I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4213 To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the conservation reserve enhancement program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 20, 2023 Mr. BUCK (for himself and Ms. CARAVEO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the conservation reserve enhancement program. 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 Enhancement Program Improvement Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1231A of the Food Secu- 8 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831a) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4213 IH (1) in subsection (a)(4), in the matter pre- 1 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(other than 2 an agreement described in subsection (e))’’ after 3 ‘‘this subchapter’’; 4 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A)(vi), by inserting ‘‘or 5 other appropriate practices, such as dryland agricul- 6 tural uses and grazing,’’ after ‘‘conservation prac- 7 tices’’; 8 (3) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(5) VARIABLE ALLOCATION.—An owner or op- 11 erator may elect to determine the amounts of annual 12 payments under this section allocated to each year 13 of the agreement under subsection (b)(1). 14 ‘‘(6) DROUGHT AND WATER CONSERVATION 15 AGREEMENTS.— 16 ‘‘(A) RETIREMENT OF WATER RIGHTS.—In 17 the case of an agreement described in sub- 18 section (e) that includes a permanent retire- 19 ment of water rights, the payment rates for an- 20 nual payments shall be equal to the irrigated 21 acre payment rates determined by the Sec- 22 retary. 23 ‘‘(B) DRYLAND AGRICULTURAL USES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4213 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 1 agreement described in subsection (e) that 2 permits dryland agricultural uses pursuant 3 to paragraph (2) of that subsection, the 4 payment rates for annual payments shall 5 be equal to the difference between— 6 ‘‘(I) the irrigated acre payment 7 rates determined by the Secretary; 8 and 9 ‘‘(II) the dryland acre payment 10 rates determined by the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(ii) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—In 12 the case of an agreement covered by clause 13 (i) entered into before the date of enact- 14 ment of this paragraph under which the 15 payment rate is lower than the payment 16 rate that would be calculated for the agree- 17 ment under that clause, the Secretary shall 18 modify the agreement by calculating the 19 payment rate in accordance with that 20 clause.’’; and 21 (4) in subsection (e)— 22 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 23 by striking ‘‘may—’’ and inserting ‘‘shall—’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4213 IH (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(in- 1 cluding agricultural land on which a continuous 2 crop or crop rotation is maintained)’’ after ‘‘ag- 3 ricultural land’’; 4 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘with the 5 adoption of best management practices on’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘in accordance with a conservation 7 plan adopted with respect to’’; and 8 (D) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘subject 9 to subsection (c)(6),’’ before ‘‘calculate’’. 10 (b) EXEMPTION FROM PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Sec- 11 tion 1234(g) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 12 3834(g)) is amended— 13 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph 14 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(3) CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT 17 PROGRAM.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to rental 18 payments received under agreements entered into 19 under section 1231A.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4213.IH H4213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS