Sponsors (2)
Provides federal support to restore floodplains and wetlands to reduce flood risk and improve water quality, but concentrates management authority in the Secretary and may impose land-use obligations and additional taxpayer costs.
Landowners in floodplains and their communities receive federal financial and technical assistance to restore vegetative cover and wetland hydrology, reducing local flood risk and improving soil stability.
Investments in wetland restoration improve downstream water quality and ecosystem services, benefiting local communities, nonprofits, and wildlife habitat.
Restoration and new management requirements tied to easements could impose maintenance obligations or limit productive land uses, reducing some landowners' income.
Granting the Secretary sole discretion over compatible-use and management agreements may limit landowners' negotiation leverage and allow conditions that restrict allowable uses.
Federal spending to support restoration and long-term management could raise taxpayer costs if new assistance is funded without offsets.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands the Emergency Watershed Program to authorize restoration and management assistance and partner agreements for floodplain easements.
Official title: Amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for floodplain easement restoration and management, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 9, 2025 by Joni Ernst · Last progress July 9, 2025
Adds and reorganizes authorities in the Emergency Watershed Program to expand use of floodplain easements for restoring and managing native vegetation and wetland hydrology, and clarifies the Secretary’s discretion to enter compatible-use and management agreements with landowners and other partners. It also revises the statutory language on modification and termination of floodplain easements while preserving the Secretary’s core authority.