Title: To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to establish a waiver from the matching requirement for certain grants under the specialty crop research initiative.
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to waive the matching requirement for certain grants under the specialty crop research initiative.
Specifically, USDA may waive the requirement if (1) the research conducted using grant funds will benefit a specific specialty crop and is likely to be applicable to agricultural commodities generally, or the grant involves scientifically important research; and (2) the recipient of the grant is unable to satisfy the matching funds requirement.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3952 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3952

To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
of 1998 to establish a waiver from the matching requirement for certain 
          grants under the specialty crop research initiative.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2019

  Ms. Schrier (for herself and Mr. Cox of California) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act 
of 1998 to establish a waiver from the matching requirement for certain 
          grants under the specialty crop research initiative.

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

SECTION 1. WAIVER UNDER SPECIALTY CROP RESEARCH INITIATIVE.

    (a) In General.--Section 412(g)(3) of the Agricultural Research, 
Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7632(g)(3)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``An entity'' and 
        inserting ``Subject to subparagraph (C), an entity''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the matching 
                funds requirement under subparagraph (A) with respect 
                to a grant made under this section if the Secretary 
                determines that--
                            ``(i) the research conducted using grant 
                        funds--
                                    ``(I) will benefit a specific 
                                specialty crop; and
                                    ``(II) are likely to be applicable 
                                to agricultural commodities generally, 
                                including specialty crops; or
                            ``(ii)(I) the grant involves scientifically 
                        important research; and
                            ``(II) the recipient of such grant is 
                        unable to satisfy such matching funds 
                        requirement.''.
    (b) Application.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply 
with respect to grants awarded on or after October 1, 2019.
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