The Property Location Oversight and Transparency Act (PLOT Act) strengthens federal oversight of foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land by requiring foreign investors to submit detailed geospatial data mapping the exact boundaries of their properties. The bill requires this information to be provided in standard digital formats compatible with mapping software and allows federal, state, and local agencies—along with the public—to access it for transparency and national security purposes. The legislation also lowers reporting thresholds for foreign investors affiliated with designated "foreign adversaries" (particularly China) from existing percentages down to as low as 5 percent ownership, and requires disclosure of any foreign adversary holding 5 percent or greater interest in a transaction. The Secretary of Agriculture must prioritize enforcement actions against foreign adversary transactions and refer potentially problematic deals to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States within 180 days of enactment. The bill takes effect 180 days after passage, giving the Department of Agriculture time to implement the new reporting rules.
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