Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2235 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2235
5	5	To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve wildlife habitat
6	6	connectivity and wildlife migration corridors, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MARCH18, 2025
9	9	Mr. V
10	10	ASQUEZ(for himself, Mr. ZINKE, and Ms. LEGERFERNANDEZ) intro-
11	11	duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
12	12	culture
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve wildlife
15	15	habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors, and
16	16	for other purposes.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
20	20	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Habitat Connectivity 4
21	21	on Working Lands Act of 2025’’. 5
22	22	SEC. 2. CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. 6
23	23	(a) D
24	24	EFINITIONS.—Section 1240A of the Food Secu-7
25	25	rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1) is amended by 8
26	26	adding at the end the following: 9
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29	29	•HR 2235 IH
30	30	‘‘(11) HABITAT CONNECTIVITY.—The term 1
31	31	‘habitat connectivity’ means the degree to which 2
32	32	landscape or habitat elements facilitate native 3
33	33	species movement among seasonal habitats. 4
34	34	‘‘(12) B
35	35	IG GAME SPECIES.—The term ‘big 5
36	36	game species’ means native species of large 6
37	37	mammals including, wild deer, elk, pronghorn, 7
38	38	wild sheep, and moose.’’. 8
39	39	(b) R
40	40	EGIONALCONSERVATIONPARTNERSHIPPRO-9
41	41	GRAM CRITICALCONSERVATION AREAS.—Section 10
42	42	1271F(a)(2)(C) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 11
43	43	U.S.C. 3871f(a)(2)(C)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, includ-12
44	44	ing restoration and enhancement of wildlife habitat 13
45	45	connectivity and wildlife migration corridors, with a focus 14
46	46	on big game species’’ before ‘‘; and’’. 15
47	47	(c) E
48	48	NROLLMENT IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 16
49	49	I
50	50	NCENTIVESPROGRAM AND THE CONSERVATIONSTEW-17
51	51	ARDSHIPPROGRAM OFGRASSLANDENROLLED IN THE 18
52	52	C
53	53	ONSERVATIONRESERVEPROGRAM.— 19
54	54	(1) E
55	55	NVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES 20
56	56	PROGRAM.—Section 1240B(d) of the Food Security 21
57	57	Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(d)) is amended— 22
58	58	(A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘A pro-23
59	59	ducer’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 24
60	60	paragraph (8), a producer’’; and 25
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63	63	•HR 2235 IH
64	64	(B) by adding at the end the following: 1
65	65	‘‘(8) C
66	66	OST-SHARE PAYMENTS FOR GRASSLAND 2
67	67	ENROLLED IN THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PRO -3
68	68	GRAM.— 4
69	69	‘‘(A) I
70	70	N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 5
71	71	provide payments under the program for costs 6
72	72	associated with planning, design, materials, 7
73	73	equipment, installation, labor, management, 8
74	74	maintenance, or training with respect to eligible 9
75	75	land that is— 10
76	76	‘‘(i) enrolled in the conservation re-11
77	77	serve program under section 12
78	78	1231(d)(2)(A); and 13
79	79	‘‘(ii) of ecological significance, as de-14
80	80	scribed in section 1231(d)(2)(B)(iii). 15
81	81	‘‘(B) L
82	82	IMITATION.—A producer shall not 16
83	83	be eligible for payments under subparagraph 17
84	84	(A) for practices if the producer receives pay-18
85	85	ments or other benefits for the same practice on 19
86	86	the same land under another Federal program 20
87	87	(other than the conservation reserve program 21
88	88	under subchapter B of chapter 1).’’. 22
89	89	(2) C
90	90	ONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM .— 23
91	91	Section 1240J(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 24
92	92	(16 U.S.C. 3839aa–22(b)) is amended— 25
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95	95	•HR 2235 IH
96	96	(A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre-1
97	97	ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and ex-2
98	98	cept as provided in paragraph (3),’’ after 3
99	99	‘‘paragraph (2),’’; and 4
100	100	(B) by adding at the end the following: 5
101	101	‘‘(3) C
102	102	OST-SHARE PAYMENTS FOR GRASSLAND 6
103	103	ENROLLED IN THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PRO -7
104	104	GRAM.— 8
105	105	‘‘(A) I
106	106	N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 9
107	107	provide payments under the program for costs 10
108	108	associated with planning, design, materials, 11
109	109	equipment, installation, labor, management, 12
110	110	maintenance, or training with respect to eligible 13
111	111	land that is— 14
112	112	‘‘(i) enrolled in the conservation re-15
113	113	serve program under section 16
114	114	1231(d)(2)(A); and 17
115	115	‘‘(ii) of ecological significance, as de-18
116	116	scribed in section 1231(d)(2)(B)(iii). 19
117	117	‘‘(B) L
118	118	IMITATION.—A producer shall not 20
119	119	be eligible for payments under subparagraph 21
120	120	(A) for conservation activities if the producer 22
121	121	receives payments or other benefits for the 23
122	122	same conservation activities on the same land 24
123	123	under another Federal program (other than the 25
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126	126	•HR 2235 IH
