June 5, 2025
Mr. Panetta (for himself and Mr. Baird) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
To amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to provide for a consistent definition for plant biostimulants.
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 regulatormeans 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 regulatordoes 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 biostimulantmeans a substance, microorganism, or mixture thereof, that, when applied to seeds, plants, the rhizosphere, soil, or other growth media, act 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 which 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 productmeans 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 the 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 the 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), as added by section 2 of this Act) 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.