I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5610 
To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to extend the program 
providing for improvements to the United States Drought Monitor. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 
Mr. TAYLOR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to ex-
tend the program providing for improvements to the 
United States Drought Monitor. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Drought 
Monitoring Act’’. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO UNITED STATES DROUGHT 
MONITOR. 
Section 12512(d)(2) of the Agriculture Improvement 
Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 5856(d)(2)) is amended by striking 
‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2030’’. 
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SEC. 3. DROUGHT MONITOR INTERAGENCY WORKING 
GROUP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 
shall establish an interagency working group (referred to 
in this section as the ‘‘working group’’) to improve the 
availability of consistent, accurate, and reliable data for 
use in producing the United States Drought Monitor in 
accordance with section 12512 of the Agriculture Improve-
ment Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 5856). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group shall consist 
of not fewer than— 
(1) 3 representatives from the Department of 
Agriculture, including 1 representative from each 
of— 
(A) the Office of the Chief Economist, who 
shall serve as the Chair of the working group; 
(B) the Forest Service; and 
(C) the Farm Service Agency; 
(2) 4 representatives from the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, including 1 rep-
resentative from each of— 
(A) the Climate Prediction Center; 
(B) the National Centers for Environ-
mental Information; 
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(C) the National Integrated Drought In-
formation System; and 
(D) the National Mesonet Program; 
(3) 1 representative from the National Drought 
Mitigation Center; 
(4) 1 representative from the Department of 
the Interior; 
(5) 1 representative from the Cooperative Insti-
tute for Research to Operations in Hydrology of the 
University of Alabama; and 
(6) 3 representatives from mesonet programs in 
States— 
(A) that have experienced severe drought, 
as determined by the United States Drought 
Monitor, in not less than 5 calendar years dur-
ing the period of calendar years 2012 through 
2023; and 
(B) more than 50 percent of the land area 
of which is designated by the Economic Re-
search Service as a Level 1 frontier and remote 
area. 
(c) DUTIES.—The working group shall— 
(1) develop a means for the inclusion of addi-
tional in-situ data into the process of developing the 
United States Drought Monitor, including— 
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(A) determining minimum requirements 
for data to be included in the United States 
Drought Monitor; 
(B) identifying data available from other 
government agencies, including through portals 
managed by the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration; and 
(C) identifying gaps in coverage and deter-
mining solutions to address those gaps; 
(2) identify and address potential barriers to 
the use of existing data, including— 
(A) identifying Federal datasets that would 
be of immediate use in developing the United 
States Drought Monitor where access is re-
stricted to some or all authors of the United 
States Drought Monitor; and 
(B) developing proposed accommodations, 
modifications to contractual agreements, or up-
dates to interagency memoranda of under-
standing to allow for incorporation of datasets 
identified under subparagraph (A); 
(3) develop an open and transparent method-
ology for vetting data products developed using re-
mote sensing or modeling; 
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(4) if determined appropriate by the working 
group, develop a methodology for inclusion of data 
that may otherwise be excluded from the United 
States Drought Monitor due to shorter periods of 
record; and 
(5) identify and address any other issues relat-
ing to data availability and quality, as determined 
appropriate by the Chair of the working group. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the working group shall submit 
a report containing recommendations for changes in poli-
cies, regulations, guidance documents, or existing law to 
meet the objectives described in subsection (c) to— 
(1) the Secretary of Agriculture; 
(2) the Secretary of Commerce; 
(3) the Secretary of the Interior; 
(4) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry of the Senate; 
(5) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate; 
(6) the Committee on Agriculture of the House 
of Representatives; and 
(7) the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives. 
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(e) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of submission of the report under sub-
section (d), the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination 
with the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the 
Interior, shall incorporate, to the extent practicable, the 
recommendations of the working group to improve the 
United States Drought Monitor in accordance with section 
12512 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 
U.S.C. 5856). 
(f) TERMINATION.—The working group shall termi-
nate on the date that is 90 days after the date on which 
the report is submitted under subsection (d). 
SEC. 4. ALIGNMENT OF FARM SERVICE AGENCY AND FOR-
EST SERVICE DROUGHT RESPONSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of submission of the report under section 3(d), the 
Administrator of the Farm Service Agency and the Chief 
of the Forest Service shall enter into a memorandum of 
understanding to better align drought response activities 
of the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘agencies’’). 
(b) CONTENTS.—The memorandum of understanding 
entered into under subsection (a) shall include— 
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(1) a commitment to better align practices of 
the agencies with respect to determining the severity 
of regional drought conditions; 
(2) a strategy for amending those determina-
tions to ensure consistent policy with respect to 
drought response in cases where the agencies are 
making inconsistent determinations within the same 
spatial scale; 
(3) an agreement to utilize, to the extent prac-
ticable, the United States Drought Monitor in mak-
ing those determinations; and 
(4) an agreement to provide consistent informa-
tion to grazing permittees, operators, and other 
stakeholders affected by determinations relating to 
drought. 
Æ 
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