Flood Resiliency and Land Stewardship Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Flood Resiliency and Land Stewardship Act amends the Regional Conservation Partnership Program purpose statement in the Food Security Act. It clarifies that RCPP can address natural resource concerns on eligible land at regional or watershed scale through soil conservation, water conservation including drinking water and groundwater, prevention and mitigation of flooding and drought, improvement or expansion of flood resiliency, and conservation of wildlife, agricultural land, and related natural resources. The bill does not create a new grant program; it broadens and clarifies how RCPP partnerships can frame flood and drought resilience within existing conservation purposes.
Who Benefits and How
Watershed conservation partnerships benefit because flood resiliency becomes an explicit RCPP purpose. Farmers in flood-prone areas benefit if RCPP projects can more clearly fund flood and drought mitigation practices. Drinking water protection projects benefit because water conservation and protection, including groundwater, remains central to the purpose statement. Wildlife and agricultural land conservation groups benefit from a revised purpose that ties flood resilience to broader land stewardship.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Agriculture must interpret RCPP purposes to include flood and drought mitigation and flood-resiliency improvements. NRCS program staff must evaluate regional or watershed projects under the revised purpose statement. RCPP applicants may need to document how flood-resilience projects also address eligible-land natural resource concerns. Competing conservation priorities may face more competition if flood-resilience proposals receive clearer statutory footing.
Key Provisions
- Amends RCPP purposes for eligible land on a regional or watershed scale.
- Provides explicit coverage for flood and drought prevention and mitigation.
- Expands the purpose statement to include improvement or expansion of flood resiliency.
- Preserves soil, water, wildlife, agricultural land, and related natural resource conservation purposes.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Adds flood and drought prevention, mitigation, and flood-resiliency improvement to Regional Conservation Partnership Program purposes alongside soil, water, wildlife, agricultural land, and natural-resource conservation.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Flood Resilience, Conservation
Primary Purpose
Adds flood and drought prevention, mitigation, and flood-resiliency improvement to Regional Conservation Partnership Program purposes alongside soil, water, wildlife, agricultural land, and natural-resource conservation.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Watershed conservation partnerships
- Farmers in flood-prone areas
- Drinking water protection projects
- Agricultural land conservation groups
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Department of Agriculture
- NRCS program staff
- RCPP applicants
- Competing conservation priorities
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Hinson (for herself and Mr. Sorensen) introduced the following …
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology