Improving Drought Monitoring Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5610 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5610

To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to extend the program 
    providing for improvements to the United States Drought Monitor.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2025

  Mr. Taylor introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to extend the program 
    providing for improvements to the United States Drought Monitor.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Drought Monitoring Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO UNITED STATES DROUGHT MONITOR.

    Section 12512(d)(2) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 
U.S.C. 5856(d)(2)) is amended by striking ``2023'' and inserting 
``2030''.

SEC. 3. DROUGHT MONITOR INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an 
interagency working group (referred to in this section as the ``working 
group'') to improve the availability of consistent, accurate, and 
reliable data for use in producing the United States Drought Monitor in 
accordance with section 12512 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 
2018 (7 U.S.C. 5856).
    (b) Membership.--The working group shall consist of not fewer 
than--
            (1) 3 representatives from the Department of Agriculture, 
        including 1 representative from each of--
                    (A) the Office of the Chief Economist, who shall 
                serve as the Chair of the working group;
                    (B) the Forest Service; and
                    (C) the Farm Service Agency;
            (2) 4 representatives from the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration, including 1 representative from 
        each of--
                    (A) the Climate Prediction Center;
                    (B) the National Centers for Environmental 
                Information;
                    (C) the National Integrated Drought Information 
                System; and
                    (D) the National Mesonet Program;
            (3) 1 representative from the National Drought Mitigation 
        Center;
            (4) 1 representative from the Department of the Interior;
            (5) 1 representative from the Cooperative Institute for 
        Research to Operations in Hydrology of the University of 
        Alabama; and
            (6) 3 representatives from mesonet programs in States--
                    (A) that have experienced severe drought, as 
                determined by the United States Drought Monitor, in not 
                less than 5 calendar years during the period of 
                calendar years 2012 through 2023; and
                    (B) more than 50 percent of the land area of which 
                is designated by the Economic Research Service as a 
                Level 1 frontier and remote area.
    (c) Duties.--The working group shall--
            (1) develop a means for the inclusion of additional in-situ 
        data into the process of developing the United States Drought 
        Monitor, including--
                    (A) determining minimum requirements for data to be 
                included in the United States Drought Monitor;
                    (B) identifying data available from other 
                government agencies, including through portals managed 
                by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 
                and
                    (C) identifying gaps in coverage and determining 
                solutions to address those gaps;
            (2) identify and address potential barriers to the use of 
        existing data, including--
                    (A) identifying Federal datasets that would be of 
                immediate use in developing the United States Drought 
                Monitor where access is restricted to some or all 
                authors of the United States Drought Monitor; and
                    (B) developing proposed accommodations, 
                modifications to contractual agreements, or updates to 
                interagency memoranda of understanding to allow for 
                incorporation of datasets identified under subparagraph 
                (A);
            (3) develop an open and transparent methodology for vetting 
        data products developed using remote sensing or modeling;
            (4) if determined appropriate by the working group, develop 
        a methodology for inclusion of data that may otherwise be 
        excluded from the United States Drought Monitor due to shorter 
        periods of record; and
            (5) identify and address any other issues relating to data 
        availability and quality, as determined appropriate by the 
        Chair of the working group.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the working group shall submit a report containing 
recommendations for changes in policies, regulations, guidance 
documents, or existing law to meet the objectives described in 
subsection (c) to--
            (1) the Secretary of Agriculture;
            (2) the Secretary of Commerce;
            (3) the Secretary of the Interior;
            (4) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
        of the Senate;
            (5) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
        of the Senate;
            (6) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (7) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
        House of Representatives.
    (e) Action by Secretary.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
submission of the report under subsection (d), the Secretary of 
Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the 
Secretary of the Interior, shall incorporate, to the extent 
practicable, the recommendations of the working group to improve the 
United States Drought Monitor in accordance with section 12512 of the 
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 5856).
    (f) Termination.--The working group shall terminate on the date 
that is 90 days after the date on which the report is submitted under 
subsection (d).

SEC. 4. ALIGNMENT OF FARM SERVICE AGENCY AND FOREST SERVICE DROUGHT 
              RESPONSE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
submission of the report under section 3(d), the Administrator of the 
Farm Service Agency and the Chief of the Forest Service shall enter 
into a memorandum of understanding to better align drought response 
activities of the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service (referred 
to in this section as the ``agencies'').
    (b) Contents.--The memorandum of understanding entered into under 
subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) a commitment to better align practices of the agencies 
        with respect to determining the severity of regional drought 
        conditions;
            (2) a strategy for amending those determinations to ensure 
        consistent policy with respect to drought response in cases 
        where the agencies are making inconsistent determinations 
        within the same spatial scale;
            (3) an agreement to utilize, to the extent practicable, the 
        United States Drought Monitor in making those determinations; 
        and
            (4) an agreement to provide consistent information to 
        grazing permittees, operators, and other stakeholders affected 
        by determinations relating to drought.
                                 <all>