[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H2844-H2846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2025
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1011) to amend the Agricultural Credit
Act of 1978 to remove barriers to agricultural producers in accessing
funds to carry out emergency measures under the emergency conservation
program, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1011
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 ``Emergency Conservation
Program Improvement Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM.
Section 401 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16
U.S.C. 2201) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and Other
Emergency Conservation Measures'' after ``Fencing''; and
(B) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) In general.--With respect to a payment to an
agricultural producer under subsection (a) for the repair or
replacement of fencing, or for other emergency measures to
rehabilitate farmland or to repair or replace a farmland or
conservation structure, the Secretary shall give the
agricultural producer the option of receiving--
``(A) before carrying out such replacement or
rehabilitation, not more than 75 percent of the payment for
such replacement or rehabilitation, which shall be based on
the fair market value of the replacement or rehabilitation,
as determined by the Secretary; and
``(B) before carrying out such repair, not more than 50
percent of the payment for such repair, which shall be based
on the fair market value of the repair, as determined by the
Secretary.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Wildfires.--A wildfire that causes damage with
respect to which a payment may be made under subsection (a)
includes any wildfire that is not caused naturally, including
a wildfire that is caused by the Federal Government, if the
damage is caused by the spread of the fire due to natural
causes.''.
SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE EMERGENCY FOREST RESTORATION PROGRAM.
Section 407 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16
U.S.C. 2206) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e) Advance Payments.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall give an owner of
nonindustrial private forest land the option of receiving,
before the owner carries out emergency measures under this
section, not more than 75 percent of the cost of the
emergency measures, as determined by the Secretary based on
the fair market value of the cost of the emergency measures
using the estimated cost of the applicable practice published
in the Field Office Technical Guide of each State by the
Natural Resources Conservation Service.
``(2) Return of funds.--If the funds provided under
paragraph (1) are not expended by the end of the 180-day
period beginning on the date on which the owner of
nonindustrial private forest land receives those funds, the
funds shall be returned within a reasonable timeframe, as
determined by the Secretary.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms.
Tokuda) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
General Leave
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1011, the Emergency
Conservation Program Improvement Act, introduced by Representative
Letlow of Louisiana.
The Emergency Conservation Program, or ECP, and the Emergency Forest
Restoration Program, EFRP, are two important cost-share programs
available to landowners following a natural disaster.
Under ECP, landowners can receive technical and financial assistance
for repairs and restoration of land adversely affected by natural
disasters, including floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts.
Additionally, EFRP offers financial assistance to nonindustrial private
forestland owners for recovery efforts following similar natural
disasters.
In recent years, agricultural producers have witnessed firsthand the
devastation caused by numerous disasters. The recovery efforts and
associated costs have underscored the importance of these programs
during times of great need for our Nation's farmers.
Over the past decade, we have seen some of the largest and most
destructive wildfires on record, particularly in
[[Page H2845]]
Western States. While the West continues to face forest health and
wildfire crises, significant wildfires have also ignited in States such
as Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska, leaving producers in these areas in
need of conservation and restoration assistance.
Our agricultural community has also seen the devastating impacts of
hurricanes in recent years. A harrowing example of this occurred in
2024, when hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked havoc across several
southeastern States. Many producers looked to ECP for help with fencing
repairs, debris removal, replacement of watershed infrastructure, and
land stabilization. At the same time, EFRP was utilized for hazard tree
removal, reforestation, site preparation, and erosion control.
While these programs have been helpful to producers and forest
landowners, some participants have reported experiencing delays in
receiving payments.
To help expedite funding to those in need and get work done on the
ground more quickly, this legislation would broaden eligibility for
advanced payments for both ECP and EFRP and raise the cap on assistance
from 25 percent of total costs to 50 percent of project costs for
repairs and 75 percent for replacement.
Mr. Speaker, this is crucial for the American agriculture industry.
When a natural disaster ravages valuable natural resources or
dismantles critical agricultural infrastructure, landowners simply
cannot afford to wait on the Federal government to finish processing
paperwork before they begin the process of rebuilding. Advance payments
allow us to streamline this process and improve program delivery.
Mr. Speaker, I support this legislation and encourage my colleagues
to vote favorably, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1011.
Last month, back-to-back Kona Low storms brought catastrophic
flooding to our islands. In the span of just a few days, our State was
inundated with more than 2 trillion gallons of water. Some areas
received over 36 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, far exceeding what
scientists expected in a once-in-a-thousand-year storm event.
More than 200 people needed emergency rescue--some being picked up
with excavators and farm equipment to be able to get away from the
floods. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed. Over 100,000
people throughout our islands lost power for an extended period of
time. Some of our ``seniors''; ``kupuna'' were trapped in their homes
without food or electricity for days at a time.
{time} 1510
While people and businesses across our State face a tough road toward
recovery, our farmers have had an especially difficult challenge. Over
the last 3 weeks, I have walked through farms and fields in my district
and witnessed the devastation firsthand.
From Waialua and the North Shore through Koolauloa, Wailuku, and
upcountry Maui, across Molokai, and in Kona, I saw flooded fields,
washed-out topsoil, collapsed roads, culverts completely blown apart by
flooding, ruined farm equipment, crops dying in the fields, and animals
stuck in mud. I saw entire seasons of crops wiped out, and real
questions as to when their next harvest will be still remain
unanswered.
Early estimates put the damage across Hawaii's farms at nearly $70
million and counting. One in three farmers across our State was
negatively impacted by the storms.
Our farmers and ranchers are resilient, tough, and proud. They will
come out on the other side, but it is going to take real, sustained
support to get them there. That is why this bill is so important.
This isn't the first time, sadly, that our farmers experienced such
tragedy. Farmers in my specific district deal with some of the most
relentless climate pressures and diverse natural disasters anywhere in
this country--wildfires, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis,
landslides, and floods caused by increasingly powerful Kona low storms.
Each disaster we face chips away at our ability to grow our own food
in an island State where we import 80 to 90 percent of the food that we
consume. In a place as remote and geographically isolated as Hawaii,
food security is fragile.
As we know, food security is also our national and State security, as
well. Every farm that we lose, every farmer who decides that he is just
going to give up after this last disaster, makes it more difficult for
us to feed ourselves.
USDA disaster assistance programs like the ones we are talking about
today, ECP and the forest restoration program, play a critical role in
helping our farmers not just recover but to rebuild stronger and more
resilient. I am grateful to the FSA, the NRCS, and the Rural
Development offices in Hawaii that are already working to enroll storm-
impacted farmers and get help out the door.
Let me be clear: USDA programs also work only if they have the
funding and staff to deliver them. The President's budget proposes
slashing USDA by nearly 20 percent and eliminating more than a quarter
of Farm Service Agency staff. I need those people in our farms and
fields helping them to make it through one more disaster, one more
storm. This is the wrong decision if we are looking to pass bills like
this and, at the same time, slash funding and the staff that we need to
get that funding out the door.
When farmers are facing millions of dollars in losses, they cannot
risk delays caused by hollowed-out agencies. We need USDA to be fully
resourced and ready to respond.
I also want to be honest about the long-term challenges we face, not
just in Hawaii but across the country. Climate change is real, and
intense storms, more destructive wildfires than we have ever seen in
our lifetimes, prolonged droughts, and extreme weather events of every
single kind will continue to increase in frequency and intensity.
Farmers and ranchers are on the front lines of that reality, and our
Federal programs must be designed to help them meet and overcome these
challenges.
The Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025 would take
important steps to ensure disaster assistance programs are responsive
to the needs of our producers by providing more flexible, upfront cost-
sharing payments. This will help farmers and foresters to begin
rebuilding immediately after a disaster rather than waiting on
reimbursements they simply cannot afford upfront.
Most farmers in Hawaii are small, mom-and-pop, family operations.
When a disaster hits, they don't always have the cash on hand to pay
tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in recovery costs
while they wait months for reimbursements from the Federal Government.
That is not how their finances work. Frankly, it is not reasonable to
ask them to make that kind of investment upfront for people who have
lost everything.
By expanding advanced cost-share payments and extending upfront
assistance for select programs, this bill would make sure our farmers
can access the help that they need quickly enough to actually make a
meaningful difference--not after the season is lost and the crops gone,
not after they have had to walk away from most of their livelihoods,
seen it washed away in a disaster, but right when they need it most.
I thank my colleague Representative Letlow for introducing this
urgently needed, bipartisan legislation. I look forward to working
together to strengthen USDA disaster assistance programs so that we can
meet the needs of our farmers today and help them prepare for the
challenges they will encounter tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to
support this very important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Louisiana (Ms. Letlow).
Ms. LETLOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1011, the
Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025.
