I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 41 

To provide for Federal research, development, demonstration, and commercial 

application activities to enable the development of farms that are net 

producers of both food and energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. BARTLETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on 

Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for Federal research, development, demonstration, 

and commercial application activities to enable the development of farms that are net producers of both food 

and energy, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds that— 

5 (1) the productivity of the ‘‘green revolution’’ 

6 has been fueled by abundant, low cost fossil fuels 

7 providing raw material and energy for fertilizer, herVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:25 Jan 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H41.IH H41

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1 bicides, and pesticides, and for powering mechaniza2 tion, thereby multiplying farm worker output; 

3 (2) farm worker productivity is based on the 

4 input of large quantities of fossil fuel based energy 

5 and chemicals, with typically an input of as much as 

6 10 fossil calories used to produce a calorie of food 

7 output; 

8 (3) food production in this manner cannot be 

9 sustained if fossil fuels are depleted and become in10 creasingly costly and scarce, and biofuels are not a 

11 viable alternative if their production consumes more 

12 energy than they contain; 

13 (4) reduction of energy consumption through 

14 maximum efficiency is a prerequisite to sustainable 

15 reliance on renewable resources at an affordable 

16 scale; and 

17 (5) for over a century, agriculture extension has 

18 shown that demonstration of viable techniques and 

19 technologies is a powerful force for their adoption 

20 and promotion. 

21 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means— 


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1 (A) a regional, State, local, or tribal agen2 cy; 

3 (B) a nonprofit organization or institution 

4 that farms or provides farm or educational 

5 services to persons or organizations that own or 

6 operate farms; 

7 (C) a farm or farmer or for-profit corpora8 tion that farms, or group of such farms, farm9 ers, or corporations, at least 50 percent of the 

10 gross revenue of which is derived from the sale 

11 of food or fiber grown on the farm, if the acre12 age under their control, individually and collec13 tively, whether through ownership or leasehold 

14 interests, is less than 160 acres; and 

15 (D) institutions of higher education, as de16 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

18 (2) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew19 able energy’’ means energy obtained from a resource 

20 in a manner capable of being indefinitely sustained 

21 or replenished. 

22 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 (4) SELF-POWERED FARM.—The term ‘‘self2 powered farm’’ means a farm or collection of farms 

3 that— 

4 (A) is capable of independence from offsite 

5 sources of energy, fuel, and raw materials for 

6 fuel; 

7 (B) is a community resource for— 

8 (i) food; and 

9 (ii) energy, fuel, or raw materials for 

10 fuel; 

11 (C) minimizes or eliminates ongoing oper12 ating expenditures to offsite entities for fossil 

13 fuel-derived energy; 

14 (D) employs sustainable farming practices 

15 for long term soil fertility; and 

16 (E) produces at least 2 times as much en17 ergy, including fuel or raw materials for fuel, as 

18 it consumes both on site and in the transfer of 

19 farm products to market. 

20 SEC. 3. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES RECOMMENDA21 TIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

23 arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences for— 


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1 (1) the development of recommendations for ap2 propriate evaluation measures and criteria for the 

3 programs under this Act; and 

4 (2) an evaluation of the feasibility of prize and 

5 best practices award programs as tools to promote 

6 self-powered farms, and recommendations for how to 

7 carry out such programs, if feasible. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 

10 to the Congress a report containing the recommendations 

11 and evaluation described in subsection (a). 

12 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PRO13 GRAM. 

14 The Secretary shall establish a program, taking into 

15 account the recommendations of the National Academy of 

16 Sciences under section 3, for the research, development, 

17 demonstration, and commercial application of energy tech18 nologies or other technologies that have the potential to 

19 increase energy efficiency or otherwise to enable self-pow20 ered farms. The Secretary shall award grants under this 

21 section to eligible entities, or consortia thereof, on a com22 petitive basis. The Secretary shall encourage participation 

23 in the program under this section through the Agricultural 

24 Cooperative Extension System. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATE AGRICULTURAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM 

2 AWARDS. 

3 The Secretary shall establish a program, taking into 

4 account the recommendations of the National Academy of 

5 Sciences under section 3, for making awards to not more 

6 than 30 State agricultural research programs for the dem7 onstration in a farm setting of the integration of tech8 nologies developed under section 4, or other technologies, 

9 in a manner that best achieves the goal of self-powered 

10 farms. 

11 SEC. 6. LOAN PROGRAMS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide, on 

13 a competitive basis, low-cost revolving loans and loan 

14 guarantees to eligible entities for the commercial applica15 tion of energy technologies or other technologies that will 

16 contribute to the goal of establishing self-powered farms. 

17 (b) PREFERENCES.—In providing loans or loan guar18 antees under this section, the Secretary shall give pref19 erence to applicants who propose to derive the highest pro20 portion of their energy needs from technologies that use 

21 biobased feedstocks or other renewable energy sources. 

22 The Secretary shall give highest preference to applicants 

23 who propose to meet their energy needs from biobased 

24 feedstocks or other renewable energy sources produced on 

25 that farm. 


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1 (c) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary shall establish pro2 cedures to enable the Secretary to oversee the operation 

3 of projects supported by loans or loan guarantees under 

4 this section, to ensure that such projects are operated con5 sistent with the goals and requirements of this Act. 

6 (d) LOAN AMOUNT.—The amount of a loan under 

7 this section shall not exceed 80 percent of the cost of the 

8 project for which the loan is provided. 

9 (e) GUARANTEE AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall not 

10 guarantee under this section more than 80 percent of the 

11 principal of any loan. 

12 SEC. 7. CONSULTATION. 

13 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary shall consult 

14 with the Secretary of Agriculture. 

15 SEC. 8. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES REVIEW. 

16 The Secretary shall enter into an arrangement with 

17 the National Academy of Sciences for a review of the pro18 grams under this Act and the development of rec19 ommendations for improvements to such programs. Not 

20 later than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

21 the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a report con22 taining such review and recommendations. 

23 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec25 retary— 


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1 (1) to carry out section 4, $25,000,000 for each 

2 of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014; 

3 (2) to carry out section 5, $25,000,000 for each 

4 of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014; and 

5 (3) to carry out section 6, $25,000,000 for each 

6 of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 

7 SEC. 10. COST SHARING. 

8 In carrying out a research, development, demonstra9 tion, or commercial application program or activity under 

10 this Act through an award of a grant, contract, coopera11 tive agreement, or other instrument other than a loan or 

12 loan guarantee, the Secretary shall require cost sharing 

13 in accordance with section 988 of the Energy Policy Act 

14 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352). 

Æ 


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