II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 555 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 28, 2023 Mr. Thune (for himself and Mr. Luján ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To improve disaster assistance programs of the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act of 2023 . 2. Emergency conservation program Title IV of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 is amended by inserting after section 402B ( 16 U.S.C. 2202b ) the following: 402C. Additional requirements for the emergency conservation program (a) Eligibility of Federal, State, and local land users (1) In general An agricultural producer eligible to receive payments under sections 401 and 402 includes a person that— (A) holds a permit from the Federal Government to conduct agricultural production or grazing on Federal land; or (B) leases land from a State or unit of local government to conduct agricultural production or grazing on that land. (2) Effect Nothing in this subsection authorizes the Secretary to make a payment under section 401 or 402 to a State or unit of local government. (b) Permanent improvements Emergency measures eligible for payments under sections 401 and 402 include— (1) new permanent measures, including permanent water wells and pipelines; and (2) replacement or restoration of existing emergency measures with permanent measures, including permanent water wells and pipelines. (c) Streamlining application process (1) Waiver of public comment During a drought emergency, as determined by the Secretary, the 30-day public comment period required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) shall be waived with respect to an application to carry out emergency measures under section 401 or 402 on land administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (referred to in this subsection as the Secretary of the Interior ). (2) Acceptance of NRCS reviews With respect to an application to carry out emergency measures under section 401 or 402 on land administered by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior may accept— (A) during a drought emergency, as determined by the Secretary, an archeological review conducted by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for purposes of an archeological review required to be conducted; (B) an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) conducted by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for purposes of such an environmental review required to be conducted; and (C) a review under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. ) conducted by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for purposes of such a review required to be conducted. . 3. Emergency forest restoration program Section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 ( 16 U.S.C. 2206 ) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; (B) by inserting before paragraph (3) (as so redesignated) the following: (1) Eligible entity The term eligible entity means— (A) with respect to nonindustrial private forest land, an owner of the nonindustrial private forest land; (B) with respect to Federal land, a person that holds a permit from the Federal Government to conduct agricultural production or grazing on the Federal land; and (C) with respect to land owned by a State or a unit of local government, a person that leases land from the State or unit of local government to conduct agricultural production or grazing on that land. (2) Eligible land The term eligible land means— (A) nonindustrial private forest land; (B) Federal land; and (C) land owned by a State or unit of local government. ; and (C) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated)— (i) in subparagraph (A)— (I) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking nonindustrial private forest land and inserting eligible land ; and (II) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), respectively, and indenting appropriately; (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting appropriately; (iii) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as so redesignated), by striking The term and inserting the following: (A) In general The term ; and (iv) by adding at the end the following: (B) Inclusions The term emergency measures includes— (i) new permanent measures described in subparagraph (A), including permanent water wells and pipelines; and (ii) replacement or restoration of existing emergency measures with permanent measures described in subparagraph (A), including permanent water wells and pipelines. ; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) by striking an owner of nonindustrial private forest land who and inserting an eligible entity that ; and (B) by striking restore the land and inserting restore eligible land ; (3) in subsection (c)— (A) by striking owner must and inserting eligible entity shall ; and (B) by striking nonindustrial private forest land and inserting eligible land ; (4) in subsection (d), by striking an owner of nonindustrial private forest land and inserting an eligible entity ; (5) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (g); and (6) by inserting after subsection (d) the following: (e) Streamlining application process (1) Waiver of public comment During a drought emergency, as determined by the Secretary, the 30-day public comment period required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) shall be waived with respect to an application to carry out emergency measures under this section on land administered by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (referred to in this subsection as the Secretary of the Interior ). (2) Acceptance of NRCS reviews With respect to an application to carry out emergency measures under this section on land administered by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior may accept— (A) during a drought emergency, as determined by the Secretary, an archeological review conducted by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for purposes of an archeological review required to be conducted; (B) an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 ( 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. ) conducted by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for purposes of such an environmental review required to be conducted; and (C) a review under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. ) conducted by the Secretary, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for purposes of such a review required to be conducted. (f) Effect Nothing in this section authorizes the Secretary to make a payment under this section to a State or unit of local government. . 4. Livestock forage disaster program Section 1501(c)(3)(D)(ii)(I) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( 7 U.S.C. 9081(c)(3)(D)(ii)(I) ) is amended— (1) by striking at least 8 consecutive and inserting the following: “not less than— (aa) 4 consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period for the county, as determined by the Secretary, shall be eligible to receive assistance under this paragraph in an amount equal to 1 monthly payment using the monthly payment rate determined under subparagraph (B); or (bb) 8 consecutive ; and (2) in item (bb) (as so designated), by striking 1 monthly payment and inserting 2 monthly payments . 5. Emergency assistance for livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish (a) In general Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( 7 U.S.C. 9081(d) ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting drought, after adverse weather, ; (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting adverse weather or drought (such as added transportation costs, feed costs, and reduced honey crops for eligible producers of honey bees), after disease, ; (3) in paragraph (4)— (A) by striking In the case and inserting the following: (A) In general In the case ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (B) Requirements The payment rate under subparagraph (A) shall— (i) in the case of eligible producers of honey bees, incorporate per-hive and per-colony rates of loss; and (ii) incorporate a standardized expected mortality rate of 15 percent. ; and (4) by adding at the end the following: (5) Documentation (A) In general Any requirements for the submission of documentation by an eligible producer to receive a payment under this subsection shall be consistent nationwide. (B) Producers of honey bees The Secretary, in consultation with eligible producers of honey bees, shall establish a standard, for purposes of this subsection, for— (i) collecting data; and (ii) setting an annual rate for replacing colonies and hives of honey bees. . (b) Applicability to producers of honey bees The Secretary of Agriculture shall apply the amendments made by subsection (a) to producers of honey bees such that there is no limit on the size of a beekeeping operation with respect to those amendments. 6. 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 Improvement 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 representative from each of— (A) the Climate Prediction Center; (B) the National Centers for Environmental Information; (C) the National Integrated Drought Information 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; and (5) 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 during the period of calendar years 2012 through 2021; and (B) more than 50 percent of the land area of which is designated by the Economic Research Service as a Level 1 frontier and remote area. (c) Duties The working group shall— (1) develop a means for the inclusion of additional in-situ data into the process of developing the United States Drought Monitor, including— (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 Atmospheric Administration; and (C) identifying gaps in coverage and determining 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 restricted to some or all authors of the United States Drought Monitor; and (B) developing proposed accommodations, modifications to contractual agreements, or updates to interagency memoranda of understanding to allow for incorporation of datasets identified under subparagraph (A); (3) develop an open and transparent methodology for vetting data products developed using remote sensing or modeling; (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 relating to data availability and quality, as determined appropriate by the Chair of the working group. (d) Report (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the working group shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the relevant committees of Congress a report containing recommendations for changes in policies, regulations, guidance documents, or existing law to meet the objectives described in subsection (c). (2) Definition of relevant committees of Congress In this subsection, the term relevant committees of Congress means— (A) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate; (C) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and (D) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives. (e) Action by the Secretary Not later than 180 days after the date of submission of the report under subsection (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 terminate on the date that is 90 days after the date on which the report is submitted under subsection (d). 7. Alignment of Farm Service Agency and Forest Service drought response (a) In general Not later than 60 days after the date of submission of the report under section 6(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 (referred to in this section as the agencies ). (b) Contents The memorandum of understanding entered into under subsection (a) shall include— (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 determinations 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 practicable, the United States Drought Monitor in making those determinations; and (4) an agreement to provide consistent information to grazing permittees, operators, and other stakeholders affected by determinations relating to drought.