[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5764 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    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.

    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 ``Support Water-Efficient Strategies 
and Technologies Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR DROUGHT-RESILIENT AND WATER-SAVING PRACTICES.

    (a) Increased Payments for Drought-Resilient 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-resilient or water-
        saving practices.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (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, 
                installation, labor, management, maintenance, or 
                training.
                    ``(B) Practices.--The practices eligible for 
                increased payment amounts under subparagraph (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--
                                    ``(I) conserve surface water or 
                                groundwater that result in a reduction 
                                of water use in the agricultural 
                                operation of an eligible land; or
                                    ``(II) offer support to reduce 
                                runoff and increase the absorption of 
                                rain on eligible land.''.

SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENTS FOR RESOURCE-CONSERVING MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Conservation Stewardship Payments.--Section 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 ``improving, 
                maintaining, and managing'' and inserting 
                ``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, including 
                amounts that reflect--
                            ``(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 
                                perennial production systems; or
                                    ``(IV) acreage converted to 
                                conserving uses.''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (E), by inserting ``, actively 
                managed, and, where applicable, improved'' 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 ``Rotations'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 
                subparagraph (D); and
                    (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
                    ``(C) Perennial production system.--The term 
                `perennial production system' means--
                            ``(i) the use of cropland for agroforestry, 
                        including alley cropping, silvopasture, and 
                        related perennial production systems, as 
                        determined by the Secretary;
                            ``(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
            (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 entity (including a 
joint venture and general partnership) may not receive, directly or 
indirectly, payments under the program that, in the aggregate, exceed 
$200,000 under all contracts entered into during any consecutive 5-year 
period, 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 amended to read as follows:
    ``(k) Soil Health.--To the maximum extent feasible, 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 provide 
        participants and the Secretary with information on the soil 
        health and carbon sequestration impacts of conservation 
        activities.''.
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