II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1400 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the delivery of technical 

assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2023 

Mr. BRAUN (for himself, Mr. BENNET, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the 

delivery of technical assistance, 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 ‘‘Increased TSP Access 

5 Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

7 Section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

8 U.S.C. 3842) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

2 paragraph (3); and 

3 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL CERTIFYING ENTITY.—The 

6 term ‘non-Federal certifying entity’ means a non7 Federal entity or State agency described in subpara8 graph (A) or (B), respectively, of subsection (e)(4).’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘science10 based, site-specific practices designed’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘timely, science-based, and site-specific practice de12 sign and implementation assistance’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘(including 

14 private sector entities)’’ after ‘‘non-Federal entities’’; 

15 (4) in subsection (e)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Food, 

17 Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Increased TSP Access Act of 2023’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

21 ‘‘ensure’’ and all that follows through ‘‘en22 gineering,’’ and inserting ‘‘ensure that 

23 third-party providers with expertise in the 

24 technical aspects of conservation planning, 

25 watershed planning, environmental engiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1400.IS S1400

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1 neering, conservation practice design, im2 plementation, and evaluation, or other 

3 technical skills, as determined by the Sec4 retary,’’; and 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

6 ‘‘by the Secretary’’ after ‘‘established’’; 

7 and 

8 (C) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and 

9 inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall cer11 tify a third-party provider through— 

12 ‘‘(A) a certification process administered 

13 by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of 

14 the Natural Resources Conservation Service; 

15 ‘‘(B) a non-Federal entity (other than a 

16 State agency) approved by the Secretary to per17 form the certification; or 

18 ‘‘(C) a State agency with statutory author19 ity to certify, administer, or license profes20 sionals in one or more fields of natural re21 sources, agriculture, or engineering approved by 

22 the Secretary to perform the certification. 

23 ‘‘(5) TIMELY DECISIONS.—Not later than 10 

24 business days after the date on which the Secretary 

25 receives a notification submitted by a non-Federal 


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1 certifying entity that the non-Federal certifying enti2 ty has certified a third-party provider, the Secretary 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) review the certification; and 

5 ‘‘(B) if the certification is satisfactory to 

6 the Secretary, include the name of the third7 party provider on the registry of certified third8 party providers maintained by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(6) NON-FEDERAL CERTIFYING ENTITY PROC10 ESS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 

12 180 days after the date of enactment of the In13 creased TSP Access Act of 2023, the Secretary 

14 shall establish a process for the certification of 

15 third-party providers by non-Federal certifying 

16 entities, with the goal of increasing third-party 

17 provider capacity, including the certification of 

18 qualified agricultural retailers, cooperatives, 

19 professional societies, service providers, and or20 ganizations described in section 1265A(3)(B)(i). 

21 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY OF NON-FEDERAL CER22 TIFYING ENTITIES.—In determining the eligi23 bility of a non-Federal certifying entity under 

24 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall con25 sider— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the ability of the non-Federal cer2 tifying entity to assess qualifications of a 

3 third-party provider and certify third-party 

4 providers at scale; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the experience of the non-Federal 

6 certifying entity in working with third7 party providers and eligible participants; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the expertise of the non-Federal 

9 certifying entity in the technical and 

10 science-based aspects of conservation deliv11 ery described in paragraph (3)(A); 

12 ‘‘(iv) the history of the non-Federal 

13 certifying entity in working with agricul14 tural producers; and 

15 ‘‘(v) such other qualifications as the 

16 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(C) APPROVAL.—Not later than 40 busi18 ness days after the date on which the Secretary 

19 receives an application submitted by a non-Fed20 eral certifying entity to certify third-party pro21 viders under this section, the Secretary shall 

22 make a decision on whether to approve the non23 Federal certifying entity to certify third-party 

24 providers. 


