HR5610-119

What This Bill Does

The Improving Drought Monitoring Act creates a federal and state data-coordination process for the United States Drought Monitor. Within 180 days, the Secretary of Agriculture must establish an interagency working group chaired by USDA's Office of the Chief Economist and including USDA, Forest Service, Farm Service Agency, NOAA Climate Prediction Center, National Centers for Environmental Information, National Integrated Drought Information System, National Mesonet Program, National Drought Mitigation Center, Interior, the University of Alabama Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology, and state mesonet representatives from drought-prone, frontier, and remote states. The group must improve inclusion of additional in-situ data, set data requirements, identify government data sources and coverage gaps, address restricted access to useful federal datasets, propose accommodations or MOU updates, and report. Within 60 days after that report, the Farm Service Agency Administrator and the Forest Service Chief must enter into an MOU to align drought response practices, severity determinations, inconsistent determinations at the same spatial scale, use of the Drought Monitor, and information provided to grazing permittees, operators, and other affected stakeholders.

Who Benefits and How

Farmers in drought-prone regions benefit from more consistent and accurate Drought Monitor data used in federal drought decisions. Grazing permittees benefit because FSA and Forest Service must provide consistent information about drought determinations. State mesonet programs benefit from representation in the working group and a pathway to include local in-situ data. Drought Monitor authors benefit from improved access to federal datasets and gap-filling recommendations.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA Office of the Chief Economist staff must chair the interagency working group and coordinate members. NOAA drought data offices must help identify data portals, gaps, minimum requirements, and in-situ data improvements. Farm Service Agency administrators must enter into an MOU aligning drought response practices with the Forest Service. Forest Service drought officials must coordinate severity determinations and stakeholder information with FSA.

Key Provisions

• Requires USDA to establish a Drought Monitor interagency working group within 180 days.
• Provides membership from USDA, NOAA, Interior, National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Alabama hydrology experts, and state mesonet programs.
• Requires the working group to improve in-situ data, identify gaps, address restricted datasets, and recommend data-access solutions.
• Requires FSA and Forest Service to align drought response activities through an MOU within 60 days after the working group report.