I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1386 
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 
MARCH 17, 2005 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. OSBORNE, Ms. 
HERSETH, Mr. CASE, Mr. OTTER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. 
SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. UDALL 
of Colorado, Mr. TERRY, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. 
WEXLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mrs. CUBIN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to 
the Committees on Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee 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. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘National Drought Preparedness Act of 2005’’. 
(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 Na-
tional Office of Drought Preparedness 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) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’, with re-
spect to the National Drought Council, means a 
member of the Council specified or appointed under 
section 101(b) or, in the absence of the member, the 
member’s designee as authorized by such section. 
(10) 
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. 
(11) NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFOR-
MATION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘National Integrated 
Drought Information System’’ means a comprehen-
sive system that collects and integrates information 
on the key indicators of drought, including stream 
flow, ground water levels, reservoir levels, soil mois-