[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1726 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1726
To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide emergency relief to
producers of livestock with herds adversely affected by Mexican gray
wolves, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 18, 2023
Mr. Lujan (for himself, Ms. Sinema, and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide emergency relief to
producers of livestock with herds adversely affected by Mexican gray
wolves, 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 ``WOlf and Livestock Fairness Act of
2023'' or the ``WOLF Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. LIVESTOCK INDEMNITY PAYMENT RATES.
Section 1501(b)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C.
9081(b)(2)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses
(i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(2) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as so
redesignated), by striking ``Indemnity payments'' and inserting
the following:
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), indemnity payments''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Attacks by mexican gray wolves.--In the case
of attacks on livestock by Mexican gray wolves,
indemnity payments to an eligible producer on a farm
under paragraph (1) shall be made at a rate of 100
percent of the market value of the affected livestock,
as determined by the Secretary, on the applicable date
described in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A).''.
SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF TO MITIGATE EFFECT OF MEXICAN GRAY WOLVES.
Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(d))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Emergency relief to mitigate effect of mexican gray
wolves.--
``(A) In general.--Each fiscal year, the Secretary
shall use funds made available under paragraph (1) to
provide emergency relief to producers of livestock with
herds adversely affected by Mexican gray wolves, as
determined by the Secretary.
``(B) Formula.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary
shall develop a formula to determine the amount of
emergency relief to provide to a producer of livestock
under subparagraph (A), which shall take into
consideration the following factors:
``(i) The herd size of the producer.
``(ii) The average annual number of
confirmed depredations by Mexican gray wolves
per producer in the State in which the producer
is located.
``(iii) The average annual increase in
management costs for producers due to Mexican
gray wolves during the preceding 5 years in the
State in which the producer is located.
``(iv) The average annual decrease in birth
rates of herds of producers due to Mexican gray
wolves during the preceding 5 years in the
State in which the producer is located.
``(v) The depredation prevention practices
carried out by the producer, if any, as
reported through the wolf compensation and
prevention program established by section 6202
of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of
2009 (7 U.S.C. 8351 note; Public Law 111-11).
``(C) Consultation.--In carrying out this
paragraph, the Secretary shall consult with, and
request information from, as necessary, the
Administrator of the Farm Service Agency, the
Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, and the Director of the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service.
``(D) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after
the date on which emergency relief is first provided
under this paragraph, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a
report on activities carried out under this paragraph,
which shall include an identification of the following:
``(i) The amount of emergency relief
distributed to producers under this paragraph.
``(ii) The number of producers receiving
emergency relief under this paragraph.''.
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