in, or sequestration of, 

20 greenhouse gas emissions. 

21 ‘‘(d) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible institution shall 

22 carry out a project using a grant under the program in 

23 partnership with not fewer than 1 other entity, which may 

24 include— 

25 ‘‘(1) a nonprofit organization; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a State entity; 

2 ‘‘(3) the Natural Resources Conservation Serv3 ice; 

4 ‘‘(4) an 1862 Institution; 

5 ‘‘(5) an 1890 Institution; 

6 ‘‘(6) a 1994 Institution; or 

7 ‘‘(7) any combination thereof. 

8 ‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 

9 under the program shall be not more than $400,000. 

10 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible institution may use 

11 a grant under the program— 

12 ‘‘(1) to support agricultural producers in imple13 menting a practice; 

14 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (g), for additional 

15 staffing at the eligible institution to assist in car16 rying out a project using the grant; 

17 ‘‘(3) to conduct workshops for agricultural pro18 ducers, and develop and distribute digital and hard19 copy materials directly to agricultural producers, 

20 that provide clear directions for accessing technical 

21 assistance for adopting practices; and 

22 ‘‘(4) for soil testing and the measuring of other 

23 indicators of the effectiveness of practices. 

24 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

25 An eligible institution may use not more than 30 percent 


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1 of the amount of a grant under the program for adminis2 trative expenses. 

3 ‘‘(h) DURATION.—A grant provided under the pro4 gram shall be for such period as the Secretary determines 

5 to be appropriate, but not less than 4 years. 

6 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

7 authorized to be appropriated to provide grants under the 

8 program pursuant to section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act 

9 (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) $13,000,000 for each fiscal year.’’. 

10 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF 1994 INSTITUTIONS.—Section 

11 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) is amend12 ed, in the third sentence— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘program and’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘program,’’; and 

15 (2) by inserting ‘‘, and the conservation and in16 novative climate partnership competitive grant pro17 gram established under section 1672A of the Food, 

18 Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990’’ 

19 before the period at the end. 

Æ 


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