I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2871
To establish a National Drought Council within the Department of Agri-
culture, to improve national drought preparedness, mitigation, and re-
sponse efforts, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 24, 2003
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. 
BEREUTER, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. OTTER, Mr. 
UDALL of Colorado, Mr. KOLBE, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. CUBIN, 
Mr. CASE, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Ms. JACKSON-
LEE of Texas, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. ROS-
LEHTINEN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of 
Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, 
Mr. SPRATT, and Mr. FOLEY) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a National Drought Council within the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, to improve national drought pre-
paredness, mitigation, and response efforts, and for other 
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘National Drought Preparedness Act of 2003’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Effect of Act. 
TITLE I—NATIONAL DROUGHT COUNCIL 
Sec. 101. Membership and voting. 
Sec. 102. Duties of the Council. 
Sec. 103. Powers of the Council. 
Sec. 104. Council personnel matters. 
Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 106. Termination of Council. 
TITLE II—NATIONAL OFFICE OF DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS 
Sec. 201. Establishment. 
Sec. 202. Director of the Office. 
Sec. 203. Detail of government employees. 
Sec. 204. Office Personnel Requirement. 
TITLE III—DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS PLANS 
Sec. 301. Drought Assistance Fund. 
Sec. 302. Drought preparedness plans. 
Sec. 303. Federal plans. 
Sec. 304. State and tribal plans. 
Sec. 305. Regional and local plans. 
Sec. 306. Plan elements.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) drought is a natural disaster; 
(2) regional drought disasters in the United 
States cause serious economic and environmental 
losses, yet there is no national policy to ensure an 
integrated and coordinated Federal strategy to pre-
pare for, mitigate, or respond to such losses;
(3) drought has an adverse effect on resource-
dependent businesses and industries, including 
recreation- and tourism-based businesses and indus-
tries; 
(4) State, tribal, and local governments have to 
increase coordinated efforts with each Federal agen-
cy involved in drought monitoring, planning, mitiga-
tion, and response; 
(5) effective drought monitoring—
(A) is a critical component of drought pre-
paredness and mitigation; and 
(B) requires a comprehensive, integrated 
national program that is capable of providing 
reliable, accessible, and timely information to 
persons involved in drought planning, mitiga-
tion, and response activities; 
(6) the National Drought Policy Commission 
was established in 1998 to provide advice and rec-
ommendations on the creation of an integrated, co-
ordinated Federal policy designed to prepare for and 
respond to serious drought emergencies; 
(7) according to the report issued by the Na-
tional Drought Policy Commission in May 2000, the 
guiding principles of national drought policy should 
be—
(A) to favor preparedness over insurance, 
insurance over relief, and incentives over regu-
lation; 
(B) to establish research priorities based 
on the potential of the research to reduce 
drought impacts; 
(C) to coordinate the delivery of Federal 
services through collaboration with State and 
local governments and other non-Federal enti-
ties; and 
(D) to improve collaboration among sci-
entists and managers; and 
(8) the National Drought Council, in coordina-
tion with Federal agencies and State, tribal, and 
local governments, should provide the necessary di-
rection, coordination, guidance, and assistance in de-
veloping a comprehensive drought preparedness sys-
tem. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 
National Drought Council established by section 
101(a). 
(2) CRITICAL SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 
‘‘critical service provider’’ means an entity that pro-
vides power, water (including water provided by an 
irrigation organization or facility), sewer services, or 
wastewater treatment. 
(3) DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Di-
rector of the Office’’ means the Director of the Of-
fice appointed under section 202(a). 
(4) DROUGHT.—The term ‘‘drought’’ means a 
natural disaster that is caused by a deficiency in 
precipitation—
(A) that may lead to a deficiency in sur-
face and subsurface water supplies (including 
rivers, streams, wetlands, ground water, soil 
moisture, reservoir supplies, lake levels, and 
snow pack); and 
(B) that causes or may cause—
(i) substantial economic or social im-
pacts; or 
(ii) physical damage or injury to indi-
viduals, property, or the environment. 
(5) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 
Drought Assistance Fund established by section 
301(a). 
(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 
(7) 
INTERSTATE
WATERSHED.—The 
term 
‘‘interstate watershed’’ means a watershed that tran-
scends State or Tribal boundaries, or both. 
(8) LEAD
FEDERAL
COORDINATING
AGEN-
CIES.—The term ‘‘Lead Federal coordinating agen-
cies’’ means the Federal departments and agencies 
identified in section 101(f)(3). 
(9) 
MITIGATION.—The 
term 
‘‘mitigation’’ 
means a short- or long-term action, program, or pol-
icy that is implemented in advance of or during a 
drought to minimize any risks and impacts of 
drought. 
