119-hr3470

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3470 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3470

To establish in the Department of Agriculture an Office of Agritourism, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 May 15, 2025

 Mr. Subramanyam (for himself, Mr. Rouzer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Harder of 
 California, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Pingree, and Ms. Balint) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To establish in the Department of Agriculture an Office of Agritourism, 
 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 ``Accelerating the Growth of Rural 
Innovation and Tourism Opportunities to Uphold Rural Industries and 
Sustainable Marketplaces Act'' or the ``AGRITOURISM Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds that--

    (1) agritourism provides a range of unique experiences to 
 the public, including--
        (A) education, such as school tours, garden and 
 nursery tours, winery tours, historical agricultural 
 exhibits, hops and microbrewery tours, and distillery 
 tours;
        (B) outdoor recreation, such as river activities, 
 mountain biking, horseback riding, wildlife viewing and 
 photography, fee fishing and hunting, wagon and sleigh 
 rides, cross-country skiing, game preserves, and clay 
 bird shooting;
            (C) entertainment, such as concerts and special 
 events, culinary experiences, festivals, fairs, 
 interaction with farm animals, and weddings;
            (D) direct sales, such as on-farm sales, farm 
 stands, agriculture-related crafts and gifts, u-pick 
 operations, u-cut tree farms, wineries, breweries, 
 cideries, distilleries, and cut flowers;
        (E) accommodations, such as bed-and-breakfast inns, 
 farm and ranch vacations, yurts, sheep wagons, and 
 guest ranches; and
        (F) dining on a farm;

    (2) agritourism has financial, educational, and social 
 benefits to communities; and

    (3) agritourism continues--
        (A) to offer educational opportunities for children 
 and families;
        (B) to generate supplemental income for owners of 
 agricultural enterprises, which are often small or 
 family-run businesses;
            (C) to spur economic development in rural 
 communities;
            (D) to preserve agricultural heritage; and
        (E) to help farms diversify.

    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, to 
further realize the benefits of agritourism to communities, the 
Secretary of Agriculture should incorporate agritourism into the 
Department of Agriculture comprehensively.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF AGRITOURISM.

    (a) In General.--The Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act 
of 1994 is amended by inserting after 

section 216 (7 U.S.C. 6916) the 
following:

``

SEC. 217. OFFICE OF AGRITOURISM.

 ``

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:
 ``

    (1) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director of 
 the Office of Agritourism described in subsection
            (c) .
 ``

    (2) State.--The term `State' means--
 ``
        (A) each of the several States of the United 
 States;
 ``
        (B) the District of Columbia; and
 ``
            (C) any territory of the United States.
 ``

    (b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish in the 
Department an Office of Agritourism.
 ``
            (c) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a senior official to 
serve as the Director of the Office of Agritourism.
 ``
            (d) Duties.--The Director shall encourage and promote, in each 
State, agritourism activities and agritourism businesses, including--
 ``

    (1) educational experiences;
 ``

    (2) outdoor recreation;
 ``

    (3) entertainment and special events;
 ``

    (4) direct sales;
 ``

    (5) accommodations; and
 ``

    (6) any other activity or business relating to 
 agritourism, as determined by the Secretary.
 ``

    (e) Means of Achieving.--In carrying out subsection
            (d) , the 
Director shall--
 ``

    (1) coordinate with the agencies and officials of the 
 Department;
 ``

    (2) advise the Secretary on issues relating to 
 agritourism;
 ``

    (3) ensure that the programs of the Department are 
 updated to address best agritourism practices;
 ``

    (4) conduct outreach to stakeholders and coordinate 
 external partnerships to share best practices, provide 
 mentorship, and offer technical assistance to agritourism 
 businesses;
 ``

    (5) facilitate interagency program coordination and 
 develop interagency tools for the promotion of agritourism 
 programs and resources;
 ``

    (6) review and improve farm enterprise development 
 programs that provide information about financial literacy, 
 business planning, and marketing for agritourism;
 ``

    (7) coordinate networks of agritourism businesses; and
 ``

    (8) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as 
 needed.''.

    (b) Technical Amendment.--The Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 is amended by redesignating the first 

section 225 (7 U.S.C. 6925) (relating to the Food Access Liaison) as 

section 224A.
            (c) Conforming Amendment.--

Section 296

    (b) of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014

    (b) ) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (11) The authority of the Secretary to carry out 

section 217.''.
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