Title: American Prairie Conservation Act
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
American Prairie Conservation Act
This bill amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act and the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to modify provisions, known as sodsaver provisions, that reduce benefits under the Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop insurance and noninsured crop disaster assistance programs for farmers who plant crops on native sod.
The bill also amends the Agriculture Act of 2014 to extend the requirement for USDA to submit annual reports to Congress regarding cropland acreage.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3939 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3939

  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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 4, 2017

  Mrs. Noem (for herself and Mr. Walz) introduced the following bill; 
           which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph (A) and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--
                            ``(i) Agricultural act of 2014.--Native sod 
                        acreage that has been tilled for the production 
                        of an insurable crop during the period 
                        beginning on February 8, 2014, and ending on 
                        the date of enactment of the American Prairie 
                        Conservation Act shall be subject to 4 
                        cumulative years of a reduction in benefits 
                        under this subtitle as described in this 
                        paragraph.
                            ``(ii) American prairie conservation act.--
                                    ``(I) Non-hay and non-forage 
                                crops.--As determined by the Secretary, 
                                native sod acreage that has been tilled 
                                for the production of an insurable crop 
                                other than a hay or forage crop after 
                                the date of enactment of the American 
                                Prairie Conservation Act shall be 
                                subject to 4 cumulative years of a 
                                reduction in benefits under this 
                                subtitle as described in this 
                                paragraph.
                                    ``(II) Hay and forage crops.--
                                During each crop year of planting, as 
                                determined by the Secretary, native sod 
                                acreage that has been tilled for the 
                                production of an insurable hay or 
                                forage crop after the date of enactment 
                                of the American Prairie Conservation 
                                Act shall be subject to 4 cumulative 
                                years of a reduction in benefits under 
                                this subtitle as described in this 
                                paragraph.''; and
            (2) 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) one 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, 
                2019, and each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 
                2023, 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--
            (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking clause (i) and 
        inserting the following:
                            ``(i) In general.--
                                    ``(I) Agricultural act of 2014.--As 
                                determined by the Secretary, native sod 
                                acreage that has been tilled for the 
                                production of a covered crop during the 
                                period beginning on February 8, 2014, 
                                and ending on the date of enactment of 
                                the American Prairie Conservation Act 
                                shall be subject to 4 cumulative years 
                                of a reduction in benefits under this 
                                section as described in this 
                                subparagraph.
                                    ``(II) American prairie 
                                conservation act.--
                                            ``(aa) Non-hay and non-
                                        forage crops.--During the first 
                                        4 crop years of planting, as 
                                        determined by the Secretary, 
                                        native sod acreage that has 
                                        been tilled for the production 
                                        of a covered crop other than a 
                                        hay or forage crop after the 
                                        date of enactment of the 
                                        American Prairie Conservation 
                                        Act shall be subject to 4 
                                        cumulative years of a reduction 
                                        in benefits under this section 
                                        as described in this 
                                        subparagraph.
                                            ``(bb) Hay and forage 
                                        crops.--During each crop year 
                                        of planting, as determined by 
                                        the Secretary, native sod 
                                        acreage that has been tilled 
                                        for the production of a hay or 
                                        forage crop after the date of 
                                        enactment of the American 
                                        Prairie Conservation Act shall 
                                        be subject to 4 cumulative 
                                        years of a reduction in 
                                        benefits under this section as 
                                        described in this 
                                        subparagraph.''; and
            (2) 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) one 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, 2019, and each January 1 thereafter 
                        through January 1, 2023, 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.''.
    (c) Cropland Report Annual Updates.--Section 11014(c)(2) of the 
Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-79; 128 Stat. 963) is amended 
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking ``2018'' and 
inserting ``2023''.
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