I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2606 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 with respect to the acceptance 

and use of contributions for public-private partnerships, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2021 

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. FEENSTRA, Mr. JOHNSON

of South Dakota, Mr. BAIRD, and Mr. CRAWFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 with respect to 

the acceptance and use of contributions for public-private 

partnerships, 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 ‘‘Sponsoring USDA 

5 Sustainability Targets in Agriculture to Incentivize Nat6 ural Solutions Act of 2021’’, or the ‘‘SUSTAINS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 

2 PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS. 

3 Section 1241(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

4 U.S.C. 3841(f)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

6 ‘‘FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS’’ after 

7 ‘‘CONTRIBUTIONS’’; 

8 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC-PRI11 VATE PARTNERSHIP CONTRIBUTIONS ACCOUNTS.— 

12 The Secretary, acting through the Natural Re13 sources Conservation Service, may establish a sub14 account for each covered program to accept con15 tributions of non-Federal funds for the purposes of 

16 addressing the changing climate, sequestering car17 bon, improving wildlife habitat, protecting sources of 

18 drinking water, and addressing other natural re19 source priorities identified by the Secretary.’’; 

20 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘a conserva21 tion program administered by the Secretary under 

22 subtitle D’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered program’’; and 

23 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(3) MATCH OF CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—The 

25 Secretary may provide matching funds for contribu26 tions received under this subsection, subject to the 


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1 availability of funding under subsection (a) for the 

2 applicable covered program. 

3 ‘‘(4) ROLE OF CONTRIBUTING ENTITY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity contributing 

5 funds under this subsection may— 

6 ‘‘(i) designate the covered program for 

7 which the contributed funds are intended 

8 to be used; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) specify the geographic area in 

10 which the contributed funds are intended 

11 to be used. 

12 ‘‘(B) SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS.—The 

13 Secretary shall establish a procedure under 

14 which an entity making a significant contribu15 tion may— 

16 ‘‘(i) identify a natural resource con17 cern the contributed funds are to be used 

18 to address; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) have the name or brand of the 

20 individual or entity associated with the use 

21 of the contributed funds. 

22 ‘‘(5) PRODUCER PARTICIPATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY.—In selecting producers to 

24 carry out, through a covered program, an activVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.IH H2606

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1 ity funded pursuant to this subsection, the Sec2 retary shall give priority to— 

3 ‘‘(i) socially disadvantaged farmers or 

4 ranchers, as defined in section 355(e) of 

5 the Agricultural Act of 1961 (7 U.S.C. 

6 2003); 

7 ‘‘(ii) limited resource farmers or 

8 ranchers, as determined by the Secretary; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iii) beginning farmers or ranchers. 

11 ‘‘(B) SALE OF ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS.—If 

12 an activity funded pursuant to this section may 

13 result in environmental services benefits to be 

14 sold through an environmental services market, 

15 the producer carrying out the activity and the 

16 entity that contributed the applicable funds 

17 shall negotiate a mutually beneficial sale of 

18 such benefits. 

19 ‘‘(6) RULES FOR EASEMENTS.—An easement 

20 funded pursuant to this subsection shall be subject 

21 to the requirements of the covered program for 

22 which the contributed funds were used, except that 

23 the Secretary may modify such requirements, as 

24 they apply to the easement, for the purpose of adVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2606.IH H2606

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1 dressing climate change, as the Secretary determines 

2 appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

4 ‘‘(A) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘cov5 ered program’ means a program carried out by 

6 the Secretary under— 

7 ‘‘(i) subtitle D, subtitle H, or subtitle 

8 I; 

9 ‘‘(ii) section 403 of the Agricultural 

10 Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203); 

11 ‘‘(iii) title V of the Healthy Forests 

12 Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6571 

13 et seq.); or 

14 ‘‘(iv) the Watershed Protection and 

15 Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et 

16 seq.), except for any program established 

17 by the Secretary to carry out section 14 of 

18 such Act (16 U.S.C. 1012). 

19 ‘‘(B) SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION.—The 

20 term ‘significant contribution’ means a con21 tribution under this subsection of at least a 

22 minimum dollar amount established by the Sec23 retary.’’. 

Æ 


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