II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2243 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve 

the Rural Energy for America Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Ms. SMITH (for herself and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

of 2002 to improve the Rural Energy for America Program, 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 ‘‘Rural Energy for 

5 America Program (REAP) Improvement Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007 of the Farm Secu8 rity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8107) 

9 is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

3 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

4 and indenting appropriately; 

5 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

6 (A) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘The Sec7 retary’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 

9 (C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), in 

10 the matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as so 

11 redesignated), by inserting ‘‘(referred to in this 

12 section as the ‘Program’)’’ after ‘‘Program’’; 

13 and 

14 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) CLIMATE BENEFITS.—In carrying out the 

16 Program, the Secretary shall promote the reduction 

17 of greenhouse gas emissions in projects funded by 

18 grants and other financial assistance under the Pro19 gram.’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

24 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

25 (E) as subparagraph (G); and 


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1 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

2 (D) the following: 

3 ‘‘(E) a producer cooperative; 

4 ‘‘(F) a nongovernmental organization; 

5 and’’; and 

6 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

10 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

11 and’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(G) the potential of the proposed program 

15 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide 

16 other climate benefits.’’; 

17 (3) in subsection (c)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

19 (i) in clause (i), in the matter pre20 ceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘pro21 ducers’’ and inserting ‘‘producers, producer 

22 cooperatives, electric cooperatives,’’; and 

23 (ii) in clause (ii), in the matter pre24 ceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2243.IS S2243

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1 ducers’’ and inserting ‘‘producers, producer 

2 cooperatives, and electric cooperatives’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

6 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

7 (G) as subparagraph (H); and 

8 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

9 (F) the following: 

10 ‘‘(G) the potential of the renewable energy 

11 system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 

12 result in other climate benefits; and’’; and 

13 (C) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘25 

14 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 percent’’; 

15 (4) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and 

16 (f) as subsections (e), (f), and (i), respectively; 

17 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(d) STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS.—The 

20 Office of Rural Development shall develop a streamlined 

21 application process, including within each tier described 

22 in subsection (c)(4), under which an entity may apply for 

23 a grant under subsection (b), financial assistance under 

24 subsection (c), or both.’’; 

25 (6) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)— 


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1 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘OUTREACH’’ and inserting ‘‘OUTREACH, 

3 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND EDUCATION’’; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘that adequate’’ and in5 serting the following: ‘‘that— 

6 ‘‘(1) adequate’’; 

7 (C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 

8 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

9 and’’; and 

10 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) outreach, technical assistance, and edu12 cation is provided to recipients of grants and other 

13 financial assistance under the Program relating to 

14 integrating renewable energy projects on land shared 

15 with crops or livestock.’’; 

16 (7) by inserting after subsection (f) (as so re17 designated) the following: 

18 ‘‘(g) STUDY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF DUAL-USE ENERGY SYS20 TEM.—In this subsection, the term ‘dual-use energy 

21 system’ means a system under which renewable en22 ergy production and agricultural production, includ23 ing crop or animal production, occur together on the 

24 same piece of land. 


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1 ‘‘(2) STUDY.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

2 study on dual-use energy systems. 

3 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

4 date of enactment of the Rural Energy for America 

5 Program (REAP) Improvement Act of 2021, the 

6 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 

7 results of the study carried out under paragraph (2), 

8 which shall include a recommendation as to whether 

9 the scope of grants and other financial assistance 

10 under the Program should be expanded to cover 

11 projects that generate more energy without signifi12 cantly impacting farm operations or leading to the 

13 conversion of existing farm land. 

14 ‘‘(h) ENERGY GENERATED.—There shall not be any 

15 restriction imposed on the quantity of energy that is gen16 erated under a project funded by a grant or other financial 

17 assistance provided under the Program for the benefit of 

18 the recipient of the grant or other financial assistance.’’; 

19 and 

20 (8) in subsection (i) (as so redesignated)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (i) in the matter preceding subpara23 graph (A), by striking ‘‘expended—’’ and 

24 all that follows through the period at the 

25 end of subparagraph (E) and inserting 


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1 ‘‘expended, $150,000,000 for each of fiscal 

2 years 2021 through 2030.’’; 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘Of the funds’’ and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—In addition to 

9 amounts made available under subparagraph 

10 (A), there is appropriated to the Secretary to 

11 carry out this section, out of funds in the 

12 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

13 $1,000,000,000, to remain available until ex14 pended.’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

16 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

17 (1)(A)’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) RESERVE FUND.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is established a 

21 reserve fund for the purpose of providing grants 

22 and other financial assistance under the Pro23 gram relating to underused renewable energy 

24 technologies. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FUNDS.—For each fiscal year, not 

2 less than 15 percent of the funds made avail3 able under paragraphs (1)(A) and (3) to carry 

4 out this section for that fiscal year shall be 

5 transferred to the reserve fund established by 

6 subparagraph (A).’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9007 of 

8 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 

9 U.S.C. 8107) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ each 

10 place it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (i)’’. 

Æ 


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