[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4862 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4862

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to consider certain acreage not 
planted due to a lack of irrigation water to be eligible for prevented 
               planting payments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2026

  Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to consider certain acreage not 
planted due to a lack of irrigation water to be eligible for prevented 
               planting payments, 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. ELIGIBILITY OF ACREAGE NOT PLANTED DUE TO LACK OF IRRIGATION 
              WATER.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means a 
        program to which section 718.103 of title 7, Code of Federal 
        Regulations (or a successor regulation), applies.
            (2) Irrigation water.--The term ``irrigation water'' means 
        any water that--
                    (A) a landowner has access to, through 
                appropriation, allocation, open access, or other 
                availability, for the use of irrigating crops; and
                    (B) is sourced through snowmelt, runoff, stream 
                flow, reservoir, groundwater aquifer, or another 
                similar source.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Farm 
        Service Agency.
    (b) Eligibility.--In carrying out any covered program, the 
Secretary shall consider acreage on a farm to be prevented from 
planting for a crop year if--
            (1) the producers on the farm did not plant those acres 
        based on a reasonable expectation that there would be 
        insufficient irrigation water available for that crop year to 
        irrigate those acres;
            (2) the infrastructure to irrigate those acres is installed 
        and functional for that crop year;
            (3) those acres have been irrigated in one or more of the 
        previous 4 crop years in which irrigation water was sufficient;
            (4) in one or more of the previous 4 crop years, the 
        producers on the farm planted to those acres the same crop that 
        was prevented from planting; and
            (5) the land or environment for the acres prevented from 
        planting does not support dryland farming for the crop that was 
        prevented from planting.
    (c) Limitations.--
            (1) Reduction in payment amounts.--The Secretary shall 
        reduce the amount of any payments provided under covered 
        programs with respect to acreage that the Secretary considers 
        to be prevented from planting pursuant to subsection (b)--
                    (A) for the fifth through eighth consecutive crop 
                years by 50 percent;
                    (B) for the ninth and tenth consecutive crop years 
                by 75 percent; and
                    (C) for the eleventh consecutive crop year and each 
                crop year thereafter by 100 percent.
            (2) Ineligibility.--Any acreage subject to a reduction 
        under paragraph (1)(C) shall be permanently ineligible for 
        payments provided under covered programs.
    (d) Revisions to Regulations.--
            (1) Drought conditions.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
        revise section 718.103(e) of title 7, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, to provide that a lack of water resulting from 
        drought conditions described in that section shall include a 
        lack of water resulting from drought conditions at the source 
        of an irrigation supply.
            (2) Disaster determination.--The Secretary of Agriculture 
        shall revise section 718.103(g) of title 7, Code of Federal 
        Regulations, to provide that, in determining natural disasters 
        described in that section, the Commodity Credit Corporation 
        shall consult with Farm Service Agency county committees and 
        State technical committees.
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