I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6821 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a pilot program 

that focuses Department of Agriculture conservation funding on reducing 

the most problematic nutrients in the highest-impact areas, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a 

pilot program that focuses Department of Agriculture 

conservation funding on reducing the most problematic 

nutrients in the highest-impact areas, 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 ‘‘Healthy Farms 

5 Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and 

2 other water bodies of national significance are inte3 gral to the health and wealth of millions of Ameri4 cans; 

5 (2) excessive loading of nutrients in these water 

6 bodies leads to eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, 

7 and dead zones that threaten human health and ad8 versely impact fish and wildlife resources, tourism, 

9 and industry; 

10 (3) the Federal Government, State and local 

11 governments, non-profit organizations, and private 

12 entities have expended billions of dollars to reduce 

13 nutrient loading in the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake 

14 Bay, and other water bodies of national significance; 

15 (4) despite the investments described in para16 graph (3), harmful algal blooms and dead zones con17 tinue to occur in the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake 

18 Bay, and other water bodies of national significance; 

19 (5) phosphorus, particularly dissolved reactive 

20 phosphorus, is a primary driver of eutrophication in 

21 the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay tributaries, 

22 and other water bodies of national significance; 

23 (6) targeted, strategic assistance to producers 

24 in agricultural sub-watersheds with high levels of 

25 dissolved reactive phosphorus loading has the potenVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Jan 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6821.IH H6821

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1 tial to significantly improve water quality the Great 

2 Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and other water bodies 

3 of national significance; and 

4 (7) the Natural Resources Conservation Service 

5 of the Department of Agriculture is well positioned 

6 to provide the targeted, strategic assistance de7 scribed in paragraph (6) through its conservation 

8 programs. 

9 SEC. 3. HEALTHY FARMS HEALTHY WATERSHEDS ACTION 

10 PROGRAM. 

11 Subchapter A of chapter 4 of title XII of the Food 

12 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa et seq.) is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 1240H–1. HEALTHY FARMS HEALTHY WATERSHEDS 

15 ACTION PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) COVERED AGREEMENT.—The term ‘cov18 ered agreement’ means a contract or agreement 

19 under the program or a covered program entered 

20 into for purposes of the Healthy Farms Healthy Wa21 tersheds Action Program carried out under this sec22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(2) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term ‘covered 

24 program’ means the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The agricultural conservation ease2 ment program. 

3 ‘‘(B) The regional conservation partnership 

4 program. 

5 ‘‘(C) The conservation stewardship pro6 gram, not including the grassland conservation 

7 initiative under section 1240L–1. 

8 ‘‘(D) The conservation reserve program. 

9 ‘‘(E) The programs established by the Sec10 retary to carry out the Watershed Protection 

11 and Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et 

12 seq.), except for any program established by the 

13 Secretary to carry out section 14 (16 U.S.C. 

14 1012) of that Act. 

15 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—The term ‘eligible 

16 activity’ means a practice, activity, agreement, ease17 ment, or related conservation measure that is avail18 able under the statutory authority for the program 

19 or a covered program. 

20 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The term ‘eligible 

21 partner’ means an eligible partner under the re22 gional conservation partnership program established 

23 under subtitle I. 

24 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY WATERSHED.—The term ‘pri25 ority watershed’ means a watershed that is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) delineated at the hydrologic unit code 

2 level 12 in the Watershed Boundary Dataset 

3 managed by the United States Geological Sur4 vey; 

5 ‘‘(B) located in an area designated by the 

6 Secretary as a critical conservation area under 

7 section 1271F; and 

8 ‘‘(C) designated by a Federal interagency 

9 task force or council, or other appropriate Fed10 eral interagency group, as a watershed most in 

11 need of phosphorus reduction from agricultural 

12 activities to improve water quality in a large 

13 body of water of regional, national, or inter14 national significance. 

15 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

16 pilot program, to be known as the Healthy Farms Healthy 

17 Watersheds Action Program, to maximize reduction of dis18 solved reactive phosphorus in priority watersheds through 

19 the implementation of eligible activities in such watersheds 

20 under the program and covered programs in fiscal years 

21 2025 through 2031. 

22 ‘‘(c) ACTION PLANS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Using funds made available 

24 under this subchapter, the Secretary shall select pri25 ority watersheds for purposes of the Healthy Farms 


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1 Healthy Watersheds Action Program and prepare 

2 for each priority watershed so selected an action 

3 plan to maximize reduction of dissolved reactive 

4 phosphorus through implementation of eligible ac5 tivities in the watershed under the program and cov6 ered programs. 

