[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3763-S3764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Bennet, Mr. 
        Lujan, Mr. Padilla, Mr.

[[Page S3764]]

        Kelly, Ms. Sinema, and Mr. Heinrich):
  S. 2696. A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the 
water conservation or irrigation efficiency practice waiver authority; 
to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I rise today to introduce the EQIP 
Water Conservation Act of 2023 and thank Senators Marshall, Bennet, 
Lujan, Padilla, Kelly, and Sinema for joining me as original 
cosponsors.
  Our bill would clarify eligibility requirements for water 
conservation and irrigation efficiency practices funded under the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, 
EQIP, to allow irrigation districts to undertake large-scale off-farm 
water conservation projects that benefit many farms rather than only 
single-farm projects.
  Drought poses a persistent and potentially lethal threat to 
agriculture in Western States. In 2021 alone, drought cost California's 
agricultural sector $1.1 billion in direct costs and nearly 9,000 jobs, 
while farmers were forced to leave 400,000 acres of land unplanted. 
This situation is causing irreparable harm to agricultural communities 
across the West, and farmers need tools to adapt. EQIP is a crucial 
tool in the effort to combat drought, and the programs' funds must be 
made fully available to water agencies, which often serve hundreds of 
farmers.
  In the 2018 farm bill, Congress authorized the Secretary of 
Agriculture to waive payment limitations and adjusted gross income, 
AGI, limitations to more effectively support water district projects 
that conserve water, provide fish and wildlife habitat, and combat 
drought. However, a subsequent USDA rule effectively nullified this 
provision by capping EQIP payments for water agencies at $900,000, 
which is only twice the cap for projects that benefit individual 
farmers.
  Since water agencies often serve dozens or even hundreds of farmers, 
this rule makes no sense and undermines the 2018 farm bill's goal of 
facilitating water conservation projects by water agencies.
  Our bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture to waive the EQIP 
payment cap of $900,000 for water agencies. To be clear, this bill does 
not attempt to bypass the payment cap for individual farms; rather, it 
would set the cap on projects based on the number of farmers it serves. 
For instance, if a water agency serves 10 farmers, the total payment 
limitation would be $4.5 million, or $450,000 per farmer. Our bill 
would also deduct for EQIP payments already made to farmers served by 
that agency's project.
  In maintaining a per-farmer payment limitation at the same level as 
the limit for individual farmers, our bill recognizes that water 
agencies serve many farmers and that providing adequate funds to these 
entities will allow USDA to more effectively meet conservation and 
irrigation efficiency goals.
  Congress has an opportunity this year to make significant strides in 
improving irrigation efficiency and water conservation while more 
faithfully adhering to the conservation goals of the 2018 farm bill. I 
thank my cosponsors for their partnership on this bill, and I urge the 
Senate to take it up and pass it as soon as possible.
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