Restoring America’s Floodplains Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7264 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7264

To 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.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 27, 2026

  Mr. Messmer (for himself and Mr. Vasquez) introduced the following
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To 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.

    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 ``Restoring America's Floodplains
Act''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROGRAM FLOODPLAIN EASEMENT RESTORATION AND
              MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Floodplain Easements.--Section 403(b) of the Agricultural
Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203(b)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs
        (5) and (6), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after the subsection header the following:
            ``(1) Easement restoration.--The Secretary is authorized to
        restore appropriate vegetative cover, hydrological functions,
        and other functions and values of the land subject to a
        floodplain easement acquired under subsection (a).
            ``(2) Easement maintenance.--The Secretary is authorized to
        monitor, maintain, and enhance appropriate vegetative cover,
        hydrological functions, and other restoration measures on land
        subject to a floodplain easement acquired under subsection (a).
            ``(3) Contracts and agreements.--In carrying out paragraphs
        (1) and (2), the Secretary may--
                    ``(A) enter into contracts with landowners; and
                    ``(B) enter into agreements with States,
                nongovernmental organizations, and Indian Tribes.
            ``(4) Compatible use authority.--The Secretary may
        authorize a landowner to carry out activities on land subject
        to a floodplain easement acquired under subsection (a) that
        are--
                    ``(A) compatible uses necessary to carry out
                paragraph (1) or (2); or
                    ``(B) compatible economic uses (including such
                activities as hunting and fishing, managed timber
                harvest, water management, or periodic haying or
                grazing) if such uses are consistent with long-term
                protection of the floodplain functions and values for
                which the easement was acquired.''; and
            (3) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by striking
        ``paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``paragraph (5)'' each place it
        appears.
    (b) Level of Restoration.--Section 403 of the Agricultural Credit
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
    ``(c) Level of Restoration.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary may undertake measures that increase the level of protection
above that which would be necessary to address the immediate impairment
of the watershed if the Secretary determines that such restoration is
in the best interest of the long-term health of the watershed and the
long-term protection of the watershed from repetitive impairments.''.
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