I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2613 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2021 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Ms. SPANBERGER, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

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 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION AND INNOVATIVE CLIMATE PART2 NERSHIP COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

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

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

6 5925) the following: 

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

8 PARTNERSHIP COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO9 GRAM. 

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

11 ‘‘(1) 1862 INSTITUTION; 1890 INSTITUTION.— 

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

13 have the meanings given those terms in section 2 of 

14 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education 

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

16 ‘‘(2) 1994 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘1994 In17 stitution’ has the meaning given the term in section 

18 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Sta19 tus Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; Public Law 

20 103–382). 

21 ‘‘(3) CONSERVATION PRACTICE.—The term 

22 ‘conservation practice’ means a practice— 

23 ‘‘(A) that may include any or a combina24 tion of— 

25 ‘‘(i) carbon retention or carbon se26 questration cropping practices; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) resource conserving crop rota2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(iii) alley cropping; 

4 ‘‘(iv) integrated livestock-crop sys5 tems; 

6 ‘‘(v) advanced grazing management; 

7 ‘‘(vi) improved forestry or agro8 forestry management; 

9 ‘‘(vii) the insertion of buffers or satu10 rated buffers; or 

11 ‘‘(viii) any other practice that an eligi12 ble institution carrying out a project under 

13 the program determines to be appropriate; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) the purpose of which is to increase 

16 overall sustainability on farmland or ranch land 

17 through— 

18 ‘‘(i) improved soil health and tilth; 

19 ‘‘(ii) improved water quality, quantity, 

20 and management; 

21 ‘‘(iii) improved nutrient management; 

22 ‘‘(iv) reduction in tillage; or 

23 ‘‘(v) wildlife promotion and mainte24 nance. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi2 ble institution’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) an 1862 Institution; 

4 ‘‘(B) an 1890 Institution; and 

5 ‘‘(C) a 1994 Institution. 

6 ‘‘(5) INNOVATIVE CLIMATE PRACTICE.—The 

7 term ‘innovative climate practice’ means a practice, 

8 including any practice that an eligible institution 

9 carrying out a project under the program determines 

10 to be appropriate, that results in— 

11 ‘‘(A) a reduction of greenhouse gas emis12 sions, including carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur 

13 dioxide, and nitrous oxide; 

14 ‘‘(B) carbon sequestration; 

15 ‘‘(C) soil health improvement; or 

16 ‘‘(D) reduced exposure to climate-related 

17 risk. 

18 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

19 the competitive grant program established under 

20 subsection (b). 

21 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab24 lish a program to provide competitive grants pursuant to 

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


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1 eligible institutions to carry out projects to increase the 

2 voluntary adoption of conservation practices and innova3 tive climate practices through public awareness cam4 paigns, workshops, and specialized technical assistance. 

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

6 under the program, an eligible institution shall submit to 

7 the Secretary an application, including a demonstration 

8 that the applicant will— 

9 ‘‘(1) increase interaction with local agricultural 

10 producers by a rate of not less than 25 percent 

11 above the outreach rate before the implementation of 

12 the project under the program; 

13 ‘‘(2) assist agricultural producers in imple14 menting new conservation practices or innovative cli15 mate practices on farms or edges of fields, improving 

16 existing conservation practices or innovative climate 

17 practices on farms or edges of fields, or any com18 bination thereof; and 

19 ‘‘(3) assist agricultural producers in imple20 menting a combination of conservation practices or 

21 innovative climate practices that contribute to— 

22 ‘‘(A) the overall improvement of conserva23 tion; or 

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

25 greenhouse gas emissions. 


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

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

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

4 include— 

5 ‘‘(1) a nonprofit organization; 

6 ‘‘(2) a State entity; 

7 ‘‘(3) the Natural Resources Conservation Serv8 ice; 

9 ‘‘(4) an 1862 Institution; 

10 ‘‘(5) an 1890 Institution; 

11 ‘‘(6) a 1994 Institution; or 

12 ‘‘(7) any combination thereof. 

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

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

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

16 a grant under the program— 

17 ‘‘(1) to support agricultural producers in imple18 menting a conservation practice or an innovative cli19 mate practice; 

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

21 staffing at the eligible institution to assist in car22 rying out a project using the grant; 

23 ‘‘(3) to conduct workshops for agricultural pro24 ducers, and develop and distribute digital and hard25 copy materials directly to agricultural producers, 


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1 that provide clear directions for accessing technical 

2 assistance for adopting conservation practices and 

3 innovative climate practices; and 

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

5 indicators of the effectiveness of conservation prac6 tices and innovative climate practices. 

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

8 An eligible institution may use not more than 30 percent 

9 of the amount of a grant under the program for adminis10 trative expenses. 

11 ‘‘(h) DURATION.—A grant provided under the pro12 gram shall be for such period as the Secretary determines 

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

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

15 authorized to be appropriated to provide grants under the 

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

17 (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) $13,000,000 for each fiscal year.’’. 

18 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF 1994 INSTITUTIONS.—Section 

19 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C. 343(d)) is amend20 ed, in the third sentence— 

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

22 ‘‘program,’’; and 

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘, and the conservation and in24 novative climate partnership competitive grant pro25 gram established under section 1672A of the Food, 


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

2 before the period at the end. 

Æ 


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