American Prairie Conservation Act

Subjects: Agriculture and Food


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1539 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1539

  To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act and the Federal Agriculture 
 Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to make the native sod provisions 
applicable to the United States and to modify those provisions, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 10, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act and the Federal Agriculture 
 Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to make the native sod provisions 
applicable to the United States and to modify those provisions, 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 ``American Prairie Conservation Act''.

SEC. 2. CROP PRODUCTION ON NATIVE SOD.

    (a) Federal Crop Insurance.--Section 508(o) of the Federal Crop 
Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(o)) is amended by striking paragraph (3) 
and inserting the following:
            ``(3) Native sod conversion certification.--
                    ``(A) Certification.--As a condition on the receipt 
                of benefits under this subtitle, a producer that has 
                tilled native sod acreage for the production of an 
                insurable crop as described in paragraph (2)(A) shall 
                certify to the Secretary that acreage using--
                            ``(i) an acreage report form of the Farm 
                        Service Agency (FSA-578 or any successor form); 
                        and
                            ``(ii) 1 or more maps.
                    ``(B) Corrections.--Beginning on the date on which 
                a producer submits a certification under subparagraph 
                (A), as soon as practicable after the producer 
                discovers a change in tilled native sod acreage 
                described in that subparagraph, the producer shall 
                submit to the Secretary any appropriate corrections to 
                a form or map described in clause (i) or (ii) of that 
                subparagraph.
                    ``(C) Annual reports.--Not later than January 1, 
                2024, and each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 
                2028, 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 that describes the tilled native 
                sod acreage that has been certified under subparagraph 
                (A) in each county and State as of the date of 
                submission of the report.''.
    (b) Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance.--Section 196(a)(4) of the 
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 
7333(a)(4)) is amended by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the 
following:
                    ``(C) Native sod conversion certification.--
                            ``(i) Certification.--As a condition on the 
                        receipt of benefits under this section, a 
                        producer that has tilled native sod acreage for 
                        the production of an insurable crop as 
                        described in subparagraph (B)(i) shall certify 
                        to the Secretary that acreage using--
                                    ``(I) an acreage report form of the 
                                Farm Service Agency (FSA-578 or any 
                                successor form); and
                                    ``(II) 1 or more maps.
                            ``(ii) Corrections.--Beginning on the date 
                        on which a producer submits a certification 
                        under clause (i), as soon as practicable after 
                        the producer discovers a change in tilled 
                        native sod acreage described in that clause, 
                        the producer shall submit to the Secretary any 
                        appropriate corrections to a form or map 
                        described in subclause (I) or (II) of that 
                        clause.
                            ``(iii) Annual reports.--Not later than 
                        January 1, 2024, and each January 1 thereafter 
                        through January 1, 2028, 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 that describes the tilled 
                        native sod acreage that has been certified 
                        under clause (i) in each county and State as of 
                        the date of submission of the report.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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