I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5764 

To amend the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 to require peer 

review for value-added agricultural product market development grants, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2018 

Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Ms. 

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 

to require peer review for value-added agricultural product market development grants, 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 ‘‘Growing Value-Added 

5 Economies Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VALUE-ADDED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT MARKET 

2 DEVELOPMENT GRANTS. 

3 Section 231(b) of the (7 U.S.C. 1632a(b)) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

6 (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (10)’’; 

7 (2) by striking paragraph (7); and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol9 lowing new paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(7) PEER REVIEW.— 

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

12 establish independent external review panels 

13 comprised of members with relevant expertise 

14 who are not employees of the Department to re15 view and evaluate each eligible application 

16 based on merit and relevance. 

17 ‘‘(B) MEMBERS OF REVIEW PANEL.— 

18 Members assigned to a panel established under 

19 subparagraph (A) may include— 

20 ‘‘(i) producers; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) experts from colleges and univer22 sities, State and local agencies, private 

23 nonprofit organizations, industry, and re24 lated institutions. 

25 ‘‘(C) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary 

26 shall ensure that the identity of a member of a 


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1 panel established under subparagraph (A) is, to 

2 the maximum extent practicable, confidential. 

3 ‘‘(D) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—The Sec4 retary shall ensure that no person with a con5 flict of interest may be assigned to be a member 

6 of a panel established under subparagraph (A). 

7 ‘‘(8) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST8 ANCE.—The Secretary shall develop and implement 

9 an outreach and technical assistance strategy, in10 cluding entering into cooperative agreements with 

11 private nonprofit entities, cooperative extension, 

12 State and local units of government, to— 

13 ‘‘(A) further the purposes of the program 

14 established under this section; and 

15 ‘‘(B) ensure that underserved States and 

16 communities are served by the program. 

17 ‘‘(9) PROGRAM EVALUATION.— 

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

19 provide for the periodic evaluation of the pro20 gram that measures the impact of the program 

21 and the impact of projects in achieving the pur22 poses of the program. 

23 ‘‘(B) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The 

24 Secretary may enter into cooperative agree25 ments with private nonprofit entities, cooperaVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:38 May 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5764.IH H5764

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1 tive extension, State and local units of govern2 ment for the purpose of the program evaluation 

3 required under subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(10) FUNDING.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds of the 

6 Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 

7 shall make available to carry out this subsection 

8 $20,000,000, to remain available until ex9 pended, for each of fiscal years 2019 through 

10 2023. 

11 ‘‘(B) DISCRETIONARY FUNDING.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 

13 subsection $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

14 2008 through 2023. 

15 ‘‘(C) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR

16 PROJECTS TO BENEFIT BEGINNING FARMERS

17 OR RANCHERS, SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED

18 FARMERS OR RANCHERS, AND MID-TIER VALUE

19 CHAINS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

21 shall reserve 10 percent of the amounts 

22 made available for each fiscal year under 

23 this paragraph to fund projects that ben24 efit producers described in clauses (ii), 

25 (iii), and (iv) of paragraph (6)(A) or that 


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1 best contribute to creating or increasing 

2 marketing opportunities for such pro3 ducers. 

4 ‘‘(ii) MID-TIER VALUE CHAINS.—The 

5 Secretary shall reserve 10 percent of the 

6 amounts made available for each fiscal 

7 year under this paragraph to fund applica8 tions of eligible entities described in para9 graph (1) that propose to develop mid-tier 

10 value chains. 

11 ‘‘(iii) UNOBLIGATED AMOUNTS.—Any 

12 amounts in the reserves for a fiscal year 

13 established under clauses (i) and (ii) that 

14 are not obligated after the completion of 

15 the peer review process for such fiscal year 

16 shall be available to the Secretary to make 

17 grants under this subsection to eligible en18 tities in any State, as determined by the 

19 Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES AND

21 PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Not more than 5 per22 cent of the total amount made available to 

23 carry out this subsection for a fiscal year may 


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1 be used for administrative expenses, program 

2 evaluation, outreach, and technical assistance.’’. 

Æ 


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