Federal

Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 905 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes rules for two federal programs that help farmers and forest owners recover from emergencies. It makes it easier for agricultural producers to get advance payments to fix damage from things like wildfires, and it expands what types of emergencies qualify for help.

Who It Affects

Agricultural producers (farmers and ranchers) and owners of nonindustrial private forest land (private forest owners who are not in the timber business).

Key Provisions

* The government can now pay farmers and ranchers up to 75 percent of the cost to replace damaged farmland or conservation structures (like fences or irrigation systems) before they do the repairs, instead of only paying for fence replacement. (Sec. 2) * The government can pay farmers and ranchers up to 50 percent of the cost to repair or restore farmland or conservation structures before they do the work. (Sec. 2) * Wildfires that damage farmland now qualify for emergency help even if the fire wasn't started naturally, as long as it spread naturally, and also if the federal government caused the fire. (Sec. 2) * Forest owners can get advance payments of up to 75 percent of the cost for emergency forest restoration work before they complete it. (Sec. 3) * If forest owners receive advance payments but don't spend the money within 60 days, they must return the funds within a reasonable timeframe decided by the Secretary. (Sec. 3)

What Changes

The bill expands what counts as an emergency (to include more than just fencing replacement) and allows farmers, ranchers and forest owners to receive money before they do the repair work instead of after. The bill also clarifies which wildfires qualify for help.

Important Definitions

None defined in bill text.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 231 To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to remove barriers to agricul- tural producers in accessing funds to carry out emergency measures under the emergency conservation program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to remove barriers to agricultural producers in accessing funds to carry out emergency measures under the emergency con- servation 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 ‘‘Emergency Conserva- 4 tion Program Improvement Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Feb 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S231.IS S231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 231 IS SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 Section 401 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 3 (16 U.S.C. 2201) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)— 5 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 6 ‘‘AND OTHER EMERGENCY CONSERVATION 7 MEASURES’’ after ‘‘FENCING’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (1)— 9 (i) by inserting ‘‘or other emergency 10 measures to replace or restore farmland or 11 conservation structures requiring an imme- 12 diate response (as determined by the Sec- 13 retary),’’ after ‘‘replacement of fencing,’’; 14 and 15 (ii) by striking ‘‘option of receiving’’ 16 and all that follows through the period at 17 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘op- 18 tion of receiving, before the agricultural 19 producer carries out the repair, replace- 20 ment, or restoration— 21 ‘‘(A) with respect to a payment to the agri- 22 cultural producer for a replacement, 75 percent 23 of the cost of the replacement, as determined by 24 the Secretary based on the fair market value of 25 the cost of the replacement using the estimated 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Feb 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S231.IS S231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 231 IS cost of the applicable practice published in the 1 Field Office Technical Guide of each State by 2 the Natural Resources Conservation Service; 3 and 4 ‘‘(B) with respect to a payment to the ag- 5 ricultural producer for a repair or restoration, 6 50 percent of the cost of the repair or restora- 7 tion, as determined by the Secretary based on 8 the fair market value of the cost of the repair 9 or restoration using the estimated cost of the 10 applicable practice published in the Field Office 11 Technical Guide of each State by the Natural 12 Resources Conservation Service.’’; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(c) WILDFIRE DETERMINATION.—A wildfire that 15 causes damage eligible for a payment under subsection (a) 16 includes— 17 ‘‘(1) a wildfire that is not caused naturally if 18 the damage is caused by the spread of the wildfire 19 due to natural causes; and 20 ‘‘(2) a wildfire that is caused by the Federal 21 Government.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Feb 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S231.IS S231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 231 IS SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY FOREST RESTORA- 1 TION PROGRAM. 2 Section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 3 (16 U.S.C. 2206) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘wildfires,’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘wildfires (including a wildfire that is 6 not caused naturally if the damage is caused by the 7 spread of the wildfire due to natural causes and a 8 wildfire that is caused by the Federal Govern- 9 ment),’’; 10 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 11 section (f); and 12 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(e) ADVANCE PAYMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall give an 16 owner of nonindustrial private forest land the option 17 of receiving, before the owner carries out emergency 18 measures under this section, not more than 75 per- 19 cent of the cost of the emergency measures, as de- 20 termined by the Secretary based on the fair market 21 value of the cost of the emergency measures using 22 the estimated cost of the applicable practice pub- 23 lished in the Field Office Technical Guide of each 24 State by the Natural Resources Conservation Serv- 25 ice. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Feb 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S231.IS S231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 231 IS ‘‘(2) RETURN OF FUNDS.—If the funds pro- 1 vided under paragraph (1) are not expended by the 2 end of the 60-day period beginning on the date on 3 which the owner of nonindustrial private forest land 4 receives those funds, the funds shall be returned 5 within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the 6 Secretary.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Feb 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S231.IS S231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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