Plant Biostimulant Act of 2025
The Plant Biostimulant Act of 2025 would establish a clear, consistent federal definition for plant biostimulants within the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). It rewrites the term Plant Regulator and adds a new designation for Plant Biostimulants, clarifying what is and isn’t regulated as a plant regulator. The bill also requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revise regulations within 120 days to implement these changes and directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a soil health study to assess how biostimulants best support soil health, nutrient use, and climate-related benefits, with findings due in two years. The overall aim is to reduce regulatory ambiguity and promote sustainable agriculture through a standardized, science-based framework for biostimulants. In short, the bill seeks to differentiate plant biostimulants from traditional plant regulators and nutrients, align regulatory definitions, and fund a federally coordinated study of soil health impacts to inform future agricultural practices and policy.
Key Points
- 1Defines Plant Biostimulant as a substance, microorganism, or mixture that, when applied to seeds, plants, rhizosphere (root zone), soil, or other growth media, supports plant natural processes independent of nutrient content and improves nutrient availability/uptake, tolerance to abiotic stress, and growth, development, quality, or yield.
- 2Replaces and clarifies Plant Regulator, with exclusions. Plant Regulator is defined as a substance that alters plant growth or behavior through physiological action, but does not include:
- 3- Substances intended as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants, soil amendments, or vitamin hormone products; or
- 4- Plant biostimulants that are either of biological origin or chemically derived substances that are structurally similar and functionally identical to substances of biological origin.
- 5Adds new definitions for Nutritional Chemical and Vitamin Hormone Product to clarify regulatory categories and interactions with plant biostimulants and plant nutrients.
- 6EPA regulatory action: Within 120 days after enactment, the EPA Administrator must revise regulations under 40 C.F.R. Subchapter E to implement these amendments and definitions.
- 7Soil Health Study: The Secretary of Agriculture must conduct a study on plant biostimulants to identify practices that:
- 8- Increase organic matter and reduce volatilization,
- 9- Promote nutrient management and limit runoff/leaching of nutrients,
- 10- Restore beneficial soil bioactivity and nutrients,
- 11- Support carbon sequestration, nutrient use efficiency, and climate-related benefits,
- 12- Encourage performance-based outcome standards and innovative sustainability approaches.