I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 651 

To require the designation of composting as a conservation practice and 

activity, and to provide grants and loan guarantees for composting facilities and programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Ms. BROWNLEY (for herself, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. BONAMICI) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To require the designation of composting as a conservation 

practice and activity, and to provide grants and loan 

guarantees for composting facilities and programs, 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 ‘‘Cultivating Organic 

5 Matter through the Promotion Of Sustainable Techniques 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘COMPOST Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPOSTING AS CONSERVATION PRACTICE. 

2 (a) CONSERVATION STANDARDS AND REQUIRE3 MENTS.—Section 1241(j) of the Food Security Act of 

4 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(j)) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para6 graph (3); and 

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) COMPOSTING AS CONSERVATION PRACTICE

10 AND ACTIVITY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall by 

12 regulation provide that composting is a con13 servation practice and a conservation activity 

14 for the purposes of this title. 

15 ‘‘(B) COMPOSTING DEFINED.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes 

17 of this paragraph, the term ‘composting’ 

18 means— 

19 ‘‘(I) an activity (including an ac20 tivity that does not require the use of 

21 a composting facility) to produce com22 post from organic waste that is— 

23 ‘‘(aa) generated on a farm; 

24 or 

25 ‘‘(bb) brought to a farm 

26 from a nearby community and 


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1 used to produce compost on that 

2 farm; and 

3 ‘‘(II) the use and active manage4 ment of compost on a farm, in accord5 ance with any applicable Federal, 

6 State, or local law, to improve water 

7 retention and soil health. 

8 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF NEARBY

9 COMMUNITIES.—The Secretary, in con10 sultation with the Administrator of the En11 vironmental Protection Agency, shall issue 

12 regulations for determining whether a com13 munity is nearby for purposes of clause 

14 (i)(I), which shall ensure that bringing or15 ganic waste from the community to the 

16 farm to produce compost results in a net 

17 reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.’’. 

18 (b) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.—Sec19 tion 1240I(2)(B)(i) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

20 U.S.C. 3839aa–21(2)(B)(i)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

21 composting practices’’ after ‘‘agriculture drainage man22 agement systems’’. 

23 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO24 GRAM.—Section 1240A(6)(A)(ii) of the Food Security Act 

25 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1(6)(A)(ii)) is amended by inVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651

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1 serting ‘‘, including composting practices’’ before the semi2 colon at the end. 

3 (d) DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 

4 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

5 3842(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOSTING PRACTICE

7 STANDARD.—In addition to conducting a review 

8 under this subsection of any composting facility 

9 practice standard established before the date of en10 actment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall estab11 lish a composting practice standard under the proc12 ess developed under paragraph (3).’’. 

13 SEC. 3. COMPOSTING GRANT AND LOAN GUARANTEE PRO14 GRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Consolidated Farm and 

16 Rural Development Act is amended by inserting after sec17 tion 310I (7 U.S.C. 1936) the following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 310J. GRANTS AND LOAN GUARANTEES FOR 

19 COMPOSTING PROGRAMS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

21 with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

22 Agency, shall establish and carry out a program to award 

23 grants and loan guarantees, on a competitive basis, for 

24 projects that expand access to food waste composting. 

25 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) COST SHARE.—The total amount of 

3 grant funds awarded for a project under this 

4 section shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost 

5 of the project for which the grant is awarded, 

6 as determined by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM.—The total amount of 

8 grant funds awarded for a project under this 

9 subsection shall not exceed $5,000,000. 

10 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of funds made available to 

11 carry out this subsection in each fiscal year, the Sec12 retary shall allocate not less than 25 percent to 

13 projects that do not include the use of centralized 

14 commercial composting, to the extent there are suffi15 cient applications for such projects. 

16 ‘‘(3) TIMELINE.—An entity receiving a grant 

17 under this subsection shall fully expend the awarded 

18 grant funds within 3 years of receiving the funds. 

19 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 

20 award a grant under this section to any of the fol21 lowing entities: 

22 ‘‘(A) A State, local, territorial, or Tribal 

23 government. 

24 ‘‘(B) A local educational agency (as de25 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 


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1 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 7801)). 

3 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 

4 ‘‘(D) A non-profit organization. 

5 ‘‘(E) A farmer or rancher. 

6 ‘‘(F) A consortium of any of the entities 

7 described in subparagraphs (A) through (E). 

8 ‘‘(G) One or more of any of the entities de9 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (F), in 

10 coordination with a for-profit organization. 

11 ‘‘(c) LOAN GUARANTEES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) COST SHARE.—The Secretary may 

14 award a loan guarantee under this section in an 

15 amount that does not exceed 80 percent of the 

16 cost of a project that is eligible for assistance 

17 under this section, as determined by the Sec18 retary. 

19 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM.—The Secretary may not 

20 provide a loan guarantee under this section in 

21 an amount that exceeds $5,000,000. 