(10) NATIONAL
INTEGRATED
DROUGHT
SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘‘National Integrated Drought Sys-
tem’’ means a comprehensive system that collects 
and integrates information on the key indicators of 
drought, including stream flow, ground water levels, 
reservoir levels, soil moisture, snow pack, climate 
(including precipitation and temperature), and fore-
casts, in order to make usable, reliable, and timely 
assessments of drought, including the severity of 
drought.
(11) 
NEIGHBORING
COUNTRY.—The 
term 
‘‘neighboring country’’ means Canada and Mexico. 
(12) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the 
National Office of Drought Preparedness established 
under section 301. 
(13) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev-
eral States, the District of Columbia, American 
Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
and the United States Virgin Islands. 
(15) TRIGGER.—The term ‘‘trigger’’ means the 
thresholds or criteria that must be satisfied before 
mitigation or emergency assistance may be provided 
to an area—
(A) in which drought is emerging; or 
(B) that is experiencing a drought. 
(16) UNDER
SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 
Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Agri-
culture for Natural Resources and Environment. 
(17) UNITED
STATES.—The term ‘‘United 
States’’, in a geographical sense, encompasses the 
States.
(18) WATERSHED.—The term ‘‘watershed’’ 
means a region or area with common hydrology, an 
area drained by a waterway that drains into a lake 
or reservoir, the total area above a given point on 
a stream that contributes water to the flow at that 
point, or the topographic dividing line from which 
surface streams flow in two different directions. In 
no case shall a watershed be larger than a river 
basin. 
(19) WATERSHED GROUP.—The term ‘‘water-
shed group’’ means a group of individuals, formally 
recognized by the appropriate State or States, who 
represent the broad scope of relevant interests with-
in a watershed and who work together in a collabo-
rative manner to jointly plan the management of the 
natural resources contained within the watershed. 
SEC. 4. EFFECT OF ACT. 
This Act does not affect—
(1) the authority of a State to allocate quan-
tities of water under the jurisdiction of the State; or 
(2) any State water rights established as of the 
date of enactment of this Act.
TITLE I—NATIONAL DROUGHT 
COUNCIL 
SEC. 101. MEMBERSHIP AND VOTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Office 
of the Secretary of Agriculture a council to be known as 
the ‘‘National Drought Council’’. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
(1) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be com-
posed of—
(A) the Secretary (or the designee of the 
Secretary); 
(B) the Secretary of Commerce (or the 
designee of the Secretary of Commerce); 
(C) the Secretary of the Army (or the des-
ignee of the Secretary of the Army); 
(D) the Secretary of the Interior (or the 
designee of the Secretary of the Interior); 
(E) the Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (or the designee of the Di-
rector); 
(F) the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency (or the designee of 
the Administrator); 
(G) 4 members appointed by the Secretary, 
in coordination with the National Governors As-
sociation, each of whom shall be the Governor 
of a State (or the designee of the Governor) 
and who collectively shall represent the geo-
graphic diversity of the Nation; 
(H) 1 member appointed by the Secretary, 
in coordination with the National Association of 
Counties; 
(I) 1 member appointed by the Secretary, 
in coordination with the United States Con-
ference of Mayors; 
(J) 1 member appointed by the Secretary 
of the Interior, in coordination with Indian 
tribes, to represent the interests of tribal gov-
ernments; and 
(K) 1 member appointed by the Secretary, 
in coordination with the National Association of 
Conservation Districts, to represent local soil 
and water conservation districts. 
(2) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The appointment 
of each member of the Council shall be made not 
later than 120 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
(c) TERM; VACANCIES.—
(1) TERM.—A non-Federal member of the 
Council appointed under subparagraphs (G) through
(K) of subsection (b)(1) shall be appointed for a 
term of 2 years. 
(2) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Council—
(A) shall not affect the powers of the 
Council; and 
(B) shall be filled in the same manner as 
the original appointment was made. 
(3) TERMS
OF
MEMBERS
FILLING
VACAN-
CIES.—Any member appointed to fill a vacancy oc-
curring before the expiration of the term for which 
the member’s predecessor was appointed shall be ap-
pointed only for the remainder of that term. 
(d) MEETINGS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall meet at 
the call of the co-chairs. 
(2) FREQUENCY.—The Council shall meet at 
least semiannually. 
(e) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 
Council shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number 
may hold hearings or conduct other business. 
(f) COUNCIL LEADERSHIP.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be a Federal co-
chair and non-Federal co-chair of the Council. 
(2) APPOINTMENT.—