[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2166 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2166
To amend the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991
and the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to provide grants to
States and Indian Tribes for programs to voluntarily repurpose
agricultural land to reduce consumptive water use, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 22, 2023
Mr. Padilla introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991
and the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to provide grants to
States and Indian Tribes for programs to voluntarily repurpose
agricultural land to reduce consumptive water use, 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 ``Voluntary Agricultural Land
Repurposing Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES FOR MULTIBENEFIT PROGRAMS TO
VOLUNTARILY REPURPOSE AGRICULTURAL LAND TO REDUCE
CONSUMPTIVE WATER USE.
(a) Authorization of Grants.--
(1) In general.--Section 101 of the Reclamation States
Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2211) is
amended--
(A) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) as
subsections (c) through (e), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the
following:
``(b) Grants to States and Indian Tribes for Multibenefit Programs
To Voluntarily Repurpose Agricultural Land.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Basin-scale.--The term `basin-scale' means an
eligible landscape area or sub-basin that--
``(i) includes multiple water users; or
``(ii) aligns with the boundaries of a
State, Tribal, regional, or local land or water
management agency.
``(B) Covered program.--The term `covered program'
means an existing program of an eligible entity or a
pilot program proposed to be carried out by an eligible
entity, the purpose of which is to voluntarily
repurpose or provide for the transition of, over a
period of years, irrigated agricultural land to reduce
consumptive water use, while providing community
health, economic well-being, water supply, habitat, and
climate benefits.
``(C) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'
means--
``(i) a State (including a designated State
agency); or
``(ii) a Tribal government.
``(2) Authorization of grants.--The Secretary shall carry
out a program under which the Secretary shall provide
competitive matching grants to eligible entities, in accordance
with this subsection, to carry out covered programs.
``(3) Eligible programs.--To be eligible for a grant under
paragraph (2), a covered program shall--
``(A) be basin-scale;
``(B) reduce consumptive water use;
``(C) repurpose or transition irrigated
agricultural land for not less than 10 years; and
``(D) provide, for not less than 10 years, 1 or
more other measurable benefits to the environment or
community in which the program is being carried out,
including--
``(i) restoring upland habitat;
``(ii) restoring riparian habitat;
``(iii) creating pollinator habitat;
``(iv) restoring flood plains connection to
stream or river channels;
``(v) creating dedicated multibenefit
recharge areas;
``(vi) dry-land farming or planting non-
irrigated or water-saving cover crops;
``(vii) switching from irrigated
agriculture to non-irrigated rangeland;
``(viii) creating park or community
recreation areas;
``(ix) acquiring a conservation easement on
land taken out of irrigated agricultural
production to permanently protect a new use of
the land;
``(x) facilitation of renewable energy
projects that have an overall greenhouse gas
reduction; and
``(xi) reestablishment of Tribal land uses.
``(4) Application.--To be eligible for a grant under
paragraph (2), an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary
an application in such form, at such time, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require, including a
description of the manner in which the eligible entity would
use the grant funds to carry out projects under the covered
program that reduce consumptive water use by converting
irrigated agricultural land to a new use that--
``(A) reduces groundwater withdrawals or
consumptive water use for not less than 10 years; and
``(B) provides other measurable benefits to the
environment or communities in which the covered program
is being carried out.
``(5) Priority.--In providing grants under paragraph (2),
the Secretary shall give priority to covered programs that--
``(A) provide direct benefits to disadvantaged
communities; or
``(B) were developed through a multi-stakeholder
planning process.
``(6) Voluntary conservation agreements.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (C), the
Secretary (acting through the Director of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service) or the Secretary of
Commerce (acting through the Director of the National
Marine Fisheries Service), as applicable, shall seek to
enter into voluntary conservation agreements, with the
individuals and entities described in subparagraph (B),
under which the individuals and entities entering into
the agreements would carry out on formerly irrigated
agricultural land converted under a covered program
carried out under this subsection or on associated
aquatic resources actions that contribute to the
recovery of species listed as endangered or threatened
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.).
``(B) Entities and individuals described.--The
individuals and entities referred to in subparagraph
(A) are the following:
``(i) Eligible entities provided grants to
carry out a covered program under paragraph
(2).
``(ii) Owners of irrigated agricultural
land converted under a covered program carried
out under this subsection.
``(iii) Owners of land adjacent to
irrigated agricultural land converted under a
covered program carried out under this
subsection.
``(7) Annual report to congress.--Annually, the Secretary
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
that describes the status of covered programs for which grant
funds have been provided under this subsection during the
period covered by the report, including a description of--
``(A) the achievements and effectiveness of each
covered program with respect to reducing groundwater
withdrawals and reducing consumptive water use;
``(B) the quantity of groundwater or surface water
that was conserved; and
``(C) the community agricultural sustainability or
environmental benefits that were achieved under each
covered program.
``(8) Authorization of appropriations.--
``(A) In general.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this subsection $250,000,000
for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
``(B) Reservation of funds.--Of the amounts made
available for a fiscal year under subparagraph (A), 50
percent shall be used--
``(i) to provide grants for covered
programs that are pilot programs; or
``(ii) if no applications for grants for a
pilot program for the applicable fiscal year
are submitted, to provide grants to eligible
covered programs that are existing programs.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--
(A) Section 102(c) of the Reclamation States
Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2212)
is amended, in the first sentence of the matter
preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``section 101(c)''
and inserting ``section 101(d)''.
(B) Section 301 of the Reclamation States Emergency
Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2241) is amended
by striking ``section 303 of this Act'' and inserting
``section 101(b)(7)(A) or 303''.
(b) Applicable Period of Drought Program.--Section 104 of the
Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C.
2214) is amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting the
following:
``(a) In General.--The programs and authorities established under
this title shall only become operative in a Reclamation State or in the
State of Hawaii if--
``(1)(A) the Governor of the affected State, or the
governing body of the affected Indian Tribe with respect to a
reservation, has made a request for temporary drought
assistance; and
``(B) the Secretary has determined that the temporary
assistance is merited;
``(2) a drought emergency has been declared by the Governor
of the affected State;
``(3) a drought contingency plan has been approved in
accordance with title II;
``(4) for purposes of subsection (b) of section 101, the
affected State has implemented a covered program under that
subsection; or
``(5) in the case of a Colorado River Basin State, by
operation of the Colorado River Basin Drought Contingency Plan
executed in accordance with the Colorado River Drought
Contingency Plan Authorization Act (Public Law 116-14; 133
Stat. 850).''.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO SUPPORT AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY TO REDUCE
RELIANCE ON GROUNDWATER AND REDUCE CONSUMPTIVE WATER USE.
Section 9504(a) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009
(42 U.S.C. 10364(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(J)--
(A) in clause (ii), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(B) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(iv) to reduce groundwater withdrawals
and otherwise reduce consumptive water use to
respond to drought.'';
(2) in paragraph (2)(B)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in clause (ii)(II), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) for a project to carry out on an
activity described in paragraph (1)(J)(iv)--
``(I) a proposal to repurpose
irrigated agricultural land for not
less than 10 years to reduce
consumptive water use, while providing
community health, economic well-being,
water supply, habitat, and climate
resilience benefits, including--
``(aa) restoring upland
habitat;
``(bb) restoring riparian
habitat;
``(cc) creating pollinator
habitat;
``(dd) restoring the
connection of floodplains to
stream or river channels;
``(ee) creating dedicated
multi-benefit recharge areas;
``(ff) dry-land farming or
planting nonirrigated cover
crops;
``(gg) switching from
irrigated agriculture to
nonirrigated rangeland;
``(hh) creating park or
community recreation areas;
``(ii) acquiring a
conservation easement on land
taken out of irrigated
agricultural production to
permanently protect any of the
new uses;
``(jj) facilitation of
renewable energy projects that
have an overall greenhouse gas
reduction; and
``(kk) reestablishment of
Tribal land uses; and
``(II) a demonstration of the
manner in which the proposed activity
would--
``(aa) reduce groundwater
withdrawals or consumptive
water use for not less than 10
years; and
``(bb) provide other
measurable benefits to the
environment or disadvantaged
communities.''; and
(3) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by striking ``In providing'' and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--In providing''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) Grants to repurpose agricultural land.--For
purposes of evaluating applications for grants
described in paragraph (2)(B)(iii), the Secretary shall
give priority to applications for proposals that
provide direct benefits to disadvantaged
communities.''.
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