I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5051 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve 

the Rural Energy for America Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. VALADAO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

of 2002 to improve the Rural Energy for America Program, 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 ‘‘Rural Energy for 

5 America Program Modernization Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘REAP Modernization Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007 of the Farm Secu9 rity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8107) 

10 is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

3 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

4 and indenting appropriately; 

5 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

6 (A) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘The Sec7 retary’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 

9 (C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), in 

10 the matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as so 

11 redesignated), by inserting ‘‘(referred to in this 

12 section as the ‘Program’)’’ after ‘‘Program’’; 

13 and 

14 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) CLIMATE BENEFITS.—In carrying out the 

16 Program, the Secretary shall promote the reduction 

17 of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of carrying 

18 out projects funded by grants and other financial as19 sistance under the Program.’’; 

20 (2) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

24 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

25 (E) as subparagraph (G); and 


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1 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

2 (D) the following: 

3 ‘‘(E) a producer cooperative; 

4 ‘‘(F) a nongovernmental organization; 

5 and’’; 

6 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (ii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 

10 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

11 and’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(G) the potential of the proposed program 

15 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide 

16 other climate benefits.’’; and 

17 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

18 (i) in subparagraph (B), by redesig19 nating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 

20 and (II), respectively, and indenting appro21 priately; 

22 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

23 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec24 tively, and indenting appropriately; 


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1 (iii) in the matter preceding clause (i) 

2 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘A recipi3 ent’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A recipient’’; and 

5 (iv) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(B) GRANT OPTIONS.—A grant awarded 

8 under paragraph (1) may be used to carry out 

9 1 or more of the activities described in subpara10 graph (A).’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (c)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by adding after 

13 and below the end the following: 

14 ‘‘The Secretary may, on a limited case-by-case 

15 basis, provide financial assistance described in 

16 this subparagraph to agricultural producer co17 operatives and rural electric cooperatives that 

18 do not otherwise qualify for the assistance.’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

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

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

23 (G) as subparagraph (H); and 

24 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 

25 (F) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(G) the potential of the renewable energy 

2 system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and 

3 result in other climate benefits; and’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘25 

5 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 percent’’; 

6 (4) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and 

7 (f) as subsections (e), (f), and (i), respectively; 

8 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(d) STREAMLINED APPLICATION PROCESS.—The 

11 Secretary shall develop a streamlined application process, 

12 including within each tier described in subsection (c)(4), 

13 under which an entity may apply for a grant under sub14 section (b), financial assistance under subsection (c), or 

15 a bundled application for a project with components eligi16 ble under clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (c)(1)(A).’’; 

17 (6) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)— 

18 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

19 ‘‘OUTREACH’’ and inserting ‘‘OUTREACH, 

20 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND EDUCATION’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘that adequate’’ and in22 serting the following: ‘‘that— 

23 ‘‘(1) adequate’’; 


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1 (C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 

2 striking the period at the end and inserting a 

3 semicolon; and 

4 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) technical assistance is provided to entities 

6 seeking to apply for a grant or financial assistance 

7 under the Program; and 

8 ‘‘(3) outreach, technical assistance, and edu9 cation is provided to recipients of grants and other 

10 financial assistance under the Program relating to 

11 integrating renewable energy projects on land shared 

12 with crops or livestock.’’; 

13 (7) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated), in 

14 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$20,000’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘$50,000’’; 

16 (8) by inserting after subsection (f) (as so re17 designated) the following: 

18 ‘‘(g) STUDY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF DUAL-USE ENERGY SYS20 TEM.—In this subsection, the term ‘dual-use energy 

21 system’ means a system under which renewable en22 ergy production and agricultural production, includ23 ing crop or animal production, occur together on the 

24 same piece of land. 


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1 ‘‘(2) STUDY.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

2 study on dual-use energy systems. 

3 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

4 date of enactment of the REAP Modernization Act 

5 of 2023, the Secretary shall submit to Congress, and 

6 make publicly available online, a report on the re7 sults of the study carried out under paragraph (2), 

8 which shall include a recommendation as to whether 

9 the scope of grants and other financial assistance 

10 under the Program should be expanded to cover 

11 projects that generate more energy without signifi12 cantly impacting farm operations or leading to the 

13 conversion of existing farm land. 

14 ‘‘(h) ENERGY GENERATED.—In the case of a project 

15 funded by a grant or other financial assistance provided 

16 under the Program that takes place on a property on 

17 which a residence is closely associated with and shares an 

18 energy metering device with an agricultural operation or 

19 rural small business to be served by the project, there shall 

20 not be any requirement imposed relating to the quantity 

21 of energy generated by the project that must be used by 

22 the agricultural operation or rural small business.’’; and 

23 (9) in subsection (i) (as so redesignated), by 

24 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) OUTREACH, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND

2 EDUCATION.—Of the funds made available to carry 

3 out this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

4 use not more than 8 percent to carry out subsection 

5 (e). 

6 ‘‘(5) RESERVE FUND.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is established a 

8 reserve fund (referred to in this paragraph as 

9 the ‘reserve fund’), into which, each fiscal year, 

10 not less than 15 percent of the funds made 

11 available under paragraphs (1) and (3) to carry 

12 out this section for that fiscal year shall be 

13 transferred. 

14 ‘‘(B) USE OF RESERVE FUND.—After all 

15 other funds for the Program are obligated for 

16 a fiscal year, the Secretary may use amounts in 

17 the reserve fund to provide grants and other fi18 nancial assistance under the Program for 

19 projects using underutilized renewable energy 

20 technologies. 

21 ‘‘(C) UNUSED FUNDS.—If there are re22 maining funds in the reserve fund at the end of 

23 a fiscal year, the Secretary shall use those re24 maining funds to provide grants and other fi25 nancial assistance under the Program without 


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1 regard to whether the grants or financial assist2 ance relate to underutilized renewable energy 

3 technologies.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9007 of 

5 the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 

6 U.S.C. 8107) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ each 

7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (i)’’. 

Æ 


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