Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Improving Drought Monitoring Act”.
Improving Drought Monitoring Act
A BILL
To amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 to extend the program providing for improvements to the United States Drought Monitor.
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
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).
Membership— The working group shall consist of not fewer than—
3 representatives from the Department of Agriculture, including 1 representative from each of—
the Office of the Chief Economist, who shall serve as the Chair of the working group;
the Forest Service; and
the Farm Service Agency;
4 representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including 1 representative from each of—
the Climate Prediction Center;
the National Centers for Environmental Information;
the National Integrated Drought Information System; and
the National Mesonet Program;
1 representative from the National Drought Mitigation Center;
1 representative from the Department of the Interior;
1 representative from the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology of the University of Alabama; and
3 representatives from mesonet programs in States—
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
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.
Duties— The working group shall—
develop a means for the inclusion of additional in-situ data into the process of developing the United States Drought Monitor, including—
determining minimum requirements for data to be included in the United States Drought Monitor;
identifying data available from other government agencies, including through portals managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
identifying gaps in coverage and determining solutions to address those gaps;
identify and address potential barriers to the use of existing data, including—
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
developing proposed accommodations, modifications to contractual agreements, or updates to interagency memoranda of understanding to allow for incorporation of datasets identified under subparagraph (A);
develop an open and transparent methodology for vetting data products developed using remote sensing or modeling;
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
identify and address any other issues relating to data availability and quality, as determined appropriate by the Chair of the working group.
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—
the Secretary of Agriculture;
the Secretary of Commerce;
the Secretary of the Interior;
the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate;
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives; and
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives.
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).
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
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).
Contents— The memorandum of understanding entered into under subsection (a) shall include—
a commitment to better align practices of the agencies with respect to determining the severity of regional drought conditions;
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;
an agreement to utilize, to the extent practicable, the United States Drought Monitor in making those determinations; and
an agreement to provide consistent information to grazing permittees, operators, and other stakeholders affected by determinations relating to drought.