Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB605 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 605
5	5	To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to reauthorize and
6	6	improve the Water Source Protection Program, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	JANUARY22, 2025
9	9	Mr. C
10	10	OSTA(for himself, Mr. VALADAO, Ms. PETTERSEN, Ms. STANSBURY,
11	11	and Ms. P
12	12	EREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
13	13	Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural
14	14	Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
15	15	in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
16	16	diction of the committee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003
19	19	to reauthorize and improve the Water Source Protection
20	20	Program, and for other purposes.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
22	22	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
23	23	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
24	24	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Headwaters Protection 4
25	25	Act of 2025’’. 5
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28	28	•HR 605 IH
29	29	SEC. 2. WATER SOURCE PROTECTION PROGRAM REAU-1
30	30	THORIZATION AND IMPROVEMENTS. 2
31	31	Section 303 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 3
32	32	of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6542) is amended— 4
33	33	(1) in subsection (a)— 5
34	34	(A) in paragraph (1)— 6
35	35	(i) by redesignating subparagraphs 7
36	36	(G) and (H) as subparagraphs (K) and 8
37	37	(L), respectively; and 9
38	38	(ii) by inserting after subparagraph 10
39	39	(F) the following: 11
40	40	‘‘(G) an acequia association; 12
41	41	‘‘(H) a local, regional, or other public enti-13
42	42	ty that manages stormwater or wastewater re-14
43	43	sources or other related water infrastructure; 15
44	44	‘‘(I) a land-grant mercedes; 16
45	45	‘‘(J) a local, regional, or other private enti-17
46	46	ty that has water delivery authority;’’; 18
47	47	(B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 19
48	48	through (7) as paragraphs (2) through (8), re-20
49	49	spectively; and 21
50	50	(C) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 22
51	51	so redesignated) the following: 23
52	52	‘‘(1) A
53	53	DJACENT LAND.—The term ‘adjacent 24
54	54	land’ means non-Federal land, including State, local, 25
55	55	and private land, that is adjacent to, and within the 26
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58	58	•HR 605 IH
59	59	same watershed as, National Forest System land on 1
60	60	which a watershed protection and restoration project 2
61	61	is carried out under this section.’’; 3
62	62	(2) in subsection (b)— 4
63	63	(A) by inserting ‘‘and adjacent land’’ be-5
64	64	fore the period at the end; 6
65	65	(B) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and 7
66	66	inserting the following: 8
67	67	‘‘(1) I
68	68	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall’’; and 9
69	69	(C) by adding at the end the following: 10
70	70	‘‘(2) R
71	71	EQUIREMENTS.—A watershed protection 11
72	72	and restoration project under the Program shall— 12
73	73	‘‘(A) protect and restore watershed health, 13
74	74	water supply and quality, a municipal or agri-14
75	75	cultural water supply system, and water-related 15
76	76	infrastructure; 16
77	77	‘‘(B) protect and restore forest health from 17
78	78	insect infestation and disease or wildfire; or 18
79	79	‘‘(C) advance any combination of the pur-19
80	80	poses described in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 20
81	81	‘‘(3) P
82	82	RIORITIES.—In selecting watershed pro-21
83	83	tection and restoration projects under the Program, 22
84	84	the Secretary shall give priority to projects that 23
85	85	would— 24
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89	89	‘‘(A) provide risk management benefits as-1
90	90	sociated with drought, wildfire, post-wildfire 2
91	91	conditions, extreme weather, or flooding, includ-3
92	92	ing minimizing risks to watershed health, water 4
93	93	supply and quality, and water-related infra-5
94	94	structure, including municipal and agricultural 6
95	95	water supply systems; 7
96	96	‘‘(B) be designed to support aquatic res-8
97	97	toration and conservation efforts that com-9
98	98	plement existing or planned forest restoration 10
99	99	or wildfire risk reduction efforts; 11
100	100	‘‘(C) include— 12
101	101	‘‘(i) partners with demonstrated ca-13
102	102	pacity and success in designing and imple-14
103	103	menting ecological restoration projects, 15
104	104	wildfire risk reduction efforts, or post-wild-16
105	105	fire restoration projects; or 17
106	106	‘‘(ii) in the case of disadvantaged 18
107	107	communities that have historically lacked 19
108	108	access to adequate resources, partners with 20
109	109	a strong likelihood of success in designing 21
110	110	and implementing a watershed protection 22
111	111	and restoration project; and 23
112	112	‘‘(D)(i) include a contribution of funds or 24
113	113	in-kind support from non-Federal partners in 25
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116	116	•HR 605 IH
117	117	an amount greater than the amount required 1
118	118	under subsection (g)(2); 2
119	119	‘‘(ii) provide quantifiable benefits to water 3
120	120	supply or quality and include the use of nature- 4
121	121	based solutions, such as restoring wetland and 5
122	122	riparian ecosystems; 6
123	123	‘‘(iii) be designed to improve— 7
124	124	‘‘(I) resilience to climate change; or 8
125	125	‘‘(II) watershed and fire resilience; or 9
126	126	‘‘(iv) include such other characteristics as 10
127	127	the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 11
128	128	‘‘(4) C
129	129	ONDITIONS FOR PROJECTS ON ADJACENT 12
130	130	LAND.— 13
131	131	‘‘(A) I
132	132	N GENERAL.—No project or activity 14
133	133	may be carried out under this section on adja-15
134	134	cent land unless the owner of the adjacent land 16
135	135	provides express support for, and is a willing 17
136	136	and engaged partner in, carrying out that 18
137	137	project or activity. 19
138	138	‘‘(B) E
139	139	FFECT.—Nothing in this section 20
140	140	authorizes any change in— 21
141	141	‘‘(i) the ownership of adjacent land on 22
142	142	which a project or activity is carried out 23
143	143	under this section; or 24
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147	147	‘‘(ii) the management of adjacent land 1
