§ 6523 — National Organic Certification Cost-share Program

(a) The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a national organic certification cost-share program to assist producers and handlers of agricultural products in obtaining certification under the national organic production program established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.). (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall pay under this section not more than 75 percent of the costs incurred by a producer or handler in obtaining certification under the national organic production program, as certified to and approved by the Secretary. (2) The maximum amount of a payment made to a producer or handler under this section shall be $750. (c) Not later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary shall 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 requests by, disbursements to, and expenditures for each State under the program during the current and previous fiscal year, including the number of producers and handlers served by the program in the previous fiscal year. (1) Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall make available to carry out this section— (A) $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020; (B) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and (C) $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2031. (2) Amounts made available under paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended.