Bill Details
HR.1858 - 119th Congress
Status
Latest action
2025-03-28 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
Introduced Date
2025-03-05
Policy Area
Agriculture and Food
Committees
View committees (1)
Cosponsors
View cosponsors (8)
8
0
0
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would change federal farm and watershed programs to better prepare for flooding and help repair damaged watershed projects. It would let the Agriculture Secretary go beyond basic emergency repairs when needed, if doing so would better protect the watershed over the long term, reduce repeated damage, and make sense for the environment and cost. It also requires the Agriculture Department to study how flooding affects U.S. farmland and to report on flood risks, losses, and possible ways to reduce damage. In addition, the bill would make it easier and more financially supported to rehabilitate older watershed structures that are near the end of their useful life.
- For emergency watershed work, the Secretary could choose stronger restoration measures than the minimum needed to fix the immediate problem, as long as the approach helps prevent future damage and is cost-effective.
- Within 2 years, the Agriculture Secretary would have to send Congress a national report on flood risk to farmland. That report would look at crop and livestock losses under different flood situations and study how flood control actions affect other areas downstream.
- The report would also use available federal and state data on river flooding, coastal flooding, storm surge, heavy rain, and flash flooding, and would describe current conservation efforts and government programs that try to reduce flood damage.
- The bill would update rules for watershed projects so that rehabilitation projects are treated differently from new projects, and it would raise the federal cost share for repairing certain aging structural measures from 65% to 90%.
Official Summaries
No summaries available
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1858 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1858
To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with respect to the
emergency watershed program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2025
Mr. Davis of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Feenstra, Ms. Tokuda, Mr.
Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Rouzer, and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with respect to the
emergency watershed program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Flooding Prevention, Assessment, and
Restoration Act''.
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROGRAM.
Section 403 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Level of Restoration.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary may undertake measures that increase the level of protection
above that which would be necessary to address the immediate impairment
of the watershed if the Secretary determines that such restoration is--
``(1) in the best interest of the long-term health and the
protection of the watershed from repetitive impairments; and
``(2) cost-effective and appropriate, given risks to the
environment.''.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL AGRICULTURE FLOOD VULNERABILITY STUDY.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a national agriculture flood
vulnerability report containing the results of a conservation effects
assessment project studying flood risk on agricultural lands,
including--
(1) an analysis of economic losses of crops and livestock
resulting from flooding under different recurrence scenarios;
(2) an analysis of the downstream effects of mitigation
activities carried out as part of a watershed management
approach;
(3) an analysis of available Federal and State data
relating to flood risk, as applicable to agricultural land,
including data relating to riverine flooding, coastal flooding,
storm surge, extreme precipitation, and flash flooding; and
(4) a description of ongoing producer-level conservation
practices and broader government initiatives to manage flooding
impact and flood risk within and across watersheds, and
recommendations for additional practices and initiatives to
further address such impact and risk.
SEC. 4. REHABILITATION OF STRUCTURAL MEASURES NEAR, AT, OR PAST THEIR
EVALUATED LIFE EXPECTANCY.
The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act is amended--
(1) in section 2 (16 U.S.C. 1002), by striking
``respectively.'' and all that follows through ``must contain''
and inserting ``respectively. Each project, other than a
rehabilitation project under section 14, must contain''; and
(2) in section 14(b)(2) (16 U.S.C. 1012(b)(2)), by striking
``65 percent'' and inserting ``90 percent''.
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