148	148	on which a project or activity is carried out 2
149	149	under this section, except during the car-3
150	150	rying out of that project or activity.’’; 4
151	151	(3) in subsection (c)— 5
152	152	(A) in paragraph (1)— 6
153	153	(i) by inserting ‘‘and adjacent land’’ 7
154	154	after ‘‘watersheds’’; 8
155	155	(ii) by striking the period at the end 9
156	156	and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 10
157	157	(iii) by striking ‘‘with end water 11
158	158	users’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘with— 12
159	159	‘‘(A) end water users’’; and 13
160	160	(iv) by adding at the end the fol-14
161	161	lowing: 15
162	162	‘‘(B) end waters users to protect and re-16
163	163	store the condition of National Forest water-17
164	164	sheds and adjacent land that provide water for 18
165	165	the benefit of another end water user.’’; 19
166	166	(B) in paragraph (2)— 20
167	167	(i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 21
168	168	‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 22
169	169	(ii) by redesignating subparagraph 23
170	170	(D) as subparagraph (E); and 24
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173	173	•HR 605 IH
174	174	(iii) by inserting after subparagraph 1
175	175	(C) the following: 2
176	176	‘‘(D) a good neighbor agreement entered 3
177	177	into under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act 4
178	178	of 2014 (16 U.S.C. 2113a); or’’; and 5
179	179	(C) by adding at the end the following: 6
180	180	‘‘(3) L
181	181	EADERSHIP BY NON -FEDERAL PART -7
182	182	NERS.—The Secretary shall facilitate a leadership 8
183	183	role for non-Federal partners in carrying out assess-9
184	184	ments, planning, project design, and project imple-10
185	185	mentation under this section.’’; 11
186	186	(4) in subsection (d)— 12
187	187	(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall be 13
188	188	conducted’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘shall 14
189	189	be— 15
190	190	‘‘(A) designed to protect and restore eco-16
191	191	logical integrity (as defined in section 219.19 of 17
192	192	title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (as in ef-18
193	193	fect on the date of enactment of this subpara-19
194	194	graph)); 20
195	195	‘‘(B) based on the best available scientific 21
196	196	information; and 22
197	197	‘‘(C) conducted’’; and 23
198	198	(B) by adding at the end the following: 24
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202	202	‘‘(4) REDUCING REDUNDANCY .—An existing 1
203	203	watershed plan, such as a watershed protection and 2
204	204	restoration action plan developed under section 3
205	205	304(a)(3), or other applicable watershed planning 4
206	206	documents may be used as the basis for a water 5
207	207	source management plan under this subsection.’’; 6
208	208	(5) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘purpose 7
209	209	of—’’ in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and 8
210	210	all that follows through the period at the end of sub-9
211	211	paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘purpose of advancing 10
212	212	any of the purposes described in subsection (b)(2).’’; 11
213	213	and 12
214	214	(6) in subsection (g)— 13
215	215	(A) in paragraph (2)— 14
216	216	(i) by striking ‘‘at least equal to’’ and 15
217	217	inserting ‘‘not less than 20 percent of’’; 16
218	218	(ii) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and 17
219	219	inserting the following: 18
220	220	‘‘(A) I
221	221	N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-19
222	222	graph (B), the Secretary’’; and 20
223	223	(iii) by adding at the end the fol-21
224	224	lowing: 22
225	225	‘‘(B) W
226	226	AIVER.—The Secretary may waive 23
227	227	the requirement under subparagraph (A) in the 24
228	228	discretion of the Secretary.’’; and 25
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232	232	(B) in paragraph (4)— 1
233	233	(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 2
234	234	‘‘$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 3
235	235	through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$30,000,000 4
236	236	for each of fiscal years 2025 through 5
237	237	2033’’; and 6
238	238	(ii) by adding at the end the fol-7
239	239	lowing: 8
240	240	‘‘(D) S
241	241	ET-ASIDE FOR PARTNER PARTICIPA -9
242	242	TION IN PLANNING AND CAPACITY .—Of the 10
243	243	amounts made available under subparagraph 11
244	244	(B) to carry out this section for each fiscal 12
245	245	year, the Secretary shall use not less than 10 13
246	246	percent for non-Federal partner technical as-14
247	247	sistance participation and capacity-building ef-15
248	248	forts in developing or implementing a water 16
249	249	source management plan under subsection 17
250	250	(d).’’. 18
251	251	SEC. 3. WATERSHED CONDITION FRAMEWORK IMPROVE-19
252	252	MENTS. 20
253	253	Section 304 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 21
254	254	of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6543) is amended— 22
255	255	(1) in subsection (a)— 23
256	256	(A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 24
257	257	the end; 25
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261	261	(B) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe-1
262	262	riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2
263	263	(C) by adding at the end the following: 3
264	264	‘‘(7) that ensures that management activities 4
265	265	and authorizations do not result in long-term deg-5
266	266	radation of watershed health or lower the classifica-6
267	267	tion under paragraph (1) of any watershed in a Na-7
268	268	tional Forest.’’; and 8
269	269	(2) by adding at the end the following: 9
270	270	‘‘(d) A
271	271	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 10
272	272	is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 11
273	273	$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.’’. 12
274	274	SEC. 4. EFFECT. 13
275	275	Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 14
276	276	Act shall be construed— 15
277	277	(1) to supersede or in any manner affect or 16
278	278	conflict with State water law, Federal water law, 17
279	279	interstate compacts, or treaty obligations; or 18
280	280	(2) to authorize any acquisition of land by the 19
281	281	Federal Government or any exertion of Federal con-20
282	282	trol over non-Federal land. 21
283	283	Æ
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