Congress·In Committee·H.R. 1592

SOLAR Act

Solar Energy: USDA Funding Limits on Farmland

over 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

The SOLAR Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process within the House Committee on Agriculture. It was recently sent to a subcommittee for review and is considered active. There are no further actions scheduled at this time.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

While this bill has support from some farm groups, it faces a tough path in a divided Congress where many leaders want to expand solar energy rather than limit its growth.

Key Points

This bill stops the Department of Agriculture from giving money to solar energy projects that take up productive farmland. The goal is to keep farm ground available for growing food and raising livestock instead of being covered by solar panels.
Small projects are still allowed to get funding. This includes projects smaller than 5 acres or projects up to 50 acres if the farmer uses most of the electricity on their own property.
Larger projects can only get federal money if they get a thumbs-up from the local county or city government. This gives local communities more say in where big solar farms are built.
If a project gets local approval, the owners must create a plan to protect the soil. They also have to set aside money to take down the solar panels and fix the land once the project is finished so it can be farmed again.
If a company takes the government money but fails to follow the soil protection or cleanup rules, they have to pay all the money back to the Department of Agriculture.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

3 milestones3 actions

Mar 28, 2025House

Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Feb 26, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Feb 26, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

SOLAR Act

Bill NumberHR 1592

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(5)

R: 5

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.