H.R. 441

119 HR 441 IH: Drought Assistance Improvement Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-01-15
 text/xml
 EN
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 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 441  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   January 15, 2025   Ms. Letlow  introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Agriculture    A BILL
To improve drought related disaster assistance programs of the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
 This Act may be cited as the   Drought Assistance Improvement Act  .
2.
Livestock forage disaster program
Section 1501(c)(3)(D)(ii)(I) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( 7 U.S.C. 9081(c)(3)(D)(ii)(I) ) is amended—
(1)
by striking  at least 8 consecutive  and inserting the following:
not less than—
(aa)
4 consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period for the county, as determined by the Secretary, shall be eligible to receive assistance under this paragraph in an amount equal to 1 monthly payment using the monthly payment rate determined under subparagraph (B); or
(bb)
8 consecutive
  ; and
(2)
in item (bb) (as so designated), by striking  1 monthly payment  and inserting  2 monthly payments .
3.
Emergency assistance for livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish program
(a)
Documentation standards
Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( 7 U.S.C. 9081(d) ) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1), by inserting  drought,  after  adverse weather, ;
(2)
in paragraph (2), by inserting  adverse weather or drought,  after  disease, ; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
(5)
Documentation standards
For purposes of this subsection, the Secretary, in consultation with eligible producers of farm-raised fish, shall establish a documentation standard for each of the following:
(A)
Collecting data.
(B)
Production of crawfish, as related to reductions in harvest.
(C)
Defining loss conditions due to drought.
 .
(b)
Reduced crawfish harvest eligibility
Subsection 1501(d)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 ( 7 U.S.C. 9081(d)(2) ) is further amended by inserting  and loss of crawfish harvest due to adverse weather or drought  after  cattle tick fever .