[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6821 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6821

  To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a pilot program 
that focuses Department of Agriculture conservation funding on reducing 
  the most problematic nutrients in the highest-impact areas, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2023

  Ms. Kaptur (for herself and Mr. Gallagher) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a pilot program 
that focuses Department of Agriculture conservation funding on reducing 
  the most problematic nutrients in the highest-impact areas, 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 ``Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act 
of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and other water 
        bodies of national significance are integral to the health and 
        wealth of millions of Americans;
            (2) excessive loading of nutrients in these water bodies 
        leads to eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and dead zones 
        that threaten human health and adversely impact fish and 
        wildlife resources, tourism, and industry;
            (3) the Federal Government, State and local governments, 
        non-profit organizations, and private entities have expended 
        billions of dollars to reduce nutrient loading in the Great 
        Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and other water bodies of national 
        significance;
            (4) despite the investments described in paragraph (3), 
        harmful algal blooms and dead zones continue to occur in the 
        Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and other water bodies of 
        national significance;
            (5) phosphorus, particularly dissolved reactive phosphorus, 
        is a primary driver of eutrophication in the Great Lakes, the 
        Chesapeake Bay tributaries, and other water bodies of national 
        significance;
            (6) targeted, strategic assistance to producers in 
        agricultural sub-watersheds with high levels of dissolved 
        reactive phosphorus loading has the potential to significantly 
        improve water quality the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, and 
        other water bodies of national significance; and
            (7) the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the 
        Department of Agriculture is well positioned to provide the 
        targeted, strategic assistance described in paragraph (6) 
        through its conservation programs.

SEC. 3. HEALTHY FARMS HEALTHY WATERSHEDS ACTION PROGRAM.

