S1553-118

Passed Senate

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve the management of grazing permits and leases, and for other purposes.

118th Congress Introduced May 11, 2023

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill allows federal land managers (USDA Forest Service and BLM) to make vacant grazing allotments temporarily available to ranchers whose permitted grazing areas have become unusable due to natural disasters like drought, wildfire, or blight.

Who Benefits and How

Ranchers with federal grazing permits gain flexibility to continue operations during disasters by using vacant allotments. Livestock can be moved to available grazing areas during emergencies.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal land managers must coordinate cross-agency to facilitate temporary grazing arrangements.

Key Provisions

  • Authorizes temporary use of vacant allotments during extreme natural events
  • Requires coordination between USDA and BLM across agency boundaries
  • Protects ranchers' original allotment rights and animal unit month allocations
  • Allows temporary rangeland improvements (portable corrals, fencing, water)
  • Terms based on ecological conditions and prior permit terms

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

Allows ranchers with federal grazing permits to temporarily use vacant grazing allotments during extreme natural events like drought, wildfire, or blight that render their usual allotments unusable.

Who Benefits

  • Ranchers with federal grazing permits

Who Bears Costs

  • Federal land managers (coordination)

Key Policy Areas

Agriculture, Public Lands, Ranching, Disaster Relief

Primary Purpose

Allows ranchers with federal grazing permits to temporarily use vacant grazing allotments during extreme natural events like drought, wildfire, or blight that render their usual allotments unusable.

Policy Domains

Agriculture Public Lands Ranching Disaster Relief

Legislative Strategy

"Provide emergency grazing flexibility during natural disasters"

Legislative Progress

Passed Senate
Introduced Committee Passed
Nov 21, 2024

Reported by Mr. Manchin, with an amendment

May 11, 2023

Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Rounds, and Mr. …

May 11, 2023 (inferred)

Passed Senate (inferred from es version)

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Government
12 mentions across 7 clauses
+10 positive -2 negative

Bureau of Land Management, Federal agencies and affected program participants, Forest Service

Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service face effects in multiple directions

Cattle Ranching
11 mentions across 11 clauses
+11 positive

Ranchers on federal lands, Ranchers with federal grazing permits

Agriculture
7 mentions across 7 clauses
+7 positive

Livestock producers on federal lands

Environment
4 mentions across 4 clauses
+2 positive -2 negative

Environmental groups, Rangeland restoration contractors

Positive-direction: Rangeland restoration contractors

Negative-direction: Environmental groups

Technology
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

Online platforms and child online safety users

6/9
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Agriculture Public Lands
Actor Mappings
"the_secretary_concerned"
→ Secretary of Agriculture (for National Forest System) or Secretary of Interior (for public lands)

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

1 term
"Secretary concerned" §2a

Secretary of Agriculture for National Forest System land; Secretary of the Interior for public lands

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