Biomanufacturing and Jobs Act

Bill: 118-hr-5134
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4]
Introduced: 2023-08-04
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Advisory bodies

Agricultural marketing and promotion

Congressional oversight

Consumer affairs

Department of Agriculture

Government information and archives

Manufacturing

Public contracts and procurement

Public-private cooperation

Small business

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2023-09-19
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5134 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 4, 2023 Mr. Alford (for himself and Ms. Craig ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture , and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to improve the biobased markets program, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Biomanufacturing and Jobs Act . 2. Findings; purposes (a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) biobased products provide additional markets for farm commodities, reducing the reliance of the United States on petroleum and increasing the use of renewable agricultural resources while driving rural economic development and growth; (2) United States farmers produce feedstock used to produce a variety of biobased products, including personal care products, industrial paints solvents, construction materials, and apparels and textiles; (3) the BioPreferred Program of the Department of Agriculture is designed to increase the purchase and use of biobased products through a mandatory Federal purchasing initiative and a voluntary labeling initiative, thereby supporting additional markets for agricultural commodities and rural economic development; (4) according to the Department of Agriculture, there are approximately 15,000 biobased products participating in the BioPreferred Program, with approximately 2,600 biobased products authorized to display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label under the voluntary labeling initiative; and (5) the Department of Agriculture has estimated that— (A) as of 2008, there were more than 17,000 biobased products in the United States; and (B) as of 2014, there were more than 40,000 biobased products in the United States, demonstrating an increase in biobased products in the United States of 135 percent in 6 years. (b) Purposes The purposes of this Act are— (1) to recognize the value that biobased products bring to agriculture in the United States; (2) to support domestic manufacturing of biobased products made from agricultural commodities, including corn and soybeans; (3) to expand the role of the Department of Agriculture in the promotion of biobased products; (4) to build on procurement programs administered by the Department of Agriculture to increase Federal purchasing of biobased products; (5) to strengthen domestic manufacturing of biobased products; and (6) to make a national commitment to the rural and agricultural economies of the United States. 3. Biobased markets program Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 ( 7 U.S.C. 8102 ) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (2)— (i) in subparagraph (A)(i)— (I) in subclause (II)(bb), by striking and at the end; (II) in subclause (III), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (III) by adding at the end the following: (IV) on an annual basis, update the procurement requirement described in subclause (III) by increasing the number of biobased-only contracts or the volume purchased under those contracts from the previous year. ; (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking clause (iii) and inserting the following: (iii) are available only at a price that exceeds the price premium established under paragraph (3)(B)(viii) for those items. ; and (iii) by adding at the end the following: (G) Guidance The Secretary, in coordination with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, shall issue guidance to procuring agencies to consider product lifespan, savings, and efficacy when making procurement decisions under this subsection. ; (B) in paragraph (3)(B)— (i) in clause (vii), by striking and at the end; (ii) by redesignating clause (viii) as clause (ix); and (iii) by inserting after clause (vii) the following: (viii) establish price premiums for different types of biobased products; and ; and (C) in paragraph (4)— (i) in subparagraph (A)— (I) by striking clause (ii); and (II) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as clauses (ii) and (iii), respectively; (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i)— (I) in the matter preceding subclause (I)— (aa) by inserting and the Secretary after Policy ; and (bb) by striking information concerning— and inserting a report that describes, for the year covered by the report— ; (II) in subclause (I), by inserting , including the actions taken by the procuring agency to establish and implement the biobased procurement program of the procuring agency under that paragraph before the semicolon; (III) in subclause (IV), by striking and at the end; (IV) in subclause (V), by striking and at the end; and (V) by adding at the end the following: (VI) (aa) the specific categories of biobased products that are unavailable to meet the procurement needs of the procuring agency; and (bb) the desired performance standards and other relevant specifications for those products; and (VII) if applicable, the procurement requirement or updated procurement requirement established under paragraph (2)(A)(i) that the procuring agency failed to meet and reasons for the failure; and ; and (iii) by adding at the end the following: (D) Verification The Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in consultation with the Secretary, shall— (i) annually collect the information required to be reported under subparagraph (B) and make the information publicly available; and (ii) annually verify, using the information collected under subparagraph (B), that each procuring agency under paragraph (2)(A)(i), as applicable, has established a procurement program in accordance with subclause (I) of that paragraph. (E) Training (i) In general Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subparagraph, each procuring agency shall have completed training on biobased product purchasing for the appropriate staff of the procuring agency, including contracting officers, purchase card managers, and purchase card holders. (ii) Materials The Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in cooperation with the Secretary, shall provide training materials for procuring agencies conducting training pursuant to clause (i). (F) Federal catalog updates Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, in cooperation with the Secretary, shall— (i) direct the Administrator of General Services to update the Federal Procurement Data System described in section 1122(a)(4) of title 41, United States Code, or any successor system, to include biobased product designations; (ii) direct that the System for Award Management collect biobased product purchasing data; (iii) direct that Federal online procurement systems, including GSA Advantage! and FedMall, include designations for products that meet the guidelines under paragraph (3); (iv) require, to the maximum extent practicable, that Federal online procurement systems, including GSA Advantage! and FedMall, use North American Industry Classification System codes, North American Product Classification System-based product codes, and other product codes, as determined in consultation with the Secretary, when identifying products that meet the guidelines under paragraph (3); and (v) require agencies with online Federal sales platforms to include reporting of these purchases in their reporting on products that meet the guidelines under paragraph (3). ; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following: (C) Regulations The Secretary shall promulgate such regulations as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to ensure the integrity of the label described in paragraph (1), including regulations to define additional terms necessary to avoid or reduce public confusion relating to the label. (D) Unauthorized use Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the Secretary shall, in coordination with the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture, notify the public of how to report an instance of unauthorized use of the label described in paragraph (1). ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (5) Public marketing and education The Secretary may conduct outreach to educate the public on and promote the use of biobased products, including by— (A) conducting outreach to small businesses producing biobased products that seek a label under this subsection; (B) providing information about biobased product procurement preferences to State procurement agencies; and (C) establishing public-private partnerships to further increase awareness and use of biobased products. (6) Acceptance and use of contributions (A) In general The Secretary may establish an account to accept contributions of non-Federal funds to carry out public marketing and education under paragraph (5). (B) Deposit and use of contributions Contributions of non-Federal funds received to carry out the activities under paragraph (5) shall— (i) be deposited into the account established under this paragraph for those activities; (ii) be available to and subject to the control of the Secretary, without further appropriation and until expended, to carry out those activities; and (iii) supplement any funding made available under subsection (k) and allocated by the Secretary for those activities. (7) Report Not later than December 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of Agriculture and submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report that includes— (A) a list of the biobased products that were authorized to use the label described in paragraph (1) during the preceding fiscal year; (B) a description of the audit and compliance activities conducted under paragraph (3)(B) during the preceding fiscal year, including any findings of noncompliance and any actions taken by the Secretary to address the noncompliance; (C) (i) a description of the public marketing and education conducted by the Secretary under paragraph (5); and (ii) a plan for conducting public marketing and education under that paragraph for the following two fiscal years that is designed to increase the use of the label described in paragraph (1) and the purchase of biobased products; and (D) the total amount of contributions of non-Federal funds accepted into the account established under paragraph (6). ; (3) in subsection (f)(1), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking The Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly and inserting The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary, shall ; (4) in subsection (j)(3)— (A) in subparagraph (A)— (i) in clause (v), by striking ; and and inserting , including greenhouse gas emissions reduced and avoided; ; (ii) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (iii) by adding at the end the following: (vii) identifying available industry methodologies to establish a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions assessment methodology for biobased products. ; and (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking this subparagraph and inserting the Biomanufacturing and Jobs Act and every 5 years thereafter ; (5) in subsection (k), by striking 2023 each place it appears and inserting 2028 ; and (6) in subsection (l)— (A) by striking In this section and inserting the following: (1) In general In this section ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (2) Standard The Secretary shall use the most recent version of the ASTM–D–6866 standard of ASTM International to determine the contents of biobased products. . 4. Biobased Task Force Title IX of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after section 9003 ( 7 U.S.C. 8103 ) the following: 9004. Biobased task force (a) Establishment The Secretary shall establish a task force (referred to in this section as the task force )— (1) to coordinate programs and activities within the Department of Agriculture relating to the research, development, promotion, marketing, and analysis of biobased products, including to support the use of agricultural commodities and forest products in biobased products; (2) to maximize the resources allocated towards the research, development, promotion, marketing, and analysis of biobased products by the Department of Agriculture; (3) to determine the effectiveness of the programs and activities described in paragraph (1); and (4) to make recommendations for improvements to those programs and activities. (b) Membership The task force shall be composed of not less than 1 representative from each of the following mission areas or offices of the Department of Agriculture: (1) The rural development mission area. (2) The National Institute of Food and Agriculture. (3) The Economic Research Service. (4) The Agricultural Research Service. (5) The National Agricultural Statistics Service. (6) The Office of the Chief Scientist. (7) The Office of the Chief Economist. (8) The Office of Energy Policy and New Uses. (9) Any other mission area or office with responsibilities relating to the research, development, promotion, marketing, or analysis of biobased products. (c) Lead mission area The rural development mission area of the Department of Agriculture shall be the lead mission area for the task force. (d) Process for public input The task force shall establish a process for public input to help inform the determination of the task force under subsection (a)(3) of the effectiveness of the programs and activities described in subsection (a)(1). (e) Study and report (1) In general The task force shall conduct a study that— (A) identifies any existing programs and activities of the Department of Agriculture that may offer new opportunities to advance the research, development, promotion, marketing, and analysis of biobased products; and (B) describes those new opportunities and how those programs and activities may be used to advance and support the research, development, promotion, marketing, and analysis of biobased products. (2) Report Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Biomanufacturing and Jobs Act , the task force shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report that describes— (A) a summary of the work conducted by the task force; (B) the findings of the study conducted under paragraph (1); and (C) recommendations for improvements to the programs and activities described in subsection (a)(1) and identified under paragraph (1)(A). (f) Termination The task force shall terminate on the date that is 4 years after the date of enactment of the Biomanufacturing and Jobs Act . (g) Nonapplicability Chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the task force. .