     Subchapter A of chapter 4 of title XII of the Food Security Act of 
1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 1240H-1. HEALTHY FARMS HEALTHY WATERSHEDS ACTION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Covered agreement.--The term `covered agreement' 
        means a contract or agreement under the program or a covered 
        program entered into for purposes of the Healthy Farms Healthy 
        Watersheds Action Program carried out under this section.
            ``(2) Covered program.--The term `covered program' means 
        the following:
                    ``(A) The agricultural conservation easement 
                program.
                    ``(B) The regional conservation partnership 
                program.
                    ``(C) The conservation stewardship program, not 
                including the grassland conservation initiative under 
                section 1240L-1.
                    ``(D) The conservation reserve program.
                    ``(E) The programs established by the Secretary to 
                carry out the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention 
                Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), except for any program 
                established by the Secretary to carry out section 14 
                (16 U.S.C. 1012) of that Act.
            ``(3) Eligible activity.--The term `eligible activity' 
        means a practice, activity, agreement, easement, or related 
        conservation measure that is available under the statutory 
        authority for the program or a covered program.
            ``(4) Eligible partner.--The term `eligible partner' means 
        an eligible partner under the regional conservation partnership 
        program established under subtitle I.
            ``(5) Priority watershed.--The term `priority watershed' 
        means a watershed that is--
                    ``(A) delineated at the hydrologic unit code level 
                12 in the Watershed Boundary Dataset managed by the 
                United States Geological Survey;
                    ``(B) located in an area designated by the 
                Secretary as a critical conservation area under section 
                1271F; and
                    ``(C) designated by a Federal interagency task 
                force or council, or other appropriate Federal 
                interagency group, as a watershed most in need of 
                phosphorus reduction from agricultural activities to 
                improve water quality in a large body of water of 
                regional, national, or international significance.
    ``(b) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out a pilot program, 
to be known as the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action Program, to 
maximize reduction of dissolved reactive phosphorus in priority 
watersheds through the implementation of eligible activities in such 
watersheds under the program and covered programs in fiscal years 2025 
through 2031.
    ``(c) Action Plans.--
            ``(1) In general.--Using funds made available under this 
        subchapter, the Secretary shall select priority watersheds for 
        purposes of the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action Program 
        and prepare for each priority watershed so selected an action 
        plan to maximize reduction of dissolved reactive phosphorus 
        through implementation of eligible activities in the watershed 
        under the program and covered programs.
            ``(2) Elements.--An action plan prepared under paragraph 
        (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) an appraisal of the extent to which each 
                eligible activity available for implementation in the 
                watershed under the program or a covered program is 
                effective at reducing dissolved reactive phosphorus, 
                based on existing data and analysis;
                    ``(B) identification of target implementation goals 
                for each eligible activity available for implementation 
                in the watershed under the program or a covered program 
                that is determined by the Secretary to be effective at 
                reducing dissolved reactive phosphorus;
                    ``(C) a strategy to monitor and adaptively manage 
                implementation of the action plan, including 
                implementation of applicable eligible activities, 
                that--
                            ``(i) leverages, to the maximum extent 
                        practicable, ongoing water quality monitoring 
                        activities carried out in the watershed by non-
                        profit organizations, colleges and 
                        universities, and Federal, State, and local 
                        government agencies; and
                            ``(ii) provides for the development and 
                        validation of integrated, reliable, and easy-
                        to-use models for predicting changes in 
                        dissolved reactive phosphorus arising from 
                        implementation of such eligible activities; and
                    ``(D) a strategy for enhanced outreach to identify 
                and recruit eligible partners and producers in the 
                watershed to increase adoption of eligible activities 
                determined to be effective by the Secretary under 
                subparagraph (B).
    ``(d) Prioritization.--The Secretary shall prioritize entering into 
covered agreements to demonstrate--
            ``(1) non-digester methods to transition from wet manure 
        handling and storage to dry manure handling and storage, 
        including open solar drying or composting of manure onsite, 
        conversion of dairy and livestock operations to pasture-based 
        management, solid separation technologies, vermifiltration, and 
        scrape conversion, provided that such methods do not otherwise 
        result in the discharge or runoff of wastewater with high 
        dissolved phosphorus content into a watershed;
            ``(2) methods to reduce dissolved reactive phosphorus 
        inputs to a priority watershed from land characterized by 
        phosphorus--
                    ``(A) that has accumulated from prior agricultural 
                land management activities; and
                    ``(B) the levels of which exceed agronomic rates; 
                and
            ``(3) strategies to overcome barriers to implementation of 
        methods to reduce dissolve reactive phosphorus inputs to 
        priority watersheds on vacant and leased land.
    ``(e) Incentive Payments.--Notwithstanding any otherwise applicable 
limitation on payments under the program or a covered program, during 
the period described in subsection (b), the Secretary is authorized to 
make payments to producers and eligible partners under covered 
agreements in accordance with a graduated scale of payment amounts 
based on measured, quantitative reductions in dissolved reactive 
phosphorus achieved through the implementation of eligible activities 
under the covered agreements.
    ``(f) Interpretation.--Nothing in this subsection shall be 
construed to affect--
            ``(1) the duration authorized for a contract or agreement 
        under the program or a covered program;
            ``(2) any contract or agreement entered into under the 
        program or a covered program prior to the date of enactment of 
        the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023, including the 
        process or criteria for renewing or extending such a contract 
        or agreement; or
            ``(3) any requirements relating to the program or a covered 
        program for any other purpose for which the program or covered 
        program is implemented.
    ``(g) Coordination and Consistency.--
            ``(1) In general.--In carrying out the Healthy Farms 
        Healthy Watersheds Action Program, the Secretary shall 
        coordinate with relevant Federal agencies and State and local 
        governments.
            ``(2) Action plans.--The Secretary shall ensure that any 
        action plan prepared for a priority watershed under subsection 
        (c) is consistent to the maximum extent practicable with any 
        State water quality management plan that includes the priority 
        watershed.
    ``(h) Supplement Not Supplant.--Assistance provided under the 
Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action Program shall supplement, not 
supplant, assistance provided to eligible partners or producers in a 
priority watershed under the program or a covered program for purposes 
other than the purposes of the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action 
Program.
    ``(i) Reports.--The Secretary shall provide to the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate--
            ``(1) not later than January 1, 2027, an interim report on 
        implementation of the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action 
        Program; and
            ``(2) not later than June 1, 2032, a final report on 
        implementation of the Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Action 
        Program.''.
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