Congress blocks solar tax credits on farmland, slowing clean energy transition
H.R. 3313 — Protecting American Farmland Act · Filed by David Taylor (R-OH) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 8, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits federal agencies from funding solar energy projects on prime farmland and strips away federal tax credits for solar installations placed on prime farmland. It blocks four separate clean-energy tax credits (residential solar, renewable electricity production, clean electricity production, and clean electricity investment credits) from applying to solar facilities built on prime agricultural land.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is the exclusion of solar facilities on prime farmland from four separate federal tax credits and the prohibition of federal agency funding for such projects. It is functionally a narrowing of clean-energy incentives, not a farmland-protection program with affirmative tools.
What the text implies
- The bill does not offer farmers compensation, easements, or alternative revenue streams for preserving farmland—it simply blocks solar developers from accessing federal incentives. This may inadvertently push solar development onto non-prime farmland or non-agricultural land, but does not guarantee farmland preservation without additional policy.
- By excluding solar from four separate tax credits (25D, 45, 45Y, 48, 48E), the bill creates a patchwork of exclusions that may be difficult for developers and taxpayers to navigate and could create unintended gaps in coverage or compliance.
- The bill applies retroactively to 'property placed in service after the date of enactment,' meaning solar projects in development or under construction may suddenly lose eligibility for credits they were relying on, creating stranded investments.
- The definition of 'prime farmland' is tied to state-level agricultural classifications under the Farmland Protection Policy Act, meaning the scope of the restriction varies by state and may be subject to state-level redefinition or dispute.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill restricts access to federal clean-energy incentives and blocks federal funding for renewable energy projects on a specific land category, raising the cost of solar deployment and slowing the transition to renewable energy. While farmland preservation is a legitimate public interest, this bill achieves it by narrowing clean-energy policy rather than by offering farmers alternative incentives or compensation—shifting the burden of farmland protection onto renewable-energy developers and c
Who stands to gain
- Agricultural landowners (by reducing competition for farmland from solar developers)
- Non-solar renewable energy sectors (wind, geothermal, hydroelectric) may see relative advantage if s
Named in the bill
Federal agencies, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Section 25D (residential clean energy credit), Section 45 (renewable electricity production credit), Section 45Y (clean electricity production credit), Section 48 (energy credit), Section 48E (clean electricity investment credit), Farmland Protection Policy Act, Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Republicans.
- May 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $123,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
David Taylor, the sponsor, reported $453,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Ohio Farm Bureau Federation — $123,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 14, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (4,235 characters) on Aug 14, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 14, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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