I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5500 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an initiative to support peer learning relating to 

a wide range of agriculture conservation activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. MOLINARO (for himself and Ms. SALINAS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the 

Secretary of Agriculture to establish an initiative to support peer learning relating to a wide range of agriculture 

conservation activities, 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 ‘‘Peer Learning for Ag5 riculture Conservation Education Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘PLACE Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PEER LEARNING FOR AGRICULTURE CONSERVA2 TION EDUCATION. 

3 Section 1271C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

4 U.S.C. 3871c) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(e) PEER LEARNING INITIATIVE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF PEER LEARNING.—In this 

8 subsection, the term ‘peer learning’ means an edu9 cational experience that includes— 

10 ‘‘(A) farmer, rancher, or forester led infor11 mation sharing, education, or training activities 

12 that support agricultural producers or foresters; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(B) the provision of farmer, rancher, or 

15 forester led technical assistance to agricultural 

16 producers or foresters. 

17 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF INITIATIVE.—Not 

18 later than 1 year after enactment, the Secretary 

19 shall establish an initiative to support projects that 

20 provide to agricultural producers peer learning op21 portunities relating to a wide range of agriculture 

22 conservation activities, such as— 

23 ‘‘(A) activities or management systems, as 

24 determined by the Secretary, that directly con25 tribute to improving soil health; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any other regional priority natural re2 source concerns, as determined by the Sec3 retary. 

4 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

6 initiative established under paragraph (2), the 

7 Secretary shall enter into not fewer than 5 

8 grant agreements each fiscal year to support 

9 peer learning projects in accordance with that 

10 paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(B) AGREEMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

13 may enter into a grant agreement under 

14 subparagraph (A) with 1 or more eligible 

15 partners that are engaged in providing 

16 peer learning to agricultural producers. 

17 ‘‘(ii) PROJECTS.—A grant agreement 

18 under subparagraph (A) may support any 

19 of the following: 

20 ‘‘(I) Projects within or sponsored 

21 by a State. 

22 ‘‘(II) Multistate projects. 

23 ‘‘(III) Projects in a critical con24 servation area designated under sec25 tion 1271F. 


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1 ‘‘(C) APPLICATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An organization 

3 described in subparagraph (B)(i) desiring 

4 to enter into a grant agreement under sub5 paragraph (A) shall submit to the Sec6 retary an application at such time, in such 

7 manner, and containing such information 

8 as the Secretary may require. 

9 ‘‘(ii) MULTIPLE APPLICANTS.—An ap10 plication under clause (i) may be submitted 

11 jointly by multiple organizations described 

12 in subparagraph (B)(i). 

13 ‘‘(4) DUTIES OF THE ELIGIBLE PARTNER.— 

14 ‘‘(A) Entities that enter into an agreement 

15 with the Secretary under paragraph (3)(B) 

16 shall use funding for purposes related to coordi17 nating peer learning initiatives, such as— 

18 ‘‘(i) convening of stakeholders to 

19 achieve the goals of the contractual part20 nership with NRCS through the Program; 

21 ‘‘(ii) farmer outreach and education; 

22 ‘‘(iii) forester outreach and education; 

23 ‘‘(iv) convening of the scientific com24 munity for the purposes of coordinating 

25 scientific research methodologies and data 


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1 sets related to priority resource concerns 

2 identified in the agreement; 

3 ‘‘(v) coordination of municipal and 

4 State policies with on-farm practices; 

5 ‘‘(vi) facilitating trainings; and 

6 ‘‘(vii) other activities as determined by 

7 the Secretary that facilitate peer learning 

8 oriented around priority resource concerns 

9 identified in the agreement. 

10 ‘‘(B) Submit to the Secretary, in addition 

11 to any information that the Secretary requires 

12 to prepare the report under section 3871e(b) of 

13 this title, an annual report that describes the 

14 status of the project, including a description 

15 of— 

16 ‘‘(i) the use of the funds awarded 

17 under paragraph (3); 

18 ‘‘(ii) any subcontracts awarded; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the producers receiving funding 

20 through the funding agreement under 

21 paragraph (3); 

22 ‘‘(iv)(I) the progress made by the 

23 project in addressing each natural resource 

24 concern defined in the funding agreement 


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1 under paragraph (3), including in a quan2 tified form to the extent practicable; and 

3 ‘‘(II) as appropriate, other outcomes 

4 of the project; and 

5 ‘‘(v) any other reporting data the Sec6 retary determines are necessary to ensure 

7 compliance with the program rules. 

8 ‘‘(5) WAIVER.—With respect to a project fund9 ed under the initiative established under paragraph 

10 (2), the Secretary may waive any requirement under 

11 the program that limits the percentage of program 

12 funding that may be used for technical assistance, or 

13 requires a minimum percentage of program funding 

14 to be used for financial assistance, such that up to 

15 100 percent of the funding provided for the project 

16 may be used for technical assistance, if the grant 

17 agreement entered into under paragraph (3)(B) with 

18 respect to that project includes a plan to promote 

19 the availability of covered programs to agricultural 

20 producers.’’. 

Æ 


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