USDA Disclosure Rule Could Snag Energy Project Deals

Agriculture & Food Policy Team Co-Leader Peter Tabor was quoted in a Law360 article about a proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule that would expand foreign ownership reporting requirements under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) to cover additional energy infrastructure. Peter discussed how the proposal would broaden the types of land and controlling interests subject to disclosure, lower an aggregate ownership threshold, limit exemptions for leaseholds and increase penalties for noncompliance. He added that the changes would require companies to monitor and report relevant ownership developments throughout the life of a project rather than treating compliance as a one-time obligation.

"You've got a lot of renewable energy projects that would probably fall under that, because a lot of the technology, a lot of the expertise and the investment could come from abroad," he said.

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