WOLF Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1726 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agri- culture, Nutrition, and Forestry 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 of 2023’’ or the ‘‘WOLF Act of 2023’’. 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— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1726.IS S1726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1726 IS (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 1 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indent- 2 ing appropriately; 3 (2) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as so re- 4 designated), by striking ‘‘Indemnity payments’’ and 5 inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 7 subparagraph (B), indemnity payments’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(B) ATTACKS BY MEXICAN GRAY 10 WOLVES.—In the case of attacks on livestock by 11 Mexican gray wolves, indemnity payments to an 12 eligible producer on a farm under paragraph 13 (1) shall be made at a rate of 100 percent of 14 the market value of the affected livestock, as 15 determined by the Secretary, on the applicable 16 date described in clause (i) or (ii) of subpara- 17 graph (A).’’. 18 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF TO MITIGATE EFFECT OF 19 MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES. 20 Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 21 U.S.C. 9081(d)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY RELIEF TO MITIGATE EFFECT 24 OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1726.IS S1726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1726 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the 1 Secretary shall use funds made available under 2 paragraph (1) to provide emergency relief to 3 producers of livestock with herds adversely af- 4 fected by Mexican gray wolves, as determined 5 by the Secretary. 6 ‘‘(B) FORMULA.—Not later than 180 days 7 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 8 the Secretary shall develop a formula to deter- 9 mine the amount of emergency relief to provide 10 to a producer of livestock under subparagraph 11 (A), which shall take into consideration the fol- 12 lowing factors: 13 ‘‘(i) The herd size of the producer. 14 ‘‘(ii) The average annual number of 15 confirmed depredations by Mexican gray 16 wolves per producer in the State in which 17 the producer is located. 18 ‘‘(iii) The average annual increase in 19 management costs for producers due to 20 Mexican gray wolves during the preceding 21 5 years in the State in which the producer 22 is located. 23 ‘‘(iv) The average annual decrease in 24 birth rates of herds of producers due to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1726.IS S1726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1726 IS Mexican gray wolves during the preceding 1 5 years in the State in which the producer 2 is located. 3 ‘‘(v) The depredation prevention prac- 4 tices carried out by the producer, if any, as 5 reported through the wolf compensation 6 and prevention program established by sec- 7 tion 6202 of the Omnibus Public Land 8 Management Act of 2009 (7 U.S.C. 8351 9 note; Public Law 111–11). 10 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out 11 this paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with, 12 and request information from, as necessary, the 13 Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, the 14 Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health 15 Inspection Service, and the Director of the 16 United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 17 ‘‘(D) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 18 year after the date on which emergency relief is 19 first provided under this paragraph, and annu- 20 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 21 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 22 Representatives and the Committee on Agri- 23 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate 24 a report on activities carried out under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1726.IS S1726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1726 IS paragraph, which shall include an identification 1 of the following: 2 ‘‘(i) The amount of emergency relief 3 distributed to producers under this para- 4 graph. 5 ‘‘(ii) The number of producers receiv- 6 ing emergency relief under this para- 7 graph.’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1726.IS S1726 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS