I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1645 
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
of 1998 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national 
biochar research network, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2023 
Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS
(for herself, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. 
NEWHOUSE, Mr. PANETTA, and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu-
cation Reform Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary of 
Agriculture to establish a national biochar research net-
work, 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 ‘‘Biochar Research Net-
work Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. NATIONAL BIOCHAR RESEARCH NETWORK. 
Title IV of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and 
Education Reform Act of 1998 is amended by inserting 
before section 404 (7 U.S.C. 7624) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 403. NATIONAL BIOCHAR RESEARCH NETWORK. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish a national biochar research network (referred to in 
this section as the ‘research network’) of not more than 
20 research sites or facilities described in subsection (c) 
to test the full range of biochar types across soil types, 
soil health and soil management conditions, application 
methods, and climatic and agronomic regions— 
‘‘(1) to assess the soil carbon sequestration po-
tential of various biochars and management systems 
integrating biochar use; 
‘‘(2) to understand how to use biochar produc-
tively to contribute to climate mitigation, crop pro-
duction, resilience to extreme weather events, eco-
system and soil health, natural resource conserva-
tion, and farm profitability; and 
‘‘(3) to deliver science-based, region-specific, 
cost-effective, and practical information to farmers, 
ranchers, foresters, land reclamation managers, 
urban land managers, and other land and natural 
resource managers and businesses on sustainable 
biochar production and application. 
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‘‘(b) SCOPE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The research network shall 
encompass— 
‘‘(A) agriculture, horticulture, rangeland, 
forestry, and other biochar uses; and 
‘‘(B) a broad range of feedstocks, produc-
tion processes, and application treatments. 
‘‘(2) RESEARCH.—The research conducted by 
the research network shall include— 
‘‘(A) cross-site and mechanistic experi-
ments— 
‘‘(i) to fill critical knowledge gaps and 
gain a more complete understanding of the 
impact of various types of biochar in vary-
ing site conditions on soil properties, plant 
growth, greenhouse gas emissions, and car-
bon sequestration in different soils, cli-
mates, and other natural and agronomic 
conditions; 
‘‘(ii) to provide mechanistic and 
technoeconomic insights on thermochemical 
conversion processes in biochar production 
and the coproduction of biochar and bio-
energy, including interactions of feedstock 
properties with reactor conditions and 
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processes on the relative proportions and 
properties of biochar, biofuels, and value- 
added coproducts, as well as process effi-
ciency; 
‘‘(iii) to generate data to develop, cali-
brate, and validate robust mechanistic 
models to predict the full life cycle of 
greenhouse gas, crop response, and related 
agronomic and environmental implications 
of particular applications of biochar; 
‘‘(iv) to generate data to help guide 
the design of new, more efficient biochar 
and bioenergy production reactors and bio-
refineries; and 
‘‘(v) to generate data to develop, cali-
brate, and validate testing methodologies 
for biochar to identify potential contami-
nants or other factors that may cause un-
intended consequences; and 
‘‘(B) site-specific farm and forestry sys-
tems assessments and pilot-scale biochar pro-
duction and application systems— 
‘‘(i) to refine the most promising soil- 
based uses, sources, and methods of pro-
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ducing and applying biochar in particular 
regions— 
‘‘(I) to enhance productivity; 
‘‘(II) to increase profitability, 
scalability, and portability; 
‘‘(III) to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions; 
‘‘(IV) to improve ecosystem and 
soil health; 
‘‘(V) to strengthen resilience to 
extreme weather events; and 
‘‘(VI) to explore soil, crop, cli-
mate, management, and biochar inter-
actions; 
‘‘(ii) to develop new knowledge to sup-
port decisions on sustainable production 
and use of biochar; 
‘‘(iii) to collect relevant data needed 
for full life cycle greenhouse gas and eco-
nomic analyses and complete those anal-
ysis; 
‘‘(iv) to predict plant response, soil 
health, soil carbon sequestration, eco-
system health, water quality, greenhouse 
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gas, and economic outcomes for specific 
implementations of biochar technology; 
‘‘(v) to provide data to evaluate local 
biomass feedstocks, support selection of 
sustainable biochar production methods, 
and address biochar production issues; and 
‘‘(vi) to share research results to in-
form farmers, horticulturalists, ranchers, 
foresters, urban biochar users, extension 
agents and specialists, and technical assist-
ance providers on the most advantageous 
ways to use biochar to increase profit-
ability, raise productivity, lower costs, im-
prove soil and plant health, and enhance 
resilience to extreme weather events while 
contributing to carbon sequestration and 
greenhouse gas reductions. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity shall be eligible to be 
selected to conduct research as part of the research net-
work if the entity is— 
‘‘(1) a State agricultural experiment station or 
a State forestry experiment station; 
‘‘(2) a research facility of the Agricultural Re-
search Service, the Forest Service, or any other 
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‘‘(B) shall coordinate the activities of the 
research network with— 
‘‘(i) the development, expansion, and 
refinement of conservation practice stand-
ards for biochar production and use for 
soil and forest health, climate adaptation 
and mitigation, and other conservation 
purposes; and 
‘‘(ii) improvements and expansion of 
conservation program technical and finan-
cial support for biochar production, appli-
cation, and integration into soil health 
management systems and other conserva-
tion approaches. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.’’. 
Æ 
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