S. 4779 — A bill to support nutrition, farmers, the seafood industry, agricultural research, wood energy and innovation, and indigenous self-determination, and for other purposes.

This section expands eligibility under the micro-grants for food security program to Tribal elementary and secondary schools. It authorizes distribution of subgrants or other financial assistance without a competitive requirement, increases the maximum award to $25,000 (from $10,000), and permits eligible States to use a portion of funds for educational courses, training, or technical assistance. It eliminates the prior administrative funds set-aside and exempts qualifying projects from federal real property disposition, insurance, and depreciation reporting requirements under 2 CFR 200.310, 200.311, 200.330, and 200.436.

This section establishes a program to provide grants and loans to Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and 501(c)(3) organizations to establish food banks or food pantries in eligible frontier communities (Frontier Level 4) and rural communities (Frontier Level 3) in noncontiguous States that lack such facilities. It authorizes appropriations of $100,000,000 and specifies eligible uses including construction, wages, cold storage equipment, and transportation by air, barge, or surface.

This section revises requirements for retail food stores to accept supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits through online transactions. Stores must submit plans covering eligible-item verification, participant education, pre-implementation testing, data reporting, privacy and access protections, fee notifications, and transaction security comparable to in-store purchases. It permits benefits to cover delivery, ordering, or convenience fees for foods delivered to rural hub communities or outlying villages in noncontiguous States. It requires the Secretary to consult stakeholders on 2014–2025 operations, report recommendations to Congress within 120 days, and issue regulations within one year.

This section prohibits the Secretary from establishing a liability amount or designating an at-risk amount for any State owing a State share under the food distribution program on Indian reservations. It extends administrative and judicial review to those determinations.

This section establishes an alternative error tolerance level of 20 percent of the maximum allotment for a one-person household in regions with cost adjustments to the thrifty food plan (such as Alaska and Hawaii) for excluding small errors from SNAP quality control reviews.

This section establishes a pilot program under which emergency feeding organizations participating in the Emergency Food Assistance Program may use program funds to purchase locally produced food to supplement commodities provided by the Secretary. It also authorizes states and organizations to use program funds and facilities for those purchases.

This section establishes the Arctic Agriculture Accelerator Loan Program to provide loans to agricultural producers and owners or operators of small commercial food processing operations that hold a commercial license from a noncontiguous State. Loans total $150,000 for specialty crops or grains and $250,000 for meat, poultry, egg, aquaculture, or wild-caught fish products, and may fund equipment, facilities, or other activities to process, store, or distribute locally produced food, with forgiveness upon successful completion of the proposed activities. The section authorizes $10 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

This section expands the definition of covered commodity to include wild crab that has been cooked by frying, broiling, grilling, boiling, steaming, baking, or roasting, overriding the general exclusion for ingredients in processed food items.

This section expands the definitions of "farmer" and "farming" in the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to include commercial fishing. It authorizes commercial fishers to use farm ownership loans for acquiring permits and vessels and farm operating loans for acquiring, operating, and maintaining vessels. It also extends eligibility under the Farmers' Markets and Local Food Promotion Program to wild-caught fish and shellfish.

This section directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, to develop an action plan within 180 days after enactment that identifies coastal communities with needs for new or rehabilitated seafood and mariculture processing infrastructure, selects 5 eligible communities across the United States, and incorporates stakeholder input from rural communities. It authorizes competitive grants and cooperative agreements for fiscal years 2027 and 2028 to fund pilot projects for processing infrastructure, onsite training, and technical assistance in those communities, with priority for projects that sell domestically, use local hiring, and address equity impacts.

This section establishes a grant program under which the Secretary provides grants to academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies for projects that reuse, recycle, or sustainably use marine products from the seafood industry, including chitin, seaweed, seafood waste, and other byproducts. It requires the Secretary to set aside 50 percent of appropriated funds for entities domiciled or operating in states with the greatest coastline length and authorizes such sums as necessary.

This section authorizes retailers and fish suppliers to label fish as “wild USA seafood,” “wild American seafood,” or equivalent only if the fish is naturally born or hatchery-originated and released in the wild, caught in the U.S. exclusive economic zone or navigable waters, and harvested by a U.S. vessel. It requires an initial warning for violations, followed by fines of up to $10,000 per violation after a 30-day compliance period, and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue implementing regulations.

This section requires the acceptable market name of any genetically engineered fish product to include the words “Genetically Engineered” or “GE” before the existing name, for purposes of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It defines genetically engineered fish products as those modified by recombinant DNA techniques, including the entire lineage of such fish.

This section requires that any laboratory-grown fish product include the word “Cultivated” before its existing acceptable market name when labeled under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. It defines a cultivated fish product as one derived from harvested fish cells and grown in a laboratory setting.

This section authorizes $5,000,000 annually beginning in fiscal year 2027, available until expended, for agricultural research at 1862 Institutions and State agriculture agencies in States without an Agricultural Research Service facility to address those States’ research priorities.

This section establishes a new grant program at the Department of Agriculture to fund research by institutions of higher education on the use of cold-water seaweed species as livestock feed additives to reduce enteric methane emissions. It requires the Secretary to prioritize eight specified research topics, award at least 50 percent of funding to entities in states with the greatest coastline length, and authorizes such sums as necessary for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

This section expands the urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production research, education, and extension initiative to cover technologies that minimize energy, lighting, water, and other inputs for increased food production or preservation, including those in circumpolar regions. It also adds priority for grant proposals involving areas designated as frontier or remote areas.

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce to jointly submit to Congress a preliminary report within 2 years analyzing the effects of coastal seaweed farming on ecosystems, communities, wildlife, water quality, and ocean acidification, along with best practices for cultivation, species selection, carbon sequestration, plastic reduction, and sustainable harvesting, and an updated report 2 years thereafter.

This section expands the Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Program to authorize grants for the processing and distribution of woody biomass products, in addition to grants covering up to 35 percent of capital costs for community wood energy systems or innovative wood product facilities. It broadens the definition of community wood energy systems to include services and equipment for processing and distributing woody biomass materials, and it authorizes special circumstances for such grants to schools or hospitals in low-income communities.

This section requires the Executive Office of the President, Department of Defense, and Department of State to procure cut flowers and cut greens only if grown in a qualifying area (i.e., a state, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory, or tribal jurisdiction). The restriction applies to procurements made or contracted for in the United States beginning one year after enactment. It also permits covered agencies to accept gifts of non-qualifying cut flowers or greens from foreign governments or agents only if the origin is clearly displayed and the agency simultaneously procures and displays a matching qualifying item.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into self-determination contracts with Tribal organizations, upon Tribal request, to plan, conduct, and administer functions of the Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service, and, after adoption of an approved food and agriculture code, functions of the Food Safety and Inspection Service under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. It extends eligibility for rural water, waste disposal, and community facilities loans and grants under section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to Tribes operating under such contracts. It requires the Office of Self-Governance of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide technical assistance and directs the Secretary to conduct a feasibility study within one year, submit a report with an implementation plan within 18 months, consult with Tribes and specified USDA entities, and establish an Office of Self-Governance in the Department of Agriculture within 18 months after submitting the report.

This section adds the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretaries responsible for implementing the Buy Indian Act, requiring the Department of Agriculture to employ Indian labor and purchase Indian industry products unless determined impracticable. It directs the Department to participate in outreach, training, regulatory harmonization, and compliance data aggregation with the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services, and expands required reports to the Committees on Indian Affairs and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committees on Natural Resources and Agriculture of the House of Representatives.

This section extends the education grants program for Alaska Native serving institutions through fiscal year 2050 (from fiscal year 2023), authorizes grants for periods of up to 5 years, and expands allowable uses of funds to include purchasing, renting, or leasing scientific or laboratory equipment and renovating, repairing, or improving classroom, library, laboratory, and other instructional facilities.