I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5763 

To establish as a permanent program the organic market development grant 

program of the Department of Agriculture. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 

Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SALINAS, and Mr. PANETTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To establish as a permanent program the organic market 

development grant program of the Department of Agriculture. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ORGANIC MARKET DEVELOPMENT GRANT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCT.—The term 

7 ‘‘certified organic product’’ means an agricultural 

8 product (as defined in section 2103 of the Organic 

9 Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6502)) 


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1 that is organically produced (as defined in that sec2 tion). 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible enti5 ty’’ means an entity described in subparagraph 

6 (B) that— 

7 (i) is owned and operated within— 

8 (I) a State; 

9 (II) the District of Columbia; 

10 (III) the Commonwealth of Puer11 to Rico; 

12 (IV) the United States Virgin Is13 lands; 

14 (V) Guam; 

15 (VI) American Samoa; 

16 (VII) the Commonwealth of the 

17 Northern Mariana Islands; or 

18 (VIII) the jurisdiction of a Tribal 

19 government; and 

20 (ii)(I) is certified in accordance with 

21 subpart E of part 205 of title 7, Code of 

22 Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

23 date of enactment of this Act / or suc24 cessor regulations); or 

25 (II) is in transition to certification. 


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1 (B) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—An entity re2 ferred to in subparagraph (A) is— 

3 (i) a producer, producer cooperative, 

4 or other commercial entity that produces 

5 or handles certified organic products; 

6 (ii) a nonprofit corporation; 

7 (iii) a trade association; 

8 (iv) a public benefit corporation; 

9 (v) a philanthropic organization; 

10 (vi) a unit of Tribal, State, territorial, 

11 or local government; or 

12 (vii) such other entity as the Sec13 retary may designate. 

14 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ does not include an entity described in sub16 paragraph (B) the operations of which are sus17 pended or revoked under section 205.662 of 

18 title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (as in ef19 fect on the date of enactment of this Act / or 

20 successor regulations). 

21 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

23 (4) TRANSITION TO CERTIFICATION.—The term 

24 ‘‘transition to certification’’, with respect to an eligi25 ble entity, means the period of time during which 


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1 the crops or livestock of the eligible entity, as appli2 cable, are managed in accordance with the require3 ments of the National Organic Program before being 

4 granted organic certification, which may include— 

5 (A) the management of cropland organi6 cally for not less than 3 years; 

7 (B) the management of slaughter of live8 stock organically from the last third of gesta9 tion; 

10 (C) the management of dairy animals or11 ganically for not less than 1 year; 

12 (D) the management of poultry organically 

13 from the second day of life; and 

14 (E) such other conditions as the Secretary 

15 may require. 

16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—The Secretary, 

17 acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural Mar18 keting Service, shall establish a program, to be known as 

19 the ‘‘Organic Market Development Grant Program’’, 

20 that— 

21 (1) increases the capacity of the domestic or22 ganic product supply chain for producers, handlers, 

23 suppliers, and processors of certified organic prod24 ucts; 


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1 (2) modernizes manufacturing, tracking, stor2 age, and information technology systems specific to 

3 the purposes described in this subsection, such as 

4 process control or organic product ingredient track5 ing systems; 

6 (3) improves the capacity of eligible entities to 

7 comply with applicable regulatory requirements or 

8 quality standards required to access markets, such 

9 as requirements and standards relating to food safe10 ty and organic product certification; 

11 (4) expands capacity for storage, processing, 

12 aggregation, and distribution of certified organic 

13 products to create more and better markets for pro14 ducers of certified organic products; 

15 (5) facilitates market development for domesti16 cally produced certified organic products; 

17 (6) provides for the conduct of feasibility stud18 ies and market viability assessments to inform or19 ganic transition strategies and opportunities; 

20 (7) ameliorates barriers to entry to organic 

21 product certification for historically underserved en22 tities; 

23 (8) supports market and promotional activities 

24 that help build commercial markets for certified or25 ganic products in the United States; and 


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1 (9) provides technical assistance and outreach 

2 to program stakeholders and participants. 

3 (c) GRANTS.—For each fiscal year for which amounts 

4 are made available to carry out this section under sub5 section (k), the Secretary shall provide grants to support 

6 eligible entities in conducting activities in accordance with 

7 the purposes of the program described in subsection (b). 

8 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

10 grant under this section, an eligible entity shall sub11 mit to the Secretary an application at such time, in 

12 such manner, and containing such information as 

13 the Secretary may require. 

14 (2) SIMPLIFIED PROCESS.—The Secretary shall 

15 implement a simplified application and award proc16 ess under this section for use by any eligible entity 

17 seeking to carry out an equipment-only project. 

18 (3) BENEFITS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (B), an application submitted 

21 under this subsection shall include a description 

22 of the direct or indirect producer or food busi23 ness benefits intended by the eligible entity to 

24 result from the proposed project within a reaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Nov 30, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5763.IH H5763

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1 sonable period of time after the receipt of a 

2 grant under this section. 

3 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) shall 

4 not apply to any feasibility study or market via5 bility assessment conducted pursuant to this 

6 section. 

7 (4) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 

8 such criteria for the evaluation and funding of pro9 posed projects under this section as the Secretary 

10 determines to be appropriate. 

11 (5) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—The Secretary— 

12 (A) shall conduct a competitive process to 

13 select applications submitted under this sub14 section; 

15 (B) may assess and rank applications with 

16 similar purposes as a group; and 

17 (C) before accepting any application under 

18 this subsection, shall publish the criteria to be 

19 used in evaluating the applications. 

20 (e) PROJECT TYPES.—An eligible entity may use 

21 amounts received under this section to carry out, in ac22 cordance with such goals and deadlines for completion as 

23 the Secretary may establish, the following types of 

24 projects: 


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1 (1) Market development and promotion of cer2 tified organic products. 

3 (2) Certified organic product storage (including 

4 cold storage), aggregation, processing, and distribu5 tion capacity expansion. 

6 (3) Equipment-only. 

7 (f) TERM.—Unless otherwise determined by the Sec8 retary, a grant provided under this section shall have a 

9 term of not longer than 3 years. 

10 (g) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant pro12 vided under this section for a project described in 

13 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (e) shall be not 

14 more than $3,000,000. 

15 (2) SIMPLIFIED EQUIPMENT-ONLY PROJECTS.— 

16 The amount of a grant provided under this section 

17 for a project described in subsection (e)(3) shall be 

18 not more than $100,000. 

19 (h) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re21 ceives a grant under this section to carry out a 

22 project described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub23 section (e) shall provide a non-Federal share equal 

24 to not less than 50 percent of the cost of the project. 


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1 (2) SIMPLIFIED EQUIPMENT-ONLY PROJECTS.— 

2 An eligible entity that receives a grant under this 

3 section to carry out a project described in subsection 

4 (e)(3) shall not be required to contribute a non-Fed5 eral share to the cost of the project. 

6 (i) INAPPLICABILITY OF PRIOR LIMITATIONS.— 

7 (1) QUANTITY.—The Secretary may provide a 

8 grant under this section to more than 1 eligible enti9 ty, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

10 (2) CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL

11 CHANGES.—A grant provided under this section may 

12 be used by an eligible entity for— 

13 (A) new construction; or 

14 (B) any structural modification to an exist15 ing building or facility resulting in— 

16 (i) an expansion in the square footage 

17 of the building or facility; or 

18 (ii) a change to the floor, the founda19 tion, or an exterior or load-bearing wall of 

20 the building or facility. 

21 (j) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

22 provide to eligible entities technical assistance under this 

23 section, directly or through a cooperative agreement. 

24 (k) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) MANDATORY FUNDING.—Of the funds of 

2 the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary 

3 shall use to carry out this section $75,000,000 for 

4 fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, to 

5 remain available until expended. 

6 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this section $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and 

9 each fiscal year thereafter, to remain available until 

10 expended. 

Æ 


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