I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5764 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to increase payments for drought- 
resilient or water-saving practices and to provide additional payments 
for perennial production systems, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ (for herself, Mr. VALADAO, and Ms. PINGREE) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to increase pay-
ments for drought-resilient or water-saving practices and 
to provide additional payments for perennial production 
systems, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support Water-Effi-
cient Strategies and Technologies Act of 2023’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR DROUGHT-RESILIENT AND WATER- 
SAVING PRACTICES. 
(a) INCREASED PAYMENTS
FOR DROUGHT-RESIL-
IENT OR WATER-SAVING PRACTICES.—Section 1240B(d) 
of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa– 
2(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) INCREASED PAYMENTS FOR DROUGHT-RE-
SILIENT OR WATER-SAVING PRACTICES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding para-
graph (2), in the case of a practice described in 
subparagraph (B), the Secretary may increase 
the amount that would otherwise be provided 
for a practice under this subsection to not more 
than 85 percent of the costs associated with 
planning, design, materials, equipment, installa-
tion, labor, management, maintenance, or train-
ing. 
‘‘(B) PRACTICES.—The practices eligible 
for increased payment amounts under subpara-
graph (A) are the following: 
‘‘(i) Drought-resilient practices that 
have the capacity to develop and produce 
on water-deficient environments on eligible 
lands, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(ii) 
Water-conserving 
practices 
that— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(I) conserve surface water or 
groundwater that result in a reduction 
of water use in the agricultural oper-
ation of an eligible land; or 
‘‘(II) offer support to reduce run-
off and increase the absorption of rain 
on eligible land.’’. 
SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENTS FOR RESOURCE-CON-
SERVING MANAGEMENT. 
(a) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PAYMENTS.—Sec-
tion 1240L(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
U.S.C. 3839aa–24(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘on 
1 or more land uses covered by the contract’’ 
after ‘‘activities’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘im-
proving, maintaining, and managing’’ and in-
serting ‘‘maintaining, actively managing, and 
improving’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(B) Income forgone by the producer, in-
cluding amounts that reflect— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(i) increased economic risk; and 
‘‘(ii) loss in revenue due to— 
‘‘(I) production changes; 
‘‘(II) anticipated reductions in 
yield; 
‘‘(III) transitions to a resource- 
conserving cropping or grazing, or pe-
rennial production systems; or 
‘‘(IV) acreage converted to con-
serving uses.’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ‘‘, 
actively managed, and, where applicable, im-
proved’’ after ‘‘maintained’’. 
(b) SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENTS
FOR RESOURCE- 
CONSERVING CROP ROTATIONS AND ADVANCED GRAZING 
MANAGEMENT.—Section 1240L(d) of the Food Security 
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(d)) is amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ‘‘, 
PERENNIAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS,’’ after ‘‘ROTA-
TIONS’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
subparagraph (D); and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(C) PERENNIAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM.— 
The 
term 
‘perennial 
production 
system’ 
means— 
‘‘(i) the use of cropland for agro-
forestry, 
including 
alley 
cropping, 
silvopasture, and related perennial produc-
tion systems, as determined by the Sec-
retary; 
‘‘(ii) the use of woodland acres for 
agroforestry, including forest farming, 
multi-story cropping, and related perennial 
production systems, as determined by the 
Secretary; and 
‘‘(iii) the use of cropland for perennial 
forages or perennial grain crops.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ 
at the end; 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
subparagraph (C); and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 
the following: 
‘‘(B) perennial production systems; or’’; 
and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
(4) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, perennial 
production systems,’’ after ‘‘rotations’’. 
(c) PAYMENT LIMITATIONS.—Section 1240L(f) of 
the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(f)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) PAYMENT LIMITATIONS.—A person or legal enti-
ty (including a joint venture and general partnership) may 
not receive, directly or indirectly, payments under the pro-
gram that, in the aggregate, exceed $200,000 under all 
contracts entered into during any consecutive 5-year pe-
riod, excluding funding arrangements with Indian tribes, 
regardless of the number of contracts entered into under 
the program by the person or legal entity.’’. 
(d) SOIL HEALTH.—Section 1240L(k) of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(k)) is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(k) SOIL HEALTH.—To the maximum extent fea-
sible, the Secretary shall manage the program to enhance 
soil health, including by— 
‘‘(1) conducting outreach to encourage the use 
of contracts to improve soil health and sequester 
carbon in the soil; and 
‘‘(2) offering payments for soil testing to pro-
vide participants and the Secretary with information 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
on the soil health and carbon sequestration impacts 
of conservation activities.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
06:00 Oct 03, 2023
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5764.IH
H5764
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB