To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish a pilot program that focuses Department of Agriculture conservation funding on reducing the most problematic nutrients in the highest-impact areas, and for other purposes.
The Healthy Farms Healthy Watersheds Act of 2023 establishes a pilot program requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to target conservation funding toward reducing phosphorus pollution in critical watersheds, particularly those affecting the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and other significant water bodies. The program runs from fiscal years 2025 through 2031 and focuses on implementing agricultural conservation practices that have proven effective at reducing dissolved reactive phosphorus, which causes harmful algal blooms and dead zones that damage fish, wildlife, tourism, and public health. Farmers and agricultural partners in selected priority watersheds would receive incentive payments based on the actual phosphorus reductions they achieve through practices like converting to dry manure handling, improving land management on phosphorus-saturated soil, and other conservation methods. The Secretary of Agriculture must prepare detailed action plans for each priority watershed, coordinate with state and local governments, and report progress to Congress by January 2027 and again by June 2032. The bill does not specify total funding amounts but ensures that support under this new program supplements rather than replaces existing agricultural conservation assistance.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.