119-s1907

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1907 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1907

 To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to 
 provide for a consistent definition for plant biostimulants.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 22, 2025

 Mr. Marshall (for himself and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to 
 provide for a consistent definition for plant biostimulants.

 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 ``Plant Biostimulant Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINING PLANT BIOSTIMULANTS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 2 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, 
and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136) is amended--

    (1) by striking subsection
            (v) and inserting the following:
 ``
            (v) Plant Regulator.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--The term `plant regulator' means any 
 substance or mixture of substances intended, through 
 physiological action, for accelerating or retarding the rate of 
 growth or rate of maturation, or for otherwise altering the 
 behavior, of plants or the produce thereof.
 ``

    (2) Exclusions.--The term `plant regulator' does not 
 include--
 ``
        (A) substances to the extent that they are 
 intended as plant nutrients, trace elements, 
 nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants, soil 
 amendments, or vitamin hormone products; or
 ``
        (B) plant biostimulants that--
 ``
            (i) are of biological origin; or
 ``
            (ii) include chemical compounds that are 
 synthetically derived, but are structurally 
 similar and functionally identical to 
 substances of biological origin.'';

    (2) in subsection

    (hh) --
        (A) in paragraph

    (2) , by striking ``or'' at the 
 end;
        (B) in paragraph

    (3) --
            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph
        (A) , by striking ``substances.'' and inserting 
 ``substances''; and
            (ii) in subparagraph
        (B) --
            (I) by inserting ``, or'' after 
 ``volatilization''; and
            (II) by striking the period at the 
 end and inserting a semicolon; and
            (C) by inserting before the undesignated matter 
 following paragraph

    (3) the following:
 ``

    (4) a plant biostimulant; or
 ``

    (5) a nutritional chemical.''; and

    (3) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (pp) Plant Biostimulant.--The term `plant biostimulant' means a 
substance, microorganism, or mixture thereof, that, when applied to 
seeds, plants, the rhizosphere, soil, or other growth media, acts to 
support a plant's natural processes independently of the nutrient 
content of that substance, microorganism, or mixture thereof, and that 
thereby improves--
 ``

    (1) nutrient availability, uptake, or use efficiency;
 ``

    (2) tolerance to abiotic stress; and
 ``

    (3) consequent growth, development, quality, or yield.
 ``

    (qq) Nutritional Chemical.--The term `nutritional chemical'--
 ``

    (1) means any substance or mixture of substances that 
 interacts with plant nutrients in a manner that improves 
 nutrient availability or aids the plant in acquiring or 
 utilizing plant nutrients; and
 ``

    (2) includes some plant biostimulants.
 ``

    (rr) Vitamin Hormone Product.--The term `vitamin hormone product' 
means a product consisting of a mixture of plant hormones, plant 
nutrients, inoculants, or soil amendments.''.

    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of Environmental Protection 
Agency shall revise the regulations under subchapter E of chapter I of 
title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act), to carry out the amendments made by subsection

    (a) .

SEC. 3. SOIL HEALTH STUDY.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this 
section as the ``Secretary'') shall conduct a study to assess the types 
of, and practices using, plant biostimulants (as defined in 

section 2 
of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 
136)) that best achieve the following:

    (1) Increasing organic matter content.

    (2) Reducing atmospheric volatilization.

    (3) Promotion of nutrient management practices.

    (4) Limiting or eliminating runoff or leaching of soil or 
 nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, into groundwater or 
 other water sources.

    (5) Restoring beneficial bioactivity or healthy nutrients 
 to the soil.

    (6) Aiding in carbon sequestration, nutrient use 
 efficiency, and other climate-related benefits.

    (7) Supporting innovative approaches to improving 
 agricultural sustainability, including the adoption of 
 performance-based outcome standards and criteria.

    (b) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which funds 
are first made available to conduct the study under subsection

    (a) , the 
Secretary shall make publicly available, and submit to the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, a report that 
describes the results of the study.
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