I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6717 

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 conservation program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2023 

Ms. LETLOW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

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 conservation program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Conserva5 tion Program Improvement Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Section 401 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 

4 (16 U.S.C. 2201) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

7 ‘‘AND OTHER EMERGENCY CONSERVATION

8 MEASURES’’ after ‘‘FENCING’’; and 

9 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) by inserting ‘‘or other emergency 

11 measures to replace or restore farmland or 

12 conservation structures requiring an imme13 diate response (as determined by the Sec14 retary),’’ after ‘‘replacement of fencing,’’; 

15 and 

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘option of receiving’’ 

17 and all that follows through the period at 

18 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘op19 tion of receiving, before the agricultural 

20 producer carries out the repair, replace21 ment, or restoration— 

22 ‘‘(A) with respect to a payment to the agri23 cultural producer for a replacement, 75 percent 

24 of the cost of the replacement, as determined by 

25 the Secretary based on the fair market value of 

26 the cost of the replacement using the estimated 


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1 cost of the applicable practice published in the 

2 Field Office Technical Guide of each State by 

3 the Natural Resources Conservation Service; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) with respect to a payment to the ag6 ricultural producer for a repair or restoration, 

7 50 percent of the cost of the repair or restora8 tion, as determined by the Secretary based on 

9 the fair market value of the cost of the repair 

10 or restoration using the estimated cost of the 

11 applicable practice published in the Field Office 

12 Technical Guide of each State by the Natural 

13 Resources Conservation Service.’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) WILDFIRE DETERMINATION.—A wildfire that 

16 causes damage eligible for a payment under subsection (a) 

17 includes— 

18 ‘‘(1) a wildfire that is not caused naturally if 

19 the damage is caused by the spread of the wildfire 

20 due to natural causes; and 

21 ‘‘(2) a wildfire that is caused by the Federal 

22 Government.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY FOREST RESTORA2 TION PROGRAM. 

3 Section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 

4 (16 U.S.C. 2206) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘wildfires,’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘wildfires (including a wildfire that is 

7 not caused naturally if the damage is caused by the 

8 spread of the wildfire due to natural causes and a 

9 wildfire that is caused by the Federal Govern10 ment),’’; 

11 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub12 section (f); and 

13 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(e) ADVANCE PAYMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall give an 

17 owner of nonindustrial private forest land the option 

18 of receiving, before the owner carries out emergency 

19 measures under this section, not more than 75 per20 cent of the cost of the emergency measures, as de21 termined by the Secretary based on the fair market 

22 value of the cost of the emergency measures using 

23 the estimated cost of the applicable practice pub24 lished in the Field Office Technical Guide of each 

25 State by the Natural Resources Conservation Serv26 ice. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RETURN OF FUNDS.—If the funds pro2 vided under paragraph (1) are not expended by the 

3 end of the 180-day period beginning on the date on 

4 which the owner of nonindustrial private forest land 

5 receives those funds, the funds shall be returned 

6 within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the 

7 Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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