I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8198 
To reauthorize and improve the relending program to resolve ownership and 
succession on farmland, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 1, 2024 
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture 
A BILL 
To reauthorize and improve the relending program to resolve 
ownership and succession on farmland, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heirs Education and 
Investment to Resolve Succession of Property Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE HEIRS PROPERTY 
INTERMEDIARY RELENDING PROGRAM. 
Section 310I(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1936c(g)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2028’’. 
SEC. 3. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR HEIRS PROPERTY 
RESOLUTION THROUGH DIRECT PUBLIC IN-
TEREST LEGAL SERVICES. 
Section 310I of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1936c) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 
subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR HEIRS PROP-
ERTY RESOLUTION THROUGH DIRECT PUBLIC INTEREST 
LEGAL SERVICES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 
into cooperative agreements with eligible entities to 
provide legal or accounting services to underserved 
heirs, at no cost to the underserved heirs, to assist 
in resolving issues related to ownership and succes-
sion on farmland or forest land that has multiple 
owners. Such a cooperative agreement must be for 
any of the following purposes: 
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‘‘(A) To assist with transitioning land to 
agricultural production. 
‘‘(B) To maintain land in agricultural pro-
duction. 
‘‘(C) To increase access to programs ad-
ministered by the Secretary through the resolu-
tion of real property claims in order to allow 
real property owners to meet land ownership 
eligibility requirements for participation in a 
program administered by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) 
ADMINISTRATION
OF
COOPERATIVE 
AGREEMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) DURATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—A cooperative 
agreement under paragraph (1) shall be in 
effect for not more than 5 years, subject to 
clause (ii). 
‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—The Secretary 
may re-enter into a cooperative agreement 
with the same or a different eligible entity 
to provide continued services for heirs if 
property ownership is not resolved within 
the initial term of the original cooperative 
agreement, and the entity certifies that the 
entity understands that the cooperative 
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agreement is not guaranteed to be funded 
for more than 5 years after the commence-
ment of the original cooperative agreement. 
‘‘(B) MANAGEMENT OF PERFORMANCE.— 
‘‘(i) ANNUAL
REPORTS.—An eligible 
entity must provide annual reports to the 
Secretary summarizing the progress made 
during each fiscal year towards achieving 
the goals of the cooperative agreement for 
the heirs for whom services are provided 
under the cooperative agreement. 
‘‘(ii) INFORMATION AND DATA.—The 
Secretary may require an eligible entity to 
provide the Secretary with such informa-
tion or data, other than personally identifi-
able information or data, as the Secretary 
deems necessary to determine that the eli-
gible entity is making acceptable progress. 
‘‘(iii) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO DEM-
ONSTRATE SUCCESS.—If an eligible entity 
providing services under such a cooperative 
agreement does not demonstrate success, 
as determined by the Secretary, in resolv-
ing or reasonably attempting to resolve the 
property claims of an heir, the Secretary 
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may terminate the agreement, or elect to 
not enter into a new cooperative agreement 
with the eligible entity after the initial 
term of the original cooperative agreement. 
‘‘(C) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary 
may utilize requests for public input or the for-
mal rulemaking process to effectuate this sub-
section. At a minimum, the Secretary shall 
make publicly available the criteria for selecting 
an eligible entity to enter into an agreement to 
provide services, the administrative and per-
formance requirements for cooperative agree-
ments under this subsection, as well as codify 
within its internal policy its implementation 
process. 
‘‘(D) HEIRS
PROPERTY
NOT
IN
FARM-
ING.—On a limited basis, and when determined 
by the Secretary to meet the purposes of a pro-
gram administered by the Secretary and to ex-
pand access to such a program, the Secretary 
may allow an eligible entity to provide services 
at no cost to an heir who is not an underserved 
heir if— 
‘‘(i) the land with respect to which the 
services are to be provided is not farmland 
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or in agricultural production, but could be 
viably productive for agricultural, con-
servation, or forestry purposes; 
‘‘(ii) the heir satisfies all other re-
quirements of the definition of ‘under-
served heir’; 
‘‘(iii) the heir can provide proof to 
substantiate that the heir is in control of 
the real property; and 
‘‘(iv) the heir certifies to the Secretary 
that the heir intends to apply for, and 
make a good faith effort to enroll the land 
in, a program administered by the Sec-
retary once property claims to the land are 
resolved through services provided under a 
cooperative agreement entered into under 
this subsection. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi-
ble entity’ means a nonprofit organization 
that— 
‘‘(i) provides legal or accounting serv-
ices to an underserved heir at no cost to 
the underserved heir; and 
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‘‘(ii) has demonstrated experience in 
resolving issues related to ownership and 
succession on farmland or forest land that 
has multiple owners. 
‘‘(B) LIMITED RESOURCE HEIR.—An heir 
shall be considered a limited resource heir for 
purposes of this subsection if— 
‘‘(i) the total household income of the 
heir is at or below the national poverty 
level for a family of 4, or less than 50 per-
cent of the county median household in-
come for the 2 immediately preceding cal-
endar years, as determined annually using 
data of the Department of Commerce; or 
‘‘(ii) the property of the heir for which 
legal services are provided pursuant to a 
cooperative agreement entered into under 
this subsection is in a persistent poverty 
community, as determined annually on the 
basis of data from the Department of 
Commerce, or a socially vulnerable area, as 
designated by the Centers on Disease Con-
trol and Prevention. 
‘‘(C) UNDERSERVED HEIR.—The term ‘un-
derserved heir’ means an heir with an undivided 
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ownership interest in farmland that has mul-
tiple owners, who is— 
‘‘(i) a limited resource heir; 
‘‘(ii) a member of a socially disadvan-
taged group (as defined in section 2501(a) 
of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, 
and Trade Act of 1990); or 
‘‘(iii) a veteran (as defined in section 
101(2) of title 38, United States Code). 
‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Within 
1 year after the date of the enactment of this sub-
section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
prepare, make public, and submit to the Committee 
on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
estry of the Senate a written report on the activities 
carried out under this subsection in the year covered 
by the report. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF AP-
PROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this sub-
section, there is authorized to be appropriated 
to the Secretary $60,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2028. 
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‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR 
ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may expend 
for administrative purposes not more than 3 
percent of the amounts made available under 
subparagraph (A).’’. 
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON OPERATIONS AND OUTCOMES 
UNDER THE RELENDING PROGRAM TO RE-
SOLVE OWNERSHIP AND SUCCESSION ON 
FARMLAND. 
Section 310I(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act, as so redesignated by section 3 of this 
Act, is amended by striking ‘‘Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall’’ 
and inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall annually’’. 
SEC. 5. REPORTS ON LAND ACCESS AND FARMLAND OWN-
ERSHIP DATA COLLECTION. 
Section 12607(c) of the Agriculture Improvement Act 
of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2204i(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘2019 
through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2024 through 2028’’. 
Æ 
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