[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5250 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5250

   To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with respect to the 
          emergency watershed program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 22, 2023

Mr. Davis of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Molinaro, Ms. Spanberger, 
and Mr. Nunn of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                    to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with respect to the 
          emergency watershed program, 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 ``Flooding Prevention, Assessment, and 
Restoration Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROGRAM.

    Section 403 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Level of Restoration.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary may undertake measures that increase the level of protection 
above that which would be necessary to address the immediate impairment 
of the watershed if the Secretary determines that such restoration is 
in the best interest of the long-term health and the protection of the 
watershed from repetitive impairments.''.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL AGRICULTURE FLOOD VULNERABILITY STUDY.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a national agriculture flood 
vulnerability report containing the results of a conservation effects 
assessment project studying flood risk on agricultural lands, 
including--
            (1) an analysis of economic losses of crops and livestock 
        resulting from flooding under different recurrence scenarios;
            (2) an analysis of the downstream effects of mitigation 
        activities carried out as part of a watershed management 
        approach;
            (3) an analysis of available Federal and State data 
        relating to flood risk, as applicable to agricultural land, 
        including data relating to riverine flooding, coastal flooding, 
        storm surge, extreme precipitation, and flash flooding; and
            (4) a description of ongoing producer-level conservation 
        practices and broader government initiatives to manage flooding 
        impact and flood risk within and across watersheds, and 
        recommendations for additional practices and initiatives to 
        further address such impact and risk.

SEC. 4. REHABILITATION OF STRUCTURAL MEASURES NEAR, AT, OR PAST THEIR 
              EVALUATED LIFE EXPECTANCY.

    Section 14(b)(2) of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention 
Act (16 U.S.C. 1012(b)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Amount of assistance; limitations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The amount of Federal funds that 
                may be made available under this subsection to a local 
                organization for construction of a particular 
                rehabilitation project shall be equal to 65 percent of 
                the total rehabilitation costs, but not to exceed 100 
                percent of actual construction costs incurred in the 
                rehabilitation.
                    ``(B) Limited resource areas.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary may contribute up to 90 
                percent of the total rehabilitation costs to a local 
                organization for construction of a particular 
                rehabilitation project that serves a limited resource 
                area, as determined by the Secretary, but not to exceed 
                100 percent of actual construction costs incurred in 
                the rehabilitation.
                    ``(C) Costs of resource rights and permits.--The 
                local organization shall be responsible for the costs 
                of water, mineral, and other resource rights and all 
                Federal, State, and local permits.''.
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