SOIL Act of 2023

Bill: 118-s-1066
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK]
Introduced: 2023-03-29
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2023-03-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-03-29
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Security and Oversight for International Landholdings Act of 2023 or the SOIL Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill establishes and expands requirements for reviewing and disclosing transactions regarding foreign investments in agricultural land. </p> <p>The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) must review certain investments in agricultural land held by a person (i.e., individual or entity) that is a national of, or subject to the jurisdiction of, a country (1) designated as a nonmarket economy, or (2) identified as posing a risk to the national security of the United States. Under current law, CFIUS reviews the national security implications of certain foreign investments in U.S. businesses or real estate, including critical infrastructure or technologies. </p> <p> CFIUS must also review certain real estate acquisitions or transfers of an interest, other than a security, for nonresidential properties that are located within 50 miles of a military installation. </p> <p>The bill also prohibits federal assistance, including subsidies, from being provided to a person for an agricultural real estate holding which is owned by any of the foreign persons specified above. </p> <p>The bill requires any foreign person who enters into a leasing agreement for agricultural land that is longer than five years to report the lease to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Current requirements only apply to agriculture land acquired or transferred. </p> <p>Further, USDA must prepare and make publicly available an annual report describing agricultural land holdings by foreign persons, including specific information related to foreign persons from China and Russia.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1066 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 29, 2023 Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Bennet , Mr. Risch , and Mr. Tillis ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To increase oversight of foreign direct investment in agricultural land in the United States, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Security and Oversight for International Landholdings Act of 2023 or the SOIL Act of 2023 . 2. Review by Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of certain agricultural real estate transactions Section 721(a)(4) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4565(a)(4) ) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A)— (A) in clause (i), by striking ; and and inserting a semicolon; (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (iii) any transaction described in clause (vi) or (vii) of subparagraph (B) proposed or pending on or after the date of the enactment of this clause. ; and (2) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the end the following: (vi) Any acquisition or transfer of an interest, other than a security, in agricultural land held by a person that is a national of, or is organized under the laws or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, a country— (I) designated as a nonmarket economy country pursuant to section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 ( 19 U.S.C. 1677(18) ); or (II) identified as a country that poses as risk to the national security of the United States in the most recent annual report on worldwide threats issued by the Director of National Intelligence pursuant to section 108B of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3043b )(commonly known as the Annual Threat Assessment ). . 3. Review by Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of real estate transactions near military installations Section 721(a)(4)(B) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4565(a)(4)(B) ), as amended by section 2, is amended by adding at the end the following: (vii) Any acquisition or transfer of an interest, other than a security, in any form of real estate that is located not more than 50 miles from a military installation (as that term is defined in section 2801(c)(4) of title 10, United States Code) other than residential property held by a person that is a national of, or is organized under the laws or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, a country— (I) designated as a nonmarket economy country pursuant to section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 ( 19 U.S.C. 1677(18) ); or (II) identified as a country that poses as risk to the national security of the United States in the most recent annual report on worldwide threats issued by the Director of National Intelligence pursuant to section 108B of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3043b )(commonly known as the Annual Threat Assessment ). . 4. Expansion of membership in Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States Section 721(k)(6) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 ( 50 U.S.C. 4565(k)(6) ) is amended to read a follows: (6) Other members The chairperson shall include the heads of relevant departments, agencies, and offices (or the designee of any such head) in any review or investigation under subsection (a), on the basis of the facts and circumstances of the covered transaction under review or investigation. . 5. Prohibition on use of funds for certain agricultural real estate holdings No assistance, including subsidies, may be provided by any Federal agency to a person for an agricultural real estate holding wholly or partly owned by a person that is a national of, or is organized under the laws or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of, a country— (1) designated as a nonmarket economy country pursuant to section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 ( 19 U.S.C. 1677(18) ); or (2) identified as a country that poses as risk to the national security of the United States in the most recent annual report on worldwide threats issued by the Director of National Intelligence pursuant to section 108B of the National Security Act of 1947 ( 50 U.S.C. 3043b )(commonly known as the Annual Threat Assessment ). 6. Disclosure requirements for foreign agricultural real estate holdings (a) Reporting requirements Section 2(a) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3501(a) ) is amended— (1) in the first sentence of the matter preceding paragraph (1)— (A) by inserting , or enters into a leasing agreement the period of which is longer than 5 years with respect to agricultural land, after agricultural land ; and (B) by striking acquisition or transfer and inserting acquisition, transfer, or lease ; and (2) in paragraph (4), by striking acquired or transferred and inserting acquired, transferred, or leased . (b) Revocation of minimum acreage requirement Section 9(1) of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3508(1) ) is amended by inserting , subject to the condition that the Secretary may not exclude land from this definition based on the acreage of the land before the semicolon at the end. 7. Reports of holdings of agricultural land in the United States by foreign persons Section 6 of the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 ( 7 U.S.C. 3505 ) is amended— (1) by striking the section designation and heading and all that follows through Not later than and inserting the following: 6. Reports (a) Transmission of reports to States Not later than ; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (b) Annual report (1) In general Annually, the Secretary shall prepare and make publicly available a report describing holdings of agricultural land by foreign persons, as determined by reports submitted under section 2, including— (A) an analysis of the countries with the most extensive agricultural land holdings on a State-by-State and county-by-county basis; (B) data and an analysis of agricultural land holdings in each county in the United States by a foreign person from— (i) the People’s Republic of China; (ii) the Russian Federation; or (iii) any other country that the Secretary determines to be appropriate; (C) an analysis of the sectors and industries for which the agricultural land holdings are used; and (D) in consultation with the Director of the United States Geological Survey, an identification of countries that own or lease water rights and mineral deposits on a State-by-State and county-by-county basis. (2) Transmission to States The Secretary shall transmit the report prepared under paragraph (1) to each State department of agriculture or appropriate State agency described in subsection (a) in conjunction with the applicable reports transmitted under that subsection. .