22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may 

23 award a loan guarantee under this section to a for24 profit organization, farmer, or rancher that demVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H651.IH H651

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1 onstrates successful prior experience in developing, 

2 managing, and marketing composting facilities. 

3 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may 

4 award grants and loan guarantees under this section for 

5 projects to carry out the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Composting facility or site permitting, 

7 planning, and construction. 

8 ‘‘(2) Acquisition of machinery, equipment, and 

9 other physical necessities required to operate a 

10 composting facility, system, or program, except 

11 depackaging equipment. 

12 ‘‘(3) Activities to increase the production capac13 ity throughput of a composting facility. 

14 ‘‘(4) Implementation of onsite composting sys15 tems and programs (such as home composting pro16 grams, community garden and urban farm 

17 composting, and other onsite composting systems at 

18 institutions, nonprofits, and businesses). 

19 ‘‘(5) Projects that are based on a distributed 

20 infrastructure strategy (such as a strategy that in21 corporates a mix or choice of home composting, farm 

22 and ranch composting, onsite composting, commu23 nity-scale composting, or centralized commercial 

24 composting). 


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1 ‘‘(6) Collection of organic waste intended for 

2 processing at a composting facility or system, or 

3 through a composting program, including curbside 

4 pick-up programs, community drop-off programs, 

5 and facility- or event-specific programs (such as pro6 grams at schools, restaurants, stadiums, or fes7 tivals). 

8 ‘‘(7) Activities for land-based compost applica9 tion, including compost application on a farm or 

10 ranch. 

11 ‘‘(8) Market development projects that create a 

12 demand for compost product or increase commercial 

13 and residential participation in composting. 

14 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible entity applying for 

15 a grant or loan guarantee under this section shall dem16 onstrate that the project for which such assistance is 

17 sought— 

18 ‘‘(1) will— 

19 ‘‘(A) result in composting of food waste 

20 (which may include such composting in com21 bination with non-food organic waste); 

22 ‘‘(B) result in increased total capacity to 

23 accept and process food waste into finished 

24 compost product; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) include at least one operator of a fa2 cility or system, if applicable, who is trained on 

3 best management practices for composting 

4 (such as odor, vector, pathogen, and contami5 nant control practices); 

6 ‘‘(2) in the case of a market development 

7 project, is likely to create sufficient demand to in8 crease total capacity, in the targeted market, to ac9 cept and process food waste into high-quality fin10 ished compost; or 

11 ‘‘(3) in the case of land-based compost applica12 tion activities, is consistent with any applicable re13 quirements pursuant to section 1241(j) of the Food 

14 Security Act of 1985. 

15 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY FACTORS.—In awarding grants and 

16 loan guarantees under this section, the Secretary shall 

17 prioritize projects that include the greatest number of the 

18 following factors: 

19 ‘‘(1) The project is located in or serving a loca20 tion with significant access to food waste and no or 

21 limited prior access to food waste composting. 

22 ‘‘(2) The project demonstrates the potential to 

23 create new capacity for the volume or weight of food 

24 waste collected and processed, or make significant 


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1 gains in the number of people with access to food 

2 waste composting facilities or systems. 

3 ‘‘(3) The project includes a demonstrated plan 

4 for following best management practices and pro5 ducing a high-quality compost product. 

6 ‘‘(4) The project incorporates the participation 

7 of small and diverse businesses (such as minority-, 

8 woman-, and veteran-owned businesses certified by 

9 the Small Business Administration or under a State 

10 program or another recognized certification program 

11 and other businesses led by Black people, Indigenous 

12 people, or other people of color). 

13 ‘‘(5) The project creates opportunities for hir14 ing and leadership development practices that are in15 clusive and provide living wages. 

16 ‘‘(6) The project serves disadvantaged and low17 income communities, engages Black farmers, Indige18 nous farmers, and other farmers of color, or incor19 porates an environmental justice plan or principles. 

20 ‘‘(7) The project is for a facility or system that 

21 accepts or plans to accept and process only source 

22 separated organics. 

23 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may award only 

24 one grant or loan guarantee under this section for any 

25 project. 


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1 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) SOURCE SEPARATED ORGANICS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘source sep4 arated organics’ means organic waste that is 

5 separated from other waste by the waste gener6 ator. 

7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘source sepa8 rated organics’ includes materials that are cer9 tified to meet ASTM standard D6400 or 

10 D6868. 

11 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘source sepa12 rated organics’ excludes mixed solid waste. 

13 ‘‘(2) CENTRALIZED COMMERCIAL

14 COMPOSTING.—The term ‘centralized commercial 

15 composting’ means a regional composting facility 

16 that produces at least 10,000 tons of compost annu17 ally. 

18 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro19 priated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each 

20 of fiscal years 2024 through 2033.’’. 

Æ 


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