Conservation Reserve Program Improvement Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4017 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve the conservation reserve program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 12, 2023 Mr. COSTA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve the conservation reserve program, 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 ‘‘Conservation Reserve 4 Program Improvement Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM IMPROVE- 6 MENTS. 7 (a) STATE ACRES FOR WILDLIFE ENHANCEMENT 8 CONTINUOUS ENROLLMENT.—Section 1231(d)(6)(A)(i) of 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4017.IH H4017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4017 IH the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 1 3831(d)(6)(A)(i)) is amended— 2 (1) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 3 end; and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(IV) land that will be enrolled 6 under the State acres for wildlife en- 7 hancement practice established by the 8 Secretary; and’’. 9 (b) COST SHARING PAYMENTS FOR ESTABLISHMENT 10 OF GRAZING INFRASTRUCTURE.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1234(b)(1) of the 12 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(b)(1)) 13 is amended— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘establishing water’’ and 15 inserting the following: ‘‘establishing— 16 ‘‘(A) water’’; 17 (B) in subparagraph (A) (as so des- 18 ignated), by striking the period at the end and 19 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(B) grazing infrastructure, including inte- 22 rior cross fencing, perimeter fencing, and water 23 infrastructure (such as rural water connections, 24 water wells, pipelines, and water tanks), under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4017.IH H4017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4017 IH each contract, for all practices, if grazing is in- 1 cluded in the conservation plan and addresses a 2 resource concern.’’. 3 (2) REENROLLMENT OF LAND WITH GRAZING 4 INFRASTRUCTURE.—Section 1231(h) of the Food 5 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(h)) is amend- 6 ed by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(3) LAND WITH GRAZING INFRASTRUCTURE.— 8 On the expiration of a contract entered into under 9 this subchapter that covers land that includes graz- 10 ing infrastructure established with cost sharing as- 11 sistance under section 1234(b)(1)(B)— 12 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall consider that land 13 to be planted for purposes of subsection 14 (b)(1)(B); and 15 ‘‘(B) that land shall be eligible for reenroll- 16 ment in the conservation reserve, subject to the 17 requirements of this subchapter.’’. 18 (c) MID-CONTRACT MANAGEMENT FOR ACTIVITIES 19 NOT RELATING TO HAYING OR GRAZING.— 20 (1) DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT.—Section 21 1232(a)(5) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 22 U.S.C. 3832(a)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(as de- 23 fined in section 1231A(a))’’ after ‘‘management’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4017.IH H4017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4017 IH (2) MANAGEMENT PAYMENTS.—Section 1 1234(b)(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 2 U.S.C. 3834(b)(2)) is amended by striking subpara- 3 graph (B) and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘(B) MANAGEMENT PAYMENTS.—The Sec- 5 retary shall make cost sharing payments to an 6 owner or operator under this subchapter for 7 any management activity described in section 8 1232(a)(5), except for those management ac- 9 tivities relating to haying or grazing.’’. 10 (d) PAYMENT LIMITATION FOR RENTAL PAY- 11 MENTS.—Section 1234(g)(1) of the Food Security Act of 12 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(g)(1)) is amended by striking 13 ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$125,000’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:05 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4017.IH H4017 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS