To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out emergency watershed protection measures on National Forest System land, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill creates emergency forest watershed program amending Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with new Section 408, creates new Section 408 establishing Emergency Forest Watershed Program with definitions, authorization, agreements, liability protections, and NEPA streamlining, and creates conforming amendment: section heading for water conservation during drought. It relies on grants, liability protections, and exemptions. The main policy areas are Agriculture, Environment, and Energy.
Who Benefits and How
State and local governments as sponsors could gain revenue opportunities, Sponsors (state/local/tribal governments, water districts) could gain revenue opportunities, and Water districts and utilities could gain revenue opportunities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Forest Service would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Creates emergency forest watershed program amending Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with new Section 408.
- Creates new Section 408 establishing Emergency Forest Watershed Program with definitions, authorization, agreements, liability protections, and NEPA streamlining.
- Creates conforming amendment: section heading for water conservation during drought.
- Creates conforming amendment: section heading for regulations authority.
- Creates conforming amendment: section heading for emergency watershed program.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill creates emergency forest watershed program amending Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with new Section 408, creates new Section 408 establishing Emergency Forest Watershed Program with definitions, authorization, agreements, liability protections, and NEPA streamlining, and creates conforming amendment: section heading for water conservation during drought.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Environment, Energy
Primary Purpose
The bill creates emergency forest watershed program amending Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 with new Section 408, creates new Section 408 establishing Emergency Forest Watershed Program with definitions, authorization, agreements, liability protections, and NEPA streamlining, and creates conforming amendment: section heading for water conservation during drought.
Policy Domains
Whole bill
Identified Gains
- State and local governments as sponsors
- Sponsors (state/local/tribal governments, water districts)
- Water districts and utilities
- Downstream communities at flood risk
- Environmental review processes
Identified Costs
- Forest Service
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Forest Service, Sponsors (state/local/tribal governments, water districts), State and local governments as sponsors
Positive-direction: Sponsors (state/local/tribal governments, water districts), State and local governments as sponsors
Negative-direction: Forest Service
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Measures necessary to address runoff retardation, soil-erosion prevention, and flood mitigation caused by natural disaster on National Forest System land that would impair natural resources or pose risk to water resources, life, or property downstream
Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service
State or local government, Indian Tribe, or water district/utility/special district
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.
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