127	127	conservation reserve program under subchapter 1
128	128	B of chapter 1). 2
129	129	‘‘(C) E
130	130	MERGENCY GRAZING AND HAYING 3
131	131	ACCESS PRESERVED.—No priority resource con-4
132	132	cern, practice, or incentive pertaining to res-5
133	133	toration and enhancement of wildlife habitat 6
134	134	connectivity and wildlife migration corridors on 7
135	135	the acres described above will prevent or alter 8
136	136	emergency grazing and haying access for grass-9
137	137	land acres enrolled in the conservation reserve 10
138	138	program.’’. 11
139	139	(3) P
140	140	AYMENT LIMITATION FOR RENTAL PAY -12
141	141	MENTS UNDER THE CONSERVATION RESERVE PRO -13
142	142	GRAM.—Section 1234(g)(1) of the Food Security 14
143	143	Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(g)(1)) is amended by 15
144	144	striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$125,000’’. 16
145	145	(d) I
146	146	NCREASEDPAYMENTSUNDER THEENVIRON-17
147	147	MENTAL QUALITYINCENTIVES PROGRAM.—Section 18
148	148	1240B(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 19
149	149	3839aa–2(d)) is amended— 20
150	150	(1) in paragraph (3)(F), by inserting ‘‘and 21
151	151	wildlife habitat connectivity’’ before ‘‘; or’’; and 22
152	152	(2) in paragraph (7)(A)— 23
153	153	(A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 24
154	154	end; 25
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157	157	•HR 2235 IH
158	158	(B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 1
159	159	the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 2
160	160	(C) by adding at the end the following: 3
161	161	‘‘(v) addresses the conservation and 4
162	162	restoration of wildlife habitat, including 5
163	163	wildlife habitat connectivity and wildlife 6
164	164	migration corridors.’’. 7
165	165	(e) C
166	166	ONSERVATIONPRACTICESTANDARDS.—Section 8
167	167	1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842) 9
168	168	is amended by adding at the end the following: 10
169	169	‘‘(j) A
170	170	DDRESSING BARRIERS TO HABITAT 11
171	171	C
172	172	ONNECTIVITY.— 12
173	173	‘‘(1) I
174	174	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 13
175	175	‘‘(A) to the maximum extent practicable, 14
176	176	fully incorporate nonstructural methods to con-15
177	177	trol livestock distribution, such as virtual fenc-16
178	178	ing, into the conservation practice standards; 17
179	179	and 18
180	180	‘‘(B) provide for the appropriate range of 19
181	181	conservation practices and resource mitigation 20
182	182	measures available to landowners using non-21
183	183	structural methods described in subparagraph 22
184	184	(A). 23
185	185	‘‘(2) A
186	186	VAILABILITY OF ADEQUATE TECHNICAL 24
187	187	ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall ensure that ade-25
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190	190	•HR 2235 IH
191	191	quate technical assistance is available for the imple-1
192	192	mentation of— 2
193	193	‘‘(A) nonstructural methods described in 3
194	194	paragraph (1)(A); and 4
195	195	‘‘(B) other practices that support habitat 5
196	196	connectivity (as that term is defined in section 6
197	197	1240A) through Federal conservation pro-7
198	198	grams.’’. 8
199	199	(f) A
200	200	DMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR CON-9
201	201	SERVATIONPROGRAMS.—Section 1244 of the Food Secu-10
202	202	rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3844) is amended by adding 11
203	203	at the end the following: 12
204	204	‘‘(q) E
205	205	NCOURAGEMENT OF HABITATCONNECTIVITY 13
206	206	ANDBIGGAMECORRIDORS.—In carrying out any con-14
207	207	servation program administered by the Secretary, the Sec-15
208	208	retary may, as appropriate, encourage— 16
209	209	‘‘(1) the conservation of landscape corridors 17
210	210	and hydrologic connectivity, where native big game 18
211	211	species (as that term is defined in section 1240A) 19
212	212	and ecological processes can transition from one 20
213	213	habitat to another, in order to conserve native bio-21
214	214	diversity and ensure resiliency against impacts from 22
215	215	a range of stressors; and 23
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218	218	•HR 2235 IH
219	219	‘‘(2) the use of conservation practices that sup-1
220	220	port the development, restoration, and maintenance 2
221	221	of landscape corridors and hydrologic connectivity.’’. 3
222	222	SEC. 3. HIGH-PRIORITY RESEARCH AND EXTENSION AREAS. 4
223	223	Section 1672(d) of the Food, Agriculture, Conserva-5
224	224	tion, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5925(d)) is amend-6
225	225	ed by adding at the end the following: 7
226	226	‘‘(21) V
227	227	IRTUAL FENCING.—Research and exten-8
228	228	sion grants may be made under this section for the 9
229	229	purposes of— 10
230	230	‘‘(A) understanding and addressing the 11
231	231	barriers to the adoption of virtual fencing tech-12
232	232	nology; and 13
233	233	‘‘(B) studying the effects of virtual fencing 14
234	234	technology on natural and cultural resources, 15
235	235	such as— 16
236	236	‘‘(i) sensitive riparian areas; and 17
237	237	‘‘(ii) crucial winter range and stopover 18
238	238	habitats for native big game species (as 19
239	239	that term is defined in section 1240A of 20
240	240	the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 21
241	241	3839aa–1)).’’. 22
242	242	Æ
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