I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2695 To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide emergency relief to pro- ducers of livestock with herds adversely affected by Mexican gray wolves, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 18, 2023 Mr. STANTON (for himself, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. VASQUEZ, and Mr. PFLUGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide emergency relief to producers of livestock with herds adversely af- fected by Mexican gray wolves, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘WOlf and Livestock 4 Fairness Act’’ or the ‘‘WOLF Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PAYMENT RATES. 6 Section 1501(b)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 7 (7 U.S.C. 9081(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘75’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘100’’. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2695.IH H2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2695 IH SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF TO MITIGATE EFFECT OF 1 MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES. 2 Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 3 U.S.C. 9081(d)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY RELIEF TO MITIGATE EFFECT 6 OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the 8 Secretary shall use funds made available under 9 paragraph (1) to provide emergency relief to 10 producers of livestock with herds adversely af- 11 fected by Mexican gray wolves, as determined 12 by the Secretary. 13 ‘‘(B) FORMULA.—Not later than 180 days 14 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 15 the Secretary shall develop a formula to deter- 16 mine the amount of emergency relief to provide 17 to a producer of livestock under subparagraph 18 (A), which shall take into consideration the fol- 19 lowing factors: 20 ‘‘(i) The herd size of the producer. 21 ‘‘(ii) The average annual number of 22 confirmed depredations by Mexican gray 23 wolves per producer in the State in which 24 the producer is located. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2695.IH H2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2695 IH ‘‘(iii) The average annual increase in 1 management costs for producers due to 2 Mexican gray wolves during the preceding 3 5 years in the State in which the producer 4 is located. 5 ‘‘(iv) The average annual decrease in 6 birth rates of herds of producers due to 7 Mexican gray wolves during the preceding 8 5 years in the State in which the producer 9 is located. 10 ‘‘(v) The depredation prevention prac- 11 tices carried out by the producer, if any, as 12 reported through the wolf compensation 13 and prevention program established by sec- 14 tion 6202 of the Omnibus Public Land 15 Management Act of 2009 (7 U.S.C. 8351 16 note). 17 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out 18 this paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with, 19 and request information from, as necessary, the 20 Administrator of the Farm Service Agency of 21 the Department of Agriculture, the Adminis- 22 trator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspec- 23 tion Service of the Department of Agriculture, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2695.IH H2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2695 IH and the Director of the United States Fish and 1 Wildlife Service. 2 ‘‘(D) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 3 year after the date on which emergency relief is 4 first provided under this paragraph, and annu- 5 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 6 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 7 Representatives and the Committee on Agri- 8 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate 9 a report on activities carried out under this 10 paragraph, which shall include an identification 11 of the following: 12 ‘‘(i) The amount of emergency relief 13 distributed to producers under this para- 14 graph. 15 ‘‘(ii) The number of producers receiv- 16 ing emergency relief under this para- 17 graph.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:14 Apr 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2695.IH H2695 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS