Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act of 2023
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Agrivoltaics Research and Demonstration Act of 2023
This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study and establish research and demonstration sites on 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, protecting biodiversity, and increasing economic opportunities in rural communities.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 31, 2023. 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 May 31, 2023: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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?
Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced it on May 31, 2023, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
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 May 31, 2023, 1198 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1198 days ago, on May 31, 2023.
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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers