[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5610 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5610
To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to extend the program
providing for improvements to the United States Drought Monitor.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 26, 2025
Mr. Taylor introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to extend the program
providing for improvements to the United States Drought Monitor.
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 ``Improving Drought Monitoring Act''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR.
Section 12512(d)(2) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7
U.S.C. 5856(d)(2)) is amended by striking ``2023'' and inserting
``2030''.
SEC. 3. DROUGHT MONITOR INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an
interagency working group (referred to in this section as the ``working
group'') to improve the availability of consistent, accurate, and
reliable data for use in producing the United States Drought Monitor in
accordance with section 12512 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of
2018 (7 U.S.C. 5856).
(b) Membership.--The working group shall consist of not fewer
than--
(1) 3 representatives from the Department of Agriculture,
including 1 representative from each of--
(A) the Office of the Chief Economist, who shall
serve as the Chair of the working group;
(B) the Forest Service; and
(C) the Farm Service Agency;
(2) 4 representatives from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, including 1 representative from
each of--
(A) the Climate Prediction Center;
(B) the National Centers for Environmental
Information;
(C) the National Integrated Drought Information
System; and
(D) the National Mesonet Program;
(3) 1 representative from the National Drought Mitigation
Center;
(4) 1 representative from the Department of the Interior;
(5) 1 representative from the Cooperative Institute for
Research to Operations in Hydrology of the University of
Alabama; and
(6) 3 representatives from mesonet programs in States--
(A) that have experienced severe drought, as
determined by the United States Drought Monitor, in not
less than 5 calendar years during the period of
calendar years 2012 through 2023; and
(B) more than 50 percent of the land area of which
is designated by the Economic Research Service as a
Level 1 frontier and remote area.
(c) Duties.--The working group shall--
(1) develop a means for the inclusion of additional in-situ
data into the process of developing the United States Drought
Monitor, including--
(A) determining minimum requirements for data to be
included in the United States Drought Monitor;
(B) identifying data available from other
government agencies, including through portals managed
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
and
(C) identifying gaps in coverage and determining
solutions to address those gaps;
(2) identify and address potential barriers to the use of
existing data, including--
(A) identifying Federal datasets that would be of
immediate use in developing the United States Drought
Monitor where access is restricted to some or all
authors of the United States Drought Monitor; and
(B) developing proposed accommodations,
modifications to contractual agreements, or updates to
interagency memoranda of understanding to allow for
incorporation of datasets identified under subparagraph
(A);
(3) develop an open and transparent methodology for vetting
data products developed using remote sensing or modeling;
(4) if determined appropriate by the working group, develop
a methodology for inclusion of data that may otherwise be
excluded from the United States Drought Monitor due to shorter
periods of record; and
(5) identify and address any other issues relating to data
availability and quality, as determined appropriate by the
Chair of the working group.
(d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the working group shall submit a report containing
recommendations for changes in policies, regulations, guidance
documents, or existing law to meet the objectives described in
subsection (c) to--
(1) the Secretary of Agriculture;
(2) the Secretary of Commerce;
(3) the Secretary of the Interior;
(4) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
of the Senate;
(5) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
of the Senate;
(6) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives; and
(7) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the
House of Representatives.
(e) Action by Secretary.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
submission of the report under subsection (d), the Secretary of
Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the
Secretary of the Interior, shall incorporate, to the extent
practicable, the recommendations of the working group to improve the
United States Drought Monitor in accordance with section 12512 of the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 5856).
(f) Termination.--The working group shall terminate on the date
that is 90 days after the date on which the report is submitted under
subsection (d).
SEC. 4. ALIGNMENT OF FARM SERVICE AGENCY AND FOREST SERVICE DROUGHT
RESPONSE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
submission of the report under section 3(d), the Administrator of the
Farm Service Agency and the Chief of the Forest Service shall enter
into a memorandum of understanding to better align drought response
activities of the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service (referred
to in this section as the ``agencies'').
(b) Contents.--The memorandum of understanding entered into under
subsection (a) shall include--
(1) a commitment to better align practices of the agencies
with respect to determining the severity of regional drought
conditions;
(2) a strategy for amending those determinations to ensure
consistent policy with respect to drought response in cases
where the agencies are making inconsistent determinations
within the same spatial scale;
(3) an agreement to utilize, to the extent practicable, the
United States Drought Monitor in making those determinations;
and
(4) an agreement to provide consistent information to
grazing permittees, operators, and other stakeholders affected
by determinations relating to drought.
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