In the United States, federal grants are economic aid issued by the United States government out of the general federal revenue. A federal grant is an award of financial assistance from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States.
The Administration on Aging (AoA) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. AoA works to ensure that older Americans can stay independent in their communities, mostly by awarding grants to States, Native American tribal organizations, and local communities to support programs authorized by Congress in the Older Americans Act. AoA also awards discretionary grants to research organizations working on projects that support those goals. It conducts statistical activities in support of the research, analysis, and evaluation of programs to meet the needs of an aging population.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 was a $288 billion, five-year agricultural policy bill that was passed into law by the United States Congress on June 18, 2008. The bill was a continuation of the 2002 Farm Bill. It continues the United States' long history of agricultural subsidies as well as pursuing areas such as energy, conservation, nutrition, and rural development. Some specific initiatives in the bill include increases in Food Stamp benefits, increased support for the production of cellulosic ethanol, and money for the research of pests, diseases and other agricultural problems.
In United States federal agriculture legislation, the Agricultural Adjustment Act Amendment of 1935 made several important and lasting changes to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Act into law on August 24, 1935.
Biotechnology and Agricultural Trade Program — The 2002 farm bill authorizes appropriations of up to $6 million annually for technical assistance and public and private sector project grants to remove or mitigate significant foreign regulatory nontariff barriers to U.S. exports involving: agricultural commodities produced through biotechnology. Funds can also be used to address trade-related food safety, disease, and other sanitary and phytosanitary trade concerns.
In United States agricultural law, Commodity Assistance Program is term used by appropriators to refer to a variety of domestic programs receiving food in the form of USDA supplied commodities. The term was formalized for the first time in FY1996 appropriations law to refer to the consolidation for funding purposes of three commodity donation programs that are authorized under two separate statutes: the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a program created by the 1996 farm bill to provide primarily cost-sharing assistance, but also technical and educational assistance, aimed at promoting production and environmental quality, and optimizing environmental benefits. The program replaces the Agricultural Conservation Program, the Water Quality Incentives Program, the Great Plains Conservation Program, and the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program. EQIP is reauthorized in the 2002 farm bill at $0.4 billion in mandatory spending in FY2002 and rising to $1.3 billion in FY2007. The funding each year is to be divided, with 60% targeted to environmental concerns associated with livestock production and the remainder to crop production. Producers enter into contracts of 1 to 10 years. Participants can receive no more than $450,000 between FY2002 and FY2007. Two new sub programs were created; one provides matching grants for innovative conservation efforts, such as using market systems to reduce pollution and promoting carbon sequestration in soil; and, the second is the Ground and Surface Water Conservation Program (GSWP).
Conservation of Private Grazing Lands — Enacted in the 1996 farm bill and most recently amended by the 2002 farm bill, this program provides coordinated technical, educational, and related assistance to preserve and enhance privately owned grazing lands. It authorizes the creation of two grazing management demonstration districts. Appropriations are authorized at $60 million annually from discretionary funds for FY2002 through FY2007.
The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 amended the original Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to authorize multi-year funding and commodity donations from excess Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) inventories of foodstuffs for food distribution by emergency feeding organizations serving the needy and homeless. It subsequently was amended in 1985, 1988, 1990, 1996 and 2002 under the 2002 farm bill. This is the Emergency Food Assistance and Soup Kitchen-Food Bank Program.
Team Nutrition is the USDA implementation vehicle for its School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children, which began in 1995. Among other things, it provides grants to state agencies that apply for and meet the criteria for delivering new and innovative programs that provide training to school food personnel, nutrition education to children and their parents, and support healthy eating and physical activities involving school, child care, and community groups. The program is authorized and funded under annual agriculture appropriations laws. Team Nutrition has provided $38.6 million in food service training grants to state agencies over 10 years from FY1995 through FY2004.
The Food Security Act of 1985, a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and established a dairy herd buyout program. This 1985 farm bill made changes in a variety of other USDA programs. Several enduring conservation programs were created, including sodbuster, swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program.
The Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program is a program authorized through FY2003 under Section 19 of the Child Nutrition Act. Funds are authorized to make grants to all states for a nutrition education program that targets school children, teachers, parents, and food service workers. Appropriators have not funded the program since FY1998. Between its inception in 1977 and 1994, the NET program had a time-limited authorization and funding, which was provided under annual appropriations laws. In 1994, however, the Child Nutrition Act was amended to make NET permanent and funding of $10 million annually was mandated for the program. Two years later, amendments to the Child Nutrition Act restored NET to temporary status and again made funding for it subject to appropriations. The change in the authorizing statute occurred after the FY1997 appropriations had been enacted so it was necessary to reprogram funds from Team Nutrition to continue NET activities for that year. The FY1998 appropriation for NET was $3.75 million. Subsequently, appropriators have funded nutrition education and training activities under Team Nutrition; no funding has been provided explicitly for the NET program.
Nutrition Assistance Grants are the Federal programs in Puerto Rico and American Samoa that provide food assistance through block grant funds in lieu of food stamps, and to the Northern Marianas under a covenant governing U.S. relations with that jurisdiction.
The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (IFEP) is a food aid program authorized in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 which provides for the donation of U.S. agricultural commodities and associated financial and technical assistance to carry out preschool and school feeding programs in foreign countries. Maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs also are authorized under this program. It is named after former U.S. Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole, who advocated in the U.S. Congress for its passage.
The Great Lakes Basin Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Program is an American federal and multi-state environmental and agricultural program to water quality, land use, and agricultural productivity pertaining to the Great Lakes Basin. It was authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. Under the program, $5 million is authorized annually in discretionary funds from FY2002 through FY2007 to implement new authority for a soil erosion and sediment control program in this basin that had been established in a number of prior enactments.
The Grassroots Source Water Protection Program, more commonly called the Source Water Protection Program, enacted in the 2002 farm bill, authorizes the appropriation of $5 million annually in discretionary funds from FY2002 through FY2007 to use the technical assistance capabilities of rural water associations that operate wellhead or groundwater protection programs.
The Fund for Rural America was a fund established by the 1996 farm bill to augment existing resources for agricultural research and rural development through an annual transfer of funds from the U.S. Treasury to USDA. The Fund was notable for being the first time that mandatory money was provided for research programs, which traditionally receive discretionary funds as provided annually by Congressional appropriators. One-third of the fund was designated for competitive agricultural research grants, one-third for rural development projects, and one-third for either research or rural development, at the Secretary’s discretion.
The Food Stamp Act provided permanent legislative authority to the Food Stamp Program, which had been administratively implemented on a pilot basis in 1962. On August 31, 1964 it was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was later replaced and completely rewritten and revised by the food stamp provisions of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977, which eliminated the purchase requirement and simplified eligibility requirements. Amendments were made to this Act in 1981-82, 1984-85, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2002 (most recently by Title IV of the 2002 farm bill.
The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 is an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2015 that would provide funding for the United States Department of Agriculture and related agencies. The bill would appropriate $20.9 billion.
