Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to release funds to applicants for its Rural Energy for America Program, which funds on-farm anaerobic digesters, among other projects. But the agency is telling applicants to remove “harmful” language related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility and “far-left climate features” from their project proposals in order to receive funding, per a news release.
- USDA offered REAP applicants 30 days to revise their project language, as of the agency’s March 25 announcement.
- The USDA made investments in 4,460 projects through the REAP program in 2024 totaling more than $1.1 billion, per the agency's data dashboard. Dozens of those projects were dairy digesters.
Dive Insight:
The Trump administration has been scrutinizing programs across the federal government that are funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, or other climate-related laws. It’s also targeted initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion and shut down environmental justice work.
During the administration of President Biden, REAP was touted as a tool to tackle emissions from the agriculture sector and reduce food waste by funding cold storage infrastructure. Its budget was boosted by the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated hundreds of millions of new dollars to the program.
Early in President Trump’s second administration, the program appeared on a list of initiatives affected by a federal funding freeze, which The New York Times obtained. But Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said REAP could be an effective tool to support Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order.
“President Trump made tackling America’s energy emergency a top priority from day one, and this review allows rural energy providers and small businesses to realign their projects with that mission,” Rollins said in a March statement. “We’re ensuring these investments support U.S. energy production while putting America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses first.”
The RNG Coalition, a business group, touted the renewable natural gas industry’s multibillion-dollar contribution to U.S. gross domestic product, in an emailed statement Monday. It said the industry is aligned with Trump‘s energy goals.
“The Rural Energy for American Program (REAP) under USDA plays a critical role enabling industry’s contributions to the U.S. economy by providing valuable grant and loan funding to AD deployment across the country. RNG Coalition looks forward to engaging with USDA to ensure that REAP applicants can continue to access this all-important program,” Geoff Dietz, senior director of federal affairs for the group, said.
The USDA last announced a tranche of hundreds of projects funded through REAP on Jan. 10. Among them was a digester project in Kansas and cold storage facility in North Carolina.
The program was created in 2008. REAP has been reauthorized by subsequent farm bills, the five-year budget legislation reauthorizing the USDA. Congress is overdue to pass a new farm bill, and groups focused on reducing food loss and waste would like to see programs like REAP continue to receive funding in the next law. Farm bill proposals from both Republicans and Democrats in the last Congress suggested doubling REAP’s maximum loan agreement to $50 million.
REAP also offers grants of up to $1 million for renewable energy systems and $500,000 for energy efficiency projects. Grant and loan applications also have matching fund requirements.
