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HR 4764119th CongressIn Committee

Biochar Research Network Act of 2025

Introduced: Jul 25, 2025
Sponsor: Rep. Miller-Meeks, Mariannette [R-IA-1] (R-Iowa)
Environment & ClimateTechnology & Innovation
View on Congress.gov
Standard Summary
Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Biochar Research Network Act of 2025 would amend the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to create a national biochar research network. The Secretary of Agriculture would establish up to 20 research sites to test a wide range of biochar types across diverse soils, climates, and management conditions. The network’s goals are to assess how biochar can sequester soil carbon, contribute to climate mitigation, support crop production and farm profitability, and improve soil and ecosystem health. It would also aim to provide practical, region-specific guidance to farmers, foresters, urban land managers, and other land stewards on sustainable biochar production and use. The act would require coordination with other federal agencies, support the development of conservation standards, and specify funding to implement the network.

Key Points

  • 1Establishment of a national biochar research network with up to 20 sites to test a full range of biochar types across soils, management conditions, and regions.
  • 2Primary objectives include assessing soil carbon sequestration, climate mitigation, crop production, resilience to extreme weather, ecosystem and soil health, and farm profitability; plus delivering region-specific, practical guidance to land managers.
  • 3Research scope includes cross-site and mechanistic experiments, technoeconomic analyses of biochar production and co-products, life cycle modeling, development of testing methodologies for potential contaminants, and pilot-scale production and application systems.
  • 4Administration and coordination involve the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in partnership with the Forest Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, and other USDA agencies; NRCS would coordinate conservation practice standards related to biochar.
  • 5Authorization of appropriations of $50 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to fund the network.

Impact Areas

Primary: Farmers, ranchers, foresters, urban and rural land managers, and other land/natural resource managers who would use biochar and rely on the network’s guidance and data.Secondary: Federal research and land-management agencies (ARS, Forest Service, NIFA, DOE, DOC, DOI) and conservation programs, which would coordinate and implement related standards and support.Additional: Local economies and environmental outcomes through potential changes in soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration, and biochar production practices; development of data, models, and methodologies to inform life-cycle assessments and policy decisions.
Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 8, 2025