Emergency Conservation Program (ECP)
Current understanding
USDA Farm Service Agency program that provides cost-share assistance to agricultural producers and nonindustrial private forest landowners to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters and to implement emergency water conservation measures during severe drought. Payments are traditionally issued as reimbursements after work is completed, which can strain producers who lack upfront capital. Status: legislative proposals in the 118th/119th Congress (e.g., HR6717) would authorize advance payments and expand eligibility to certain non-naturally-caused wildfires whose spread results from natural causes or federal government actions.
Evidence log
- 2022-09-29 — Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2022: 2022 — Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2022 would authorize advance cost-share payments to agricultural producers and nonindustrial private forest landowners under ECP and EFRP before completion of emergency measures, and expand eligibility to damages from non-naturally caused wildfires that spread naturally or are caused by the federal government (status: introduced). (novelty: 2)
- 2023-02-02 — Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2023: 2023 — Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2023 would authorize advance cost-share payments to agricultural producers and nonindustrial private forest landowners under ECP and EFRP, and expand eligibility to damages from non-naturally-caused wildfires that spread naturally or are caused by the federal government (status: introduced, novelty: 2). (