S 904119th CongressIn Committee

Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act of 2025

Introduced: Mar 6, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act of 2025 would broaden and speed USDA disaster relief programs focused on livestock, forage, honey bees, and farm-raised fish, while also making several drought-data and interagency coordination improvements. The bill expands who can apply for certain emergency conservation and forest restoration funds, allows faster processing by waiving some public-notice requirements during drought emergencies, and updates payment rules to provide more support for prolonged or severe feed and water shortages. It also creates a dedicated interagency working group to improve the U.S. Drought Monitor and directs stronger coordination between the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service on drought response. In short, it aims to make disaster assistance more accessible, more comprehensive for impacted sectors (including beekeepers), and more efficient to deploy during droughts and other disasters. Key changes include: expanding eligibility and scope of the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP); adjusting the Livestock Forage Disaster Program payments to cover longer drought periods; expanding emergency assistance to cover poultry/bees and other factors with new honey-bee provisions; creating a drought-monitor interagency group and a formal memorandum of understanding to align drought determinations between major agencies; and simplifying regulatory processes during drought emergencies, including limited NEPA review for certain urgent projects on federal land.

Key Points

1Expanded eligibility for Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) payments
2- Adds federal land permits and state/local government land leases as bases for eligibility.
3- Payments remain limited to individuals (not states/local governments).
4- Allows permanent water-related measures (e.g., wells, pipelines) to be funded, and replaces/restores emergency measures with permanent ones.
5Streamlined regulatory process during droughts
6- Waives the 30-day NEPA public comment period for drought-emergency projects on land managed by the Interior Department.
7- Allows NRCS-led reviews (archeological, environmental, and Endangered Species Act) to substitute for separate reviews in certain cases.
8Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) expansion
9- Broadens who qualifies (eligible entities) to include owners of nonindustrial private forest land, federal land permittees, and lessees of state/local land.
10- Expands eligible land to include nonindustrial private forest land, federal land, and state/local government land.
11- Clarifies that “emergency measures” include new permanent forest restoration measures and permanent replacements.
12Livestock Forage Disaster Program updates
13- Eligibility period changes to allow not less than 4 consecutive weeks (one monthly payment) or 8 consecutive weeks (two monthly payments) during the normal grazing period.
14- Payment structure adjusted accordingly to provide more support for extended drought grazing losses.
15Expanded emergency assistance for livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish
16- Adds drought to covered adverse events and broadens purposes to include losses from feed/water shortages (including transport costs), disease, adverse weather, and other factors.
17- Honey-bee provisions: payments reflect per-hive/per-colony losses; adjusts colony-loss calculations to exclude losses due to colony collapse disorder when possible; if data are insufficient, uses the mortality rate from the first year with emergency relief under the Federal Crop Insurance Act.
18- Removes size limits on beekeeping operations for these amendments and adds a data-collection standard for honey-bee replacements.
19Drought Monitor Interagency Working Group
20- Establishes a cross-agency group within 180 days to improve data used in the U.S. Drought Monitor.
21- Membership spans USDA (including Chief Economist, Forest Service, and Farm Service Agency), NOAA (several centers), DOI, an academic/hydrology partner, and state mesonet programs from drought-prone areas.
22- Duties include data integration (including new in-situ data), removing data-use barriers, vetting remote-sensing/model-based data, and developing open data and methodology standards.
23- A one-year report with policy/regulatory recommendations; the Secretary would implement recommendations and the group would terminate 90 days after the report.
24Alignment of drought response between FSA and the Forest Service
25- Requires a memorandum of understanding within 60 days after the drought-work group report.
26- Aims to align drought severity determinations, ensure consistent policy across agencies, use the U.S. Drought Monitor where possible, and provide consistent information to grazing permittees and other stakeholders.
27Clerical and organizational updates
28- Repeals a dated section and reorganizes Title IV sections to living, numerical order.
29- Adjusts cross-references and terminology to align with the new structure.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Individual agricultural producers who rely on disaster assistance, including:- Livestock producers and ranchers (via the Livestock Forage Disaster Program and general disaster aid).- Beekeepers (honey bee producers) who gain specific funding rules, data standards, and no-size-limit protections.- Forest landowners and operators (including those with nonindustrial private forest land) who can access emergency forest restoration funding.- Land managers and permittees on federal land (who can now qualify for certain ECP/EFRP activities and receive streamlined processing).Secondary group/area affected- State and local governments (the bill clarifies that payments would not go directly to governments, but land held by governments or leased by them can generate eligible-project activity).- Federal agencies involved in drought response and land management (USDA agencies, Interior’s BLM, NRCS, Forest Service) due to new coordination requirements and MOUs.- Drought monitoring community and data users (via the new interagency working group and the push for better data integration and open data standards).Additional impacts- Potentially faster disaster response during droughts due to NEPA waivers (on certain federal lands) and streamlined NRCS reviews, which could speed projects like water-well installations and other permanent measures.- Broader data-driven approach to drought assessment and policy, potentially improving consistency across agencies and informing grazing and drought-relief decisions.- Increased administrative and reporting requirements (e.g., documentation standards for emergency payments, honey-bee colony data collection) to ensure uniform nationwide application.- The reorganized and expanded programs may entail fiscal implications; the bill does not include specific funding levels, so appropriations would determine final impact.NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act, which normally requires public environmental reviews for major federal actions.NRCS: Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA agency that administers conservation programs.ECP: Emergency Conservation Program, a drought-related disaster program that helps restore land and infrastructure used in farming and grazing.EFRP: Emergency Forest Restoration Program, a USDA program focused on restoring forests damaged by disasters or adverse conditions.U.S. Drought Monitor: a widely used, interagency product that tracks drought conditions across the United States.“Eligible entity” and “eligible land”: terms the bill uses to broaden who can participate and what land can qualify for certain programs.Colony collapse disorder: a specific honey-bee disorder; the bill provides an approach to exclude related losses when calculating colony losses.

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