WOLF Act of 2023

Subjects: Agriculture and Food


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1726 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1726

 To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide emergency relief to 
 producers of livestock with herds adversely affected by Mexican gray 
                    wolves, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 18, 2023

  Mr. Lujan (for himself, Ms. Sinema, and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide emergency relief to 
 producers of livestock with herds adversely affected by Mexican gray 
                    wolves, 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 ``WOlf and Livestock Fairness Act of 
2023'' or the ``WOLF Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PAYMENT RATES.

    Section 1501(b)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 
9081(b)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses 
        (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
            (2) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as so 
        redesignated), by striking ``Indemnity payments'' and inserting 
        the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), indemnity payments''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Attacks by mexican gray wolves.--In the case 
                of attacks on livestock by Mexican gray wolves, 
                indemnity payments to an eligible producer on a farm 
                under paragraph (1) shall be made at a rate of 100 
                percent of the market value of the affected livestock, 
                as determined by the Secretary, on the applicable date 
                described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A).''.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF TO MITIGATE EFFECT OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES.

    Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(d)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Emergency relief to mitigate effect of mexican gray 
        wolves.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each fiscal year, the Secretary 
                shall use funds made available under paragraph (1) to 
                provide emergency relief to producers of livestock with 
                herds adversely affected by Mexican gray wolves, as 
                determined by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Formula.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary 
                shall develop a formula to determine the amount of 
                emergency relief to provide to a producer of livestock 
                under subparagraph (A), which shall take into 
                consideration the following factors:
                            ``(i) The herd size of the producer.
                            ``(ii) The average annual number of 
                        confirmed depredations by Mexican gray wolves 
                        per producer in the State in which the producer 
                        is located.
                            ``(iii) The average annual increase in 
                        management costs for producers due to Mexican 
                        gray wolves during the preceding 5 years in the 
                        State in which the producer is located.
                            ``(iv) The average annual decrease in birth 
                        rates of herds of producers due to Mexican gray 
                        wolves during the preceding 5 years in the 
                        State in which the producer is located.
                            ``(v) The depredation prevention practices 
                        carried out by the producer, if any, as 
                        reported through the wolf compensation and 
                        prevention program established by section 6202 
                        of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 
                        2009 (7 U.S.C. 8351 note; Public Law 111-11).
                    ``(C) Consultation.--In carrying out this 
                paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with, and 
                request information from, as necessary, the 
                Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, the 
                Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
                Service, and the Director of the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service.
                    ``(D) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after 
                the date on which emergency relief is first provided 
                under this paragraph, and annually thereafter, the 
                Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture 
                of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
                Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a 
                report on activities carried out under this paragraph, 
                which shall include an identification of the following:
                            ``(i) The amount of emergency relief 
                        distributed to producers under this paragraph.
                            ``(ii) The number of producers receiving 
                        emergency relief under this paragraph.''.
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