H.R. 6593

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6593 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6593

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish the 
Domestic Organic Investment Program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 10, 2025

Ms. Salinas (for herself and Mr. Van Orden) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to establish the 
Domestic Organic Investment Program, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Domestic Organic Investment Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. DOMESTIC ORGANIC INVESTMENT PROGRAM.

Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 210B. DOMESTIC ORGANIC INVESTMENT PROGRAM.

``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Certified organic product.--The term `certified 
organic product' means an agricultural product (as defined in 
section 2103 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 
U.S.C. 6502)) that is organically produced (as defined in that 
section).
``(2) Eligible entity.--
``(A) In general.--The term `eligible entity' means 
an entity described in subparagraph (B) that--
``(i) is owned and operated within--
``(I) a State;
``(II) the District of Columbia;
``(III) any territory or possession 
of the United States; or
``(IV) the jurisdiction of an 
Indian Tribe; and
``(ii)(I) is certified in accordance with 
subpart E of part 205 of title 7, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations); 
or
``(II) is in transition to certification, 
as defined by the Secretary.
``(B) Entities described.--An entity referred to in 
subparagraph (A) is--
``(i) a producer, producer cooperative, or 
other commercial entity that produces or 
handles certified organic products;
``(ii) a unit of Tribal government; or
``(iii) such other entity as the Secretary 
may designate.
``(C) Exclusion.--The term `eligible entity' does 
not include an entity described in subparagraph (B) the 
operations of which are suspended or revoked under 
section 205.662 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations 
(or a successor regulation).
``(3) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian Tribe' has the 
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
``(4) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
of Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the 
Agricultural Marketing Service.
``(5) Tribal government.--The term `Tribal government' 
means the governing body of an Indian Tribe.
``(b) Establishment and Purpose.--The Secretary shall establish a 
program, to be known as the `Domestic Organic Investment Program', 
that--
``(1) increases the capacity of the domestic organic 
product supply chain for producers, handlers, suppliers, and 
processors of certified organic products;
``(2) modernizes manufacturing, tracking, storage, and 
information technology systems specific to the purposes 
described in this subsection, such as process control or 
organic product ingredient tracking systems;
``(3) improves the capacity of eligible entities to comply 
with applicable regulatory requirements or quality standards 
required to access markets, such as requirements and standards 
relating to food safety and organic product certification;
``(4) expands capacity for storage, processing, 
aggregation, and distribution of certified organic products to 
create more and better markets for producers of certified 
organic products;
``(5) facilitates market development for domestically 
produced certified organic products currently being serviced by 
organic imports; and
``(6) addresses additional barriers and bottlenecks in the 
domestic organic product supply chain for producers, handlers, 
suppliers, and processors of certified organic products, as 
determined by the Secretary.
``(c) Grants.--For each fiscal year for which amounts are made 
available to carry out this section under subsection (j), the Secretary 
shall provide grants to support eligible entities in conducting 
activities in accordance with the purposes of the program described in 
subsection (b).
``(d) Applications.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 
an application at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require.
``(2) Simplified process.--The Secretary shall implement a 
simplified application and award process under this section for 
use by any eligible entity seeking to carry out an equipment-
only project.
``(3) Priority.--The Secretary may establish an annual 
priority for grants under this section based in part on--
``(A) imbalance of trade and reliance on organic 
imports;
``(B) National Organic Standards Board 
recommendations; and
``(C) identified organic processing and supply 
chain bottlenecks inhibiting market growth and 
efficiency.
``(4) Competitive process.--The Secretary--
``(A) shall conduct a competitive process to select 
applications submitted under this subsection;
``(B) may assess and rank applications with similar 
purposes as a group; and
``(C) before accepting any application under this 
subsection, shall make publicly available the criteria 
to be used in evaluating the applications.
``(e) Project Types.--An eligible entity may use amounts received 
under this section to carry out, in accordance with such goals and 
deadlines for completion as the Secretary may establish, the following 
types of projects:
``(1) Certified organic product storage (including cold 
storage), aggregation, processing, and distribution capacity 
expansion.
``(2) Equipment-only.
``(f) Term.--Unless otherwise determined by the Secretary, a grant 
provided under this section shall have a term of not longer than 3 
years.
``(g) Maximum Amount.--
``(1) In general.--The amount of a grant provided under 
this section for a project described in subsection (e)(1) shall 
be not more than $2,000,000.
``(2) Equipment-only projects.--The amount of a grant 
provided under this section for a project described in 
subsection (e)(2) shall be not more than $100,000.
``(h) Matching Funds.--
``(1) In general.--An eligible entity that receives a grant 
under this section to carry out a project described in 
subsection (e)(1) shall provide a non-Federal share equal to 
not less than 50 percent of the cost of the project.
``(2) Equipment-only projects.--An eligible entity that 
receives a grant under this section to carry out a project 
described in subsection (e)(2) shall provide a non-Federal 
share equal to not less than 25 percent of the cost of the 
project.
``(3) Rule for certain applications.--The Secretary may 
waive or lower the non-Federal share required under this 
subsection for beginning farmers and ranchers and veterans 
applying for a grant under this section.
``(i) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may provide to eligible 
entities technical assistance under this section, directly or through 1 
or more cooperative agreements.
``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to amounts 
otherwise available, there are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this section for each 
of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, to remain available until 
expended.''.
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