Indiana § 15-11-2-9 - Online portal

§ 15-11-2-9. Online portal

Sec. 9. (a) As used in this section, "user" includes:

(1) a rural community;

(2) a farmer;

(3) an agribusiness; or

(4) any other individual or entity using the online portal established under this section for the purposes described in subsection (d).

(b) The department shall establish an online portal on the department's website.

(c) The department shall administer the online portal.

(d) The purposes of the online portal shall be to:

(1) assist users in the successful navigation of agricultural or related topics among various federal and state agencies;

(2) provide a single source for users to access agricultural or related federal and state funding opportunities;

(3) provide a searchable data base of available federal and state grants with information on eligibility and deadline criteria; and

(4) provide regular updates to reflect changes in federal and state funding opportunities.

(e) The online portal shall include links that will facilitate the navigation of the websites of various federal and state agencies, including the following:

(1) The United States Department of Agriculture.

(2) The United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

(3) The United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(4) The department of environmental management established by IC 13-13-1-1.

(5) The Indiana state board of animal health established by IC 15-17-3-1.

(6) The office of state chemist (and by virtue of office, the state seed commissioner under IC 15-15-1-26) established by IC 15-16-2-24.

(7) The office of community and rural affairs established by IC 4-4-9.7-4.

(8) Any other federal or state agency, the interaction with which would be helpful to users.

(f) To accomplish the purposes described in subsection (d), the online portal shall do the following:

(1) Provide a series of regulatory checklists for users that are considering diversifying into new markets to assist users in:

(A) the navigation of agricultural and related regulations; and

(B) the avoidance of punitive enforcement actions before they arise.

(2) Assist users in collaborating with:

(A) the Purdue University cooperative extension service;

(B) the state climate office hosted by Purdue University; and

(C) the United States Department of Agriculture;

to create a one stop venue that will help connect users with responsive data visualization tools and technical assistance programming.

(3) Provide a one stop venue where users may gather information regarding, and apply for, available federal and state agricultural and related funding opportunities.

(4) Include a link to provide users with ongoing updates on the status of land that was identified as lost farmland included in the department's inventory of lost farmland, and as reported by the department, under IC 15-11-9-1.1 (before its expiration) or IC 15-11-9-1.3.

(5) Include a formal venue to collect comments from the public regarding federal regulations that impact Indiana's rural economy with the goal of assisting the state in providing vigorous advocacy on behalf of the public.

(6) Include a formal venue where users may provide to the department reviews and feedback regarding the usefulness of the online portal.

As added by P.L.5-2025, SEC.1.