Across this country, farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners are on
the front lines of natural disasters. Whether it is hurricanes in my
home State of Louisiana, wildfires in Nebraska, or severe storms across
rural America,
[[Page H2846]]
these events do not just damage land. They threaten livelihoods, local
economies, and our Nation's food and fiber supply.
Too often, when disaster strikes, the programs designed to help,
including the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Forest
Restoration Program, are slowed by red tape, delays, and barriers to
access.
My bill, H.R. 1011, takes a commonsense approach to fixing that. This
legislation ensures that producers, forest landowners, and family
forestry businesses can access advance payments of up to 75 percent of
recovery costs so they can begin rebuilding immediately rather than
waiting months for reimbursement.
It expands the types of emergency conservation practices that qualify
for assistance, recognizing that recovery goes far beyond repairing
fences. It includes restoring farmland, rehabilitating conservation
structures, and stabilizing land after devastating events.
It also ensures that wildfire damage can qualify for assistance when
natural conditions cause fires to spread, providing fairness and
certainty for landowners facing increasingly severe fire seasons.
For forest landowners and family forestry businesses, this bill
provides critical flexibility to remove debris, replant trees, and
restore working lands without unnecessary delay.
Mr. Speaker, timing matters. We are quickly approaching both
hurricane and wildfire seasons. Communities across the country are
preparing for what may come. When disaster hits, recovery cannot wait.
Producers and landowners need tools that match the urgency of the
moment. This bill delivers exactly that.
For a farmer whose fields have been washed out, for a rancher
rebuilding miles of fencing, and for a family forestry business working
to recover from a storm or wildfire damage, this legislation means
faster recovery, less financial strain, and a stronger path forward.
I also recognize the bipartisan leadership behind this effort. In the
Senate, I thank Senator Deb Fischer and Senator Ben Ray Lujan for
leading this important legislation. Here in the House, I am grateful
for the support of my colleagues, Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp
Perez, Don Bacon, Mike Flood, and Adrian Smith. This is what
bipartisan, solutions-oriented policymaking looks like.
H.R. 1011 removes barriers, cuts through delays, and ensures that
disaster assistance works when it is needed most. It strengthens the
resilience of rural America because when our producers and forest
landowners recover faster, our communities recover faster.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this practical,
bipartisan solution and stand with the farmers, ranchers, forest
landowners, and family forestry businesses who feed, fuel, and sustain
our Nation.
Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I thank my colleagues for their support, specifically my colleague
from Louisiana, on behalf of the farmers, ranchers, and forestry
caretakers in my State. This bill is important, and I am so glad that
she brought it forward.
Before we vote, I want my colleagues to see what I saw. I stood in a
field where 20,000 saplings ready to be planted drowned before they
ever had a chance to grow. I saw thousands of coffee trees lost,
including heritage trees planted by the original owners generations
ago, gone in a single storm. I saw banana fields buried in water and
silt. I saw fruit contaminated and roots rotting in the ground. I saw
livestock lost, mature animals and their young, newly born, swept away,
with only empty pens left.
Even where crops are still standing, farmers don't know if they are
safe. They are unsure of what flood waters carried into their soil and
are unsure if their land will produce food again next season or the
season after that.
This is not just damage. This is devastation. These are livelihoods
hanging in the balance.
Farmers told me how they tried to fight back, saving seedlings by
hand, rushing to harvest whatever they could before it was gone, and
building up pens in the middle of the storm just to keep their animals
from drowning.
{time} 1520
These aren't just fields as we all know here. These are fields that
feed families. For some, these are fields that are also their homes,
and now they are asking a simple question: Can we recover?
Make no mistake, Hawaii needs help now, but farmers in every State
and district are one disaster away from asking those same questions
because disasters don't discriminate.
While the bill we are considering today will not make disaster-
impacted producers whole overnight, it would help the Federal
Government deliver support faster and give farmers and ranchers the
resources they need to continue growing the food, fuel, and fiber that
keeps this country running.
Our farmers are not asking for a handout. They are asking for a fair
shot. That is what this bill delivers, not delayed help, not paperwork
and waiting, but real support when it actually matters most. That is
because disasters aren't slowing down, and neither should we.
Our farmers are doing everything that they can to hold on, making
sure that we have food on our table and fuel in our tanks, clothes to
wear at the end of the day, and real cotton grown here in America.
The question is whether we will meet them with the urgency they
deserve. By passing this bill, we can say yes.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional
speakers, I am prepared to close, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Wied). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1011.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas
and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________