SUNRAY for Energy Act
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
Securing and Understanding our National Renewable Agriculture Yields for Energy Act or the SUNRAY for Energy Act
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a study, research, and demonstration regarding agrivoltaic systems. The bill defines agrivoltaic system as a system under which solar energy production and agricultural production, including crop or animal production, occur in an integrated manner on the same piece of land through the duration of a project.
Specifically, the bill directs USDA to study agrivoltaic systems, which includes conducting a review of current research and identifying research gaps. USDA must also develop a five-year plan for using USDA's research, extension, outreach, conservation, and renewable energy activities to better support agrivoltaic systems that do not displace agricultural production.
USDA must also develop a definition for agrivoltaic system for the purposes of incorporating these systems into federal agriculture and energy programs, and investment tax credits.
In addition, the Agricultural Research Service must establish and maintain a network of agrivoltaic systems research and demonstration sites in multiple U.S. regions to investigate increasing agricultural productivity and profitability, enhancing agricultural resilience and the capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change, protecting biodiversity, and increasing economic opportunities in rural communities.
Further, the Natural Resources Conservation Service must develop national and regional guidance on best practices for the protection of soil health and productivity during the siting, construction, operation, and decommissioning of solar energy systems on agricultural land. The guidance must be updated at least every two years.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 15, 2024. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 30, 2024: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Eric Sorensen (D-IL) introduced it on February 15, 2024, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 15, 2024, 938 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 741 days ago, on August 30, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers