119-HR3293

Bill is currently in: House
Path to Law
House Senate President

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3293

1. Short title
2. Support for drought-resilient and water-saving practices
3. Supplemental payments for resource-conserving management

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the "Support Water-Efficient Strategies and Technologies Act of 2025".

2. Support for drought-resilient and water-saving practices

(a) Increased payments for drought-Resilient or water-Saving practices - Section 1240B(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(8) Increased payments for drought-resilient or water-saving practices -

(A) In general - Notwithstanding paragraph (2), in the case of a practice described in subparagraph (B), the Secretary may increase the amount that would otherwise be provided for a practice under this subsection to not more than 85 percent of the costs associated with planning, design, materials, equipment, installation, labor, management, maintenance, or training.

(B) Practices - The practices eligible for increased payment amounts under subparagraph (A) are the following:

(i) - Drought-resilient practices that have the capacity to develop and produce on water-deficient environments on eligible lands, as determined by the Secretary.

(ii) - Conservation practices that—

(I) - conserve surface water or groundwater that result in a reduction of water use in the agricultural operation of an eligible land;

(II) - offer support to reduce runoff and increase the absorption of rain on eligible land; or

(III) - work in concert to transition an operation from irrigated production to a non-irrigated, dry land farming system.

3. Supplemental payments for resource-conserving management

(a) Conservation stewardship payments - Section 1240L(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(c)) is amended—

(1) - in paragraph (1)—

(A) - in subparagraph (A), by inserting "on 1 or more land uses covered by the contract" after "activities"; and

(B) - in subparagraph (B), by striking "improving, maintaining, and managing" and inserting "maintaining, actively managing, and improving"; and

(2) - in paragraph (2)—

(A) - by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows:

(B) - Income forgone by the producer, including amounts that reflect—

(i) - increased economic risk; and

(ii) - loss in revenue due to—

(I) - production changes;

(II) - anticipated reductions in yield;

(III) - transitions to a resource-conserving cropping or grazing, or perennial production systems; or

(IV) - acreage converted to conserving uses.

(B) - in subparagraph (E), by inserting ", actively managed, and, where applicable, improved" after "maintained".

(b) Supplemental payments for resource-Conserving crop rotations and advanced grazing management - Section 1240L(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(d)) is amended—

(1) - in the subsection heading, by inserting ", perennial production systems," after "rotations";

(2) Perennial production system - in paragraph (1)—

(A) - by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D); and

(B) Perennial production system - by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:

(C) Perennial production system - The term perennial production system means—

(i) - the use of cropland for agroforestry, including alley cropping, silvopasture, and related perennial production systems, as determined by the Secretary;

(ii) - the use of woodland acres for agroforestry, including forest farming, multi-story cropping, and related perennial production systems, as determined by the Secretary; and

(iii) - the use of cropland for perennial forages or perennial grain crops.

(3) - in paragraph (2)—

(A) - in subparagraph (A), by striking "or" at the end;

(B) - by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); and

(C) - by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:

(B) - perennial production systems; or

(4) - in paragraph (3), by inserting ", perennial production systems," after "rotations".

(c) Payment limitations - Section 1240L(f) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(f)) is amended to read as follows:

(f) Payment limitations - A person or legal entity (including a joint venture and general partnership) may not receive, directly or indirectly, payments under the program that, in the aggregate, exceed $200,000 under all contracts entered into during any consecutive 5-year period, excluding funding arrangements with Indian tribes, regardless of the number of contracts entered into under the program by the person or legal entity.

(d) Soil health - Section 1240L(k) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–24(k)) is amended to read as follows:

(k) Soil health - To the maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall manage the program to enhance soil health, including by—

(1) - conducting outreach to encourage the use of contracts to improve soil health and sequester carbon in the soil; and

(2) - offering payments for soil health testing to provide participants and the Secretary with information on the soil health and carbon sequestration impacts of conservation activities.