7 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—An action plan prepared 

8 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

9 ‘‘(A) an appraisal of the extent to which 

10 each eligible activity available for implementa11 tion in the watershed under the program or a 

12 covered program is effective at reducing dis13 solved reactive phosphorus, based on existing 

14 data and analysis; 

15 ‘‘(B) identification of target implementa16 tion goals for each eligible activity available for 

17 implementation in the watershed under the pro18 gram or a covered program that is determined 

19 by the Secretary to be effective at reducing dis20 solved reactive phosphorus; 

21 ‘‘(C) a strategy to monitor and adaptively 

22 manage implementation of the action plan, in23 cluding implementation of applicable eligible ac24 tivities, that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) leverages, to the maximum extent 

2 practicable, ongoing water quality moni3 toring activities carried out in the water4 shed by non-profit organizations, colleges 

5 and universities, and Federal, State, and 

6 local government agencies; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) provides for the development and 

8 validation of integrated, reliable, and easy9 to-use models for predicting changes in 

10 dissolved reactive phosphorus arising from 

11 implementation of such eligible activities; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(D) a strategy for enhanced outreach to 

14 identify and recruit eligible partners and pro15 ducers in the watershed to increase adoption of 

16 eligible activities determined to be effective by 

17 the Secretary under subparagraph (B). 

18 ‘‘(d) PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretary shall prioritize 

19 entering into covered agreements to demonstrate— 

20 ‘‘(1) non-digester methods to transition from 

21 wet manure handling and storage to dry manure 

22 handling and storage, including open solar drying or 

23 composting of manure onsite, conversion of dairy 

24 and livestock operations to pasture-based manage25 ment, solid separation technologies, vermifiltration, 


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1 and scrape conversion, provided that such methods 

2 do not otherwise result in the discharge or runoff of 

3 wastewater with high dissolved phosphorus content 

4 into a watershed; 

5 ‘‘(2) methods to reduce dissolved reactive phos6 phorus inputs to a priority watershed from land 

7 characterized by phosphorus— 

8 ‘‘(A) that has accumulated from prior agri9 cultural land management activities; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the levels of which exceed agronomic 

11 rates; and 

12 ‘‘(3) strategies to overcome barriers to imple13 mentation of methods to reduce dissolve reactive 

14 phosphorus inputs to priority watersheds on vacant 

15 and leased land. 

16 ‘‘(e) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Notwithstanding any 

17 otherwise applicable limitation on payments under the pro18 gram or a covered program, during the period described 

19 in subsection (b), the Secretary is authorized to make pay20 ments to producers and eligible partners under covered 

21 agreements in accordance with a graduated scale of pay22 ment amounts based on measured, quantitative reductions 

23 in dissolved reactive phosphorus achieved through the im24 plementation of eligible activities under the covered agree25 ments. 


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1 ‘‘(f) INTERPRETATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

2 shall be construed to affect— 

3 ‘‘(1) the duration authorized for a contract or 

4 agreement under the program or a covered program; 

5 ‘‘(2) any contract or agreement entered into 

6 under the program or a covered program prior to 

7 the date of enactment of the Healthy Farms Healthy 

8 Watersheds Act of 2023, including the process or 

9 criteria for renewing or extending such a contract or 

10 agreement; or 

11 ‘‘(3) any requirements relating to the program 

12 or a covered program for any other purpose for 

13 which the program or covered program is imple14 mented. 

15 ‘‘(g) COORDINATION AND CONSISTENCY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

17 Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action Pro18 gram, the Secretary shall coordinate with relevant 

19 Federal agencies and State and local governments. 

20 ‘‘(2) ACTION PLANS.—The Secretary shall en21 sure that any action plan prepared for a priority wa22 tershed under subsection (c) is consistent to the 

23 maximum extent practicable with any State water 

24 quality management plan that includes the priority 

25 watershed. 


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1 ‘‘(h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Assistance pro2 vided under the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Ac3 tion Program shall supplement, not supplant, assistance 

4 provided to eligible partners or producers in a priority wa5 tershed under the program or a covered program for pur6 poses other than the purposes of the Healthy Farms 

7 Healthy Watersheds Action Program. 

8 ‘‘(i) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall provide to the 

9 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 

10 and to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For11 estry of the Senate— 

12 ‘‘(1) not later than January 1, 2027, an interim 

13 report on implementation of the Healthy Farms 

14 Healthy Watersheds Action Program; and 

15 ‘‘(2) not later than June 1, 2032, a final report 

16 on implementation of the Healthy Farms Healthy 

17 Watersheds Action Program.’’. 

Æ 


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