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1 ‘‘(D) DUTIES OF NON-FEDERAL CERTI2 FYING ENTITIES.—A non-Federal certifying en3 tity approved by the Secretary to certify third4 party providers shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) assess the ability of a third-party 

6 provider to appropriately provide technical 

7 assistance to eligible participants; 

8 ‘‘(ii) provide training to ensure that a 

9 third-party provider certified by the non10 Federal certifying entity is qualified to 

11 provide that technical assistance; 

12 ‘‘(iii) submit to the Secretary a timely 

13 notice of— 

14 ‘‘(I) each third-party provider 

15 certified by the non-Federal certifying 

16 entity, for inclusion on the registry of 

17 certified third-party providers main18 tained by the Secretary; and 

19 ‘‘(II) each third-party provider 

20 the certification of which is withdrawn 

21 by the non-Federal certifying entity. 

22 ‘‘(7) STREAMLINED CERTIFICATION.—Not later 

23 than 180 days after the date of enactment of the In24 creased TSP Access Act of 2023, the Secretary shall 

25 provide a streamlined certification process for a 


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1 third-party provider that has an appropriate spe2 cialty certification, including a certified crop advisor 

3 certified by the American Society of Agronomy, a 

4 professional engineer, or a holder of a technical cer5 tification approved by the Secretary.’’; and 

6 (5) in subsection (f)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre8 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or a 

9 non-Federal certifying entity’’ after ‘‘third10 party provider’’; 

11 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert12 ing the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of the Increased TSP Access Act 

15 of 2023, and additionally thereafter at the discretion 

16 of the Secretary, the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) review certification requirements for 

18 third-party providers; 

19 ‘‘(B) make any adjustments considered 

20 necessary by the Secretary to improve participa21 tion and the quality and effectiveness of con22 servation practices implemented and adopted 

23 with support from technical service providers; 

24 ‘‘(C) conduct outreach to and receive input 

25 from third-party providers, both that currently 


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1 participate in the program under this section 

2 and those that no longer participate in the pro3 gram, and entities, organizations, and associa4 tions providing or supporting consultative serv5 ices to agriculture, livestock, and forest pro6 ducers to assess barriers and opportunities for 

7 the use of third-party provider assistance for 

8 improved conservation program delivery; and 

9 ‘‘(D) set a target utilization rate for third10 party providers.’’; 

11 (C) in paragraph (4)(A)(i), by inserting 

12 ‘‘maintenance,’’ after ‘‘outreach,’’; and 

13 (D) by striking paragraph (5) and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(5) PAYMENT AMOUNTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

17 establish fair and reasonable amounts of pay18 ments for technical services provided by third19 party providers at rates equivalent to, but that 

20 do not exceed, technical assistance provided by 

21 the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

23 fair and reasonable payment amounts under 

24 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall consider 

25 specialized equipment, frequency of site visits, 


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1 training, travel and transportation, and such 

2 other factors as the Secretary determines to be 

3 appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—A payment provided 

5 under another Federal program directly to an 

6 eligible participant for technical assistance pro7 vided by a third-party provider certified under 

8 this section shall be— 

9 ‘‘(i) excluded from cost-sharing re10 quirements under the program under 

11 which the payment was provided; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) equal to not more than 100 per13 cent of the fair and reasonable payment 

14 amount for the applicable technical assist15 ance determined under subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(6) TRANSPARENCY.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of enactment of the Increased TSP 

18 Access Act of 2023, the Secretary shall provide ac19 cessible public information on— 

20 ‘‘(A) funds obligated to third-party pro21 viders through— 

22 ‘‘(i) contracts entered into between el23 igible participants and individual third24 party providers; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) agreements with public and pri2 vate sector entities to secure third-party 

3 technical assistance; 

4 ‘‘(B) certification results, including— 

5 ‘‘(i) the number of third-party pro6 viders certified by the Secretary; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the number of non-Federal certi8 fying entities approved by the Secretary; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the number of third-party pro10 viders certified by non-Federal certifying 

11 entities; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) the number of third-party pro13 viders certified based on State agency or 

14 professional association credentialing; 

15 ‘‘(C) how third-party providers contribute 

16 to the quality and effectiveness of conservation 

17 practices implemented and adopted, and what 

18 improvements are needed; and 

19 ‘‘(D) the target utilization rate set under 

20 paragraph (3)(D) and how actual utilization 

21 compares to that target rate.’’. 

Æ 


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