Fast-track passage of the “Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025” (HR 1011)

The bill

Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025

Topic: Agriculture and Food

What the bill does

This bill revises the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) to expand eligibility for payments to agricultural producers and owners of forest land impacted by natural disasters. The bill also provides additional options to receive an advance on cost-sharing payments before carrying out emergency measures. The bill expands advance ECP payments to include payments for the rehabilitation of farmland or to repair or replace a farmland or conservation structure. Producers may receive an advance on cost-sharing payments for 75% of the cost of the replacement or rehabilitation and 50% of the cost of the repair. Current law limits advanced cost-sharing payments to 25% of the cost of the repair or replacement of fencing. The bill also expands eligibility for payments under ECP to include emergency measures to address damages caused by a wildfire that is not caused naturally (including a wildfire that is caused by the federal government), if the damage is caused by the spread of the wildfire due to natural causes.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary

Bill on congress.gov(opens in a new tab)