I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6342 

To establish pilot projects for agriculture renewable energy systems. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. HOLDEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To establish pilot projects for agriculture renewable energy 

systems. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PILOT PROJECTS FOR AGRICULTURE RENEW4 ABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish, 

6 under such terms and conditions as the Secretary deter7 mines appropriate, pilot projects for renewable energy sys8 tems to provide financial and technical assistance through 

9 existing agriculture programs to eligible entities to imple10 ment renewable energy systems in participating States. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT CRITERIA.—In establishing 

2 pilot projects under this section, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 

4 that such projects— 

5 (A) are located in geographically diverse 

6 regions of the United States; 

7 (B) consist of a diverse group of herd sizes 

8 and technologies; and 

9 (C) are located in States that have estab10 lished net metering programs; and 

11 (2) take into consideration any other criteria 

12 that the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

13 (c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Financial assistance pro15 vided under this section shall consist of cost-shares, 

16 grants, loans, or loan guarantees, or any combina17 tion thereof. 

18 (2) OPERATION.—In providing financial assist19 ance to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

20 rely on the authorities granted to the Secretary 

21 under— 

22 (A) the Environmental Quality Incentives 

23 Program; 

24 (B) the Rural Energy for America Pro25 gram; 


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1 (C) the Biomass Crop Assistance Program; 

2 (D) the Rural Utilities Service; or 

3 (E) any other program that the Secretary 

4 determines to be appropriate to carry out the 

5 purposes this section. 

6 (d) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, 

7 the Secretary shall consult with State and Federal agen8 cies, and any other entity that the Secretary determines 

9 has relevant experience. 

10 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall sub12 mit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep13 resentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

14 and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the imple15 mentation of the program authorized under this section. 

16 (f) STUDY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

18 a study to evaluate rural electrification issues. Such 

19 study shall include— 

20 (A) an analysis of rural infrastructure; and 

21 (B) rural electric transmission and genera22 tion. 

23 (2) REPORT.—As soon as practicable after con24 ducting the study under paragraph (1), the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:12 Oct 14, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6342.IH H6342

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1 retary shall submit to Congress a report containing 

2 the results of the study. 

3 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti5 ty’’ means a producer or group of producers imple6 menting a renewable energy system on a farm. 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term 

8 ‘‘eligible electric utility’’ means— 

9 (A) any public or cooperative electric util10 ity that is eligible to borrow from the Rural 

11 Utility Service electrification programs author12 ized under the Rural Electrification Act of 

13 1936 (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) that serves a rural 

14 area defined by that Act; 

15 (B) any current borrower from the Rural 

16 Utilities Service electrification program author17 ized under that Act; or 

18 (C) any entity primarily owned or con19 trolled by an entity described in subparagraph 

20 (A) or (B). 

21 (3) NET METERING.—The term ‘‘net metering’’ 

22 means measuring the difference between electricity 

23 supplied by an electric utility and the electricity gen24 erated by a net metering customer and fed back to 

25 the electric utility over the applicable billing period. 


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1 (4) RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS.—The term 

2 ‘‘renewable energy systems’’ means a system where 

3 renewable energy is derived from animal waste and 

4 used for improving energy conservation on a farm. 

5 (5) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘‘partici6 pating state’’ means a State that has established a 

7 net metering program. 

Æ 


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