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

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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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