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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 941

To encourage soil and water protection and energy conservation among

farmers, ranchers, forest industry, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 17, 1993

Mr. CAMP (for himself, Mr. HENRY, and Mr. HOBSON) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To encourage soil and water protection and energy conservation among farmers, ranchers, forest industry, 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 ‘‘Soil and Water Protec5 tion Act of 1992’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) farmers, ranchers, and foresters have a

9 sound understanding of protecting the Nation’s rich

10 natural resources;
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1 (2) soil and water damage and contamination

2 have occurred and may occur in the future;

3 (3) energy shortages have occurred and may

4 occur in the future;

5 (4) farmers, ranchers, and foresters are energy

6 driven enterprises in conjunction with substantial

7 soil and water usage;

8 (5) farmers, ranchers and foresters can sub9 stantially make more efficient energy expenditures

10 using energy saving management techniques;

11 (6) practices such as fertility management, con12 servation tillage, and integrated pest management

13 will provide future generations the enjoyment of im14 proved environmental conditions such as better

15 ground and surface water quality and soil fertility;

16 (7) saving and conserving energy will benefit

17 the public land; and

18 (8) Federal agricultural policies and programs

19 influence sound energy conservation and environ20 mental objectives.

21 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture,

23 acting through the Soil Conservation Service, shall estab24 lish a Federal energy conservation program.
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1 (b) CRITERIA.—The Federal energy conservation

2 program shall target and promote more efficient energy

3 use in, and the conservation of energy with respect to, till4 age practices, chemical and fertilizer management, irriga5 tion management, livestock facility management, horti6 culture, and wood utilization. The Secretary shall provide

7 grants and technical and educational assistance for

8 projects in eligible States including (but not limited to)

9 projects for—

10 (1) demonstrating the advantages of conserva11 tion tillage practices that promote energy efficiency

12 and conservation;

13 (2) training, pest scouting, and soil sampling in

14 order to promote education concerning prescription

15 application of animal manures, fertilizers, lime, soil

16 conditioners and pesticide usage;

17 (3) improving the efficient use of irrigation sys18 tems to reduce energy consumption;

19 (4) managing livestock facilities for energy con20 servation;

21 (5) managing horticultural facilities for energy

22 conservation; and

23 (6) improving efficiency in utilization of wood,

24 including milling of forest products and the use of

25 wood for production of energy.
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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL GRANTS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through the Soil

3 Conservation Service, shall make grants to individuals or

4 institutions that present to the Secretary an application

5 and a plan for the energy conservation project—

6 (1) which was developed in consultation with an

7 individual recognized by the Secretary to have exper8 tise in energy conservation; and

9 (2) that is within an eligible State which has an

10 energy conservation program.

11 (b) ADVICE FROM STATE AGRICULTURE ENERGY

12 CONSERVATION REVIEW PANEL.—In making grants

13 under this section, the Secretary shall take into consider14 ation the advice received from the State agriculture energy

15 conservation review panel pursuant to section 6(c)(2).

16 (c) LIMITATIONS.—(1) Except as provided in para17 graph (2), the Federal grant under this section for a

18 project may not exceed $5,000.

19 (2) In the case of a project in which a school, hos20 pital, or other similar institution that is improving its en21 ergy efficiency by converting its heating system to a wood

22 burning system, the Federal grant may not exceed

23 $150,000.

24 (3) Funds made available under this Act may not be

25 used to pay for labor costs associated with a project.
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1 (4) Grants for a project may not be made until after

2 receipts have been provided to the Secretary for the actual

3 cost incurred for the project.

4 SEC. 5. ALLOCATION AMONG ELIGIBLE STATES.

5 The Secretary shall allocate funds made available to

6 carry out this Act for a fiscal year to each State which

7 is eligible for assistance. The allocation among States shall

8 be equitable, based on the following:

9 (1) The number and size of farms.

10 (2) The potential for energy conservation.

11 (3) The number and size of forest industries.

12 The Secretary may allocate up to 25 percent of the

13 funds allocated to any State with substantial forest indus14 try to forest energy conservation projects.

15 SEC. 6. STATE PARTICIPATION AND ASSISTANCE.

16 (a) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The Secretary may provide

17 assistance under this Act in a fiscal year for projects in

18 a State which, before the beginning of that fiscal year—

19 (1) submits to the Secretary a plan describing

20 in detail how the State will cooperate with the Unit21 ed States in carrying out this Act, including provid22 ing for—

23 (A) encouragement to persons to partici24 pate in the energy conservation program;
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1 (B) criteria to be used for recommending

2 projects to be funded by the program; and

3 (C) individuals with expertise in energy ef4 ficiency to advise program participants on en5 ergy conservation matters; and

6 (2) has established an agriculture energy con7 servation review panel in accordance with subsection

8 (c).

9 (b) COST SHARE.—The State may offer assistance

10 and services in cooperation with the Secretary to enhance

11 energy conservation efforts under this Act.

12 (c) STATE AGRICULTURE ENERGY CONSERVATION

13 REVIEW PANEL.—(1) An eligible State, together with the

14 United States, shall establish an energy conservation re15 view panel comprised of 6 members as follows:

16 (A) The head of the State agricultural agency,

17 or his designee.

18 (B) The State forester or equivalent State offi19 cial, or his designee.

20 (C) The president of that State’s Association of

21 Conservation Districts, or his designee.

22 (D) The State conservationist of the Soil Con23 servation Service for that State, or his designee.

24 (E) The Cooperative Research Service Director

25 for that State, or his designee.
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1 (F) The Cooperative Extension Director for the

2 State, or his designee.

3 (2) The State agriculture energy conservation review

4 panel shall advise and recommend to the Secretary those

5 projects that meet the requirements of this Act. In provid6 ing such advice and recommendations, the panel shall re7 view and evaluate each project using the criteria referred

8 to in subsection (a)(1)(B).

9 SEC. 7. DEMONSTRATIONS, EDUCATION, AND TECHNICAL

10 ASSISTANCE.

11 (a) AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS.—The

12 Secretary shall establish and maintain demonstrations of

13 energy-saving and energy efficient practices at agricultural

14 experiment stations that can be implemented by agri15 culture procedures and the public.

16 (b) EXTENSION SERVICE.—The Secretary, through

17 the Extension Service, shall disseminate informational and

18 educational materials and conduct demonstrations and

19 training sessions.

20 (c) TECHNICAL AND MATERIAL ASSISTANCE.—In

21 carrying out the Federal energy conservation program, the

22 Secretary, acting through the Soil Conservation Service,

23 shall provide such technical and material assistance to

24 participants as the Secretary determines appropriate.
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1 SEC. 8. REPORT.

2 Not later than March 31, 1994 and annually there3 after, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress

4 describing the results of the Federal energy conservation

5 program. In particular, the report shall include—

6 (1) the number and identification of States par7 ticipating in the program;

8 (2) a description of the projects for which

9 grants were made pursuant to the program;

10 (3) the energy efficiency practices performed

11 and the estimated amount of conservation energy

12 use as a result of the program; and

13 (4) the number of States expected to participate

14 in the program the next fiscal year.

15 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There is authorized to be appropriated $150,000,000

17 for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1996 to carry

18 out this Act.

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