I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5267
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990
to require the Secretary of Agriculture to develop programs to encourage
source-separated composting at homes, schools, and workplaces, and on
farms.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 7, 1994
Mr. HOCHBRUECKNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade
Act of 1990 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to
develop 
programs 
to 
encourage 
source-separated
composting at homes, schools, and workplaces, and on
farms.
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 ‘‘National Composting
Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COORDINATION
OF COMPOSTING.
(a) COMPOSTING PROGRAM.—Subtitle F of title XIV
of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of
1990 (Public Law 101–624; 104 Stat. 3619) is amended
by adding at the end the following new chapter:
‘‘CHAPTER 2—COORDINATION OF
COMPOSTING
‘‘SEC. 1476. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, AND DEFINITIONS.
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
‘‘(1) billions of dollars are spent annually on
municipal solid waste management in the United
States;
‘‘(2) a substantial portion of discarded munici-
pal solid waste is organic material that could be sep-
arated at the generating source and composted;
‘‘(3) approximately half of this compostable ma-
terial could be diverted from the waste stream by
composting at home, school, and work, and on
farms, thereby avoiding at least 20 percent of the
ever increasing social and economic burden of mu-
nicipal solid waste management;
‘‘(4) the incorporation in soil of organic mate-
rial derived from composting enhances soil produc-
tivity by adding nutrients and natural disease sup-
pressing factors;
‘‘(5) greater use of compost as a soil additive
will reduce erosion and run-off by increasing infiltra-
tion and permeability, thereby discouraging nonpoint
source pollution; and
‘‘(6) composting and use of soil-enriching com-
post on farms is the most efficient and inexpensive
way for farmers to move toward sustainable agri-
culture.
‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this chapter is to es-
tablish a structure to foster the development of source-
separated composting and the use of the resulting compost
at home, school, and work and on farms in order to dem-
onstrate that communities can achieve ‘zero-discharge’ of
these materials.
‘‘SEC. 1477. FEDERAL COORDINATION OF COMPOSTING AND
USE OF COMPOST.
‘‘(a) NATIONAL
COMPOSTING
COORDINATOR.—In
order to make the Federal Government the leader in
composting and the use of compost, the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall appoint a national composting coordinator.
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES OF COORDINATOR.—The national
composting coordinator shall be responsible for carrying
out the following activities regarding composting:
‘‘(1) Development of cooperative agreements
with all Federal agencies to institute composting and
facilitate on-site use of the resulting compost at
Federal installations.
‘‘(2) Development of Federal procurement
guidelines for obtaining source-separated compost
for use on public lands and promotion of the adop-
tion of such guidelines by Federal agencies.
‘‘(3) Establishment of a soil conservation pro-
gram for compost production and use as part of the
Soil Conservation Service and a cost-sharing pro-
gram for compost use as part of the Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation Service protocol for
organic matter management and soil loss prevention.
‘‘(4) Implementation of a ‘Zero-Discharge Com-
munity Challenge’, in which communities, cat-
egorized by size and region, compete for national
awards or grants rewarding those communities that
strive to achieve zero-discharge of compostables.
‘‘(5) Establishment of a clearinghouse for infor-
mation available to the public on composting and use
of compost generated by States, Government agen-
cies (including the Department of Agriculture), envi-
ronmental groups, composting organizations and pri-
vate enterprises.
‘‘(6) Establishment of a nationwide ‘compost
from cafeterias’ demonstration program to compost
organic discards from school and workplace cafe-
terias together with yard trimmings.
‘‘(7) Development of compost programs in asso-
ciation with restaurant, grocery, and other industry
where food scraps are generated.
‘‘(8) Development of guidelines for the use of
compost in agriculture and public lands in conjunc-
tion with initiatives in the Soil Conservation Service
and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation
Service and demonstration of the suitability of the
guidelines through the use of compost in public pro-
grams.
‘‘(9) Institution of outreach programs using the
Cooperative Extension Service to demonstrate back-
yard composting for homes, schools, workplaces, and
farms and promotion and coordination of cooperative
composting and compost utilization programs involv-
ing farms and communities by providing training
and technical support.
‘‘SEC. 1478. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘As used in this chapter—
‘‘(1) COMPOST.—Organic materials that have
been biologically decomposed.
‘‘(2) COMPOSTING.—The term ‘composting’
means the controlled biological decomposition of or-
ganic matter into a stable humus.
‘‘SEC. 1479. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary of Agriculture to carry out this chapter $2,000,000
for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1999.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Such subtitle is
further amended by inserting after the subtitle heading
the following:
‘‘CHAPTER 1—ADMINISTRATION
GENERALLY’’.
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents
in section 1(b) of such Act (104 Stat. 3359) is amended—
(1) by striking the item relating to section
1446;
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sub-
title F of title XIV the following new item:
‘‘Chapter 1—Administration Generally’’;
and
(3) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 1473 the following new items:
‘‘Chapter 2—Coordination of Composting
‘‘Sec. 1476. Findings, purpose, and definitions.
‘‘Sec. 1477. Federal coordination of composting and use of compost.
‘‘Sec. 1478. Definitions.
‘‘Sec. 1479. Authorization of appropriations.’’.
SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF COMPOST USAGE AS CONSERVATION
PRACTICE ELIGIBLE FOR COST SHARE AS-
SISTANCE
The Secretary of Agriculture shall designate use of
compost as an activity eligible for Federal cost sharing
under programs of the Department of Agriculture promot-
ing soil conservation practices and the establishment or
renovation of permanent vegetative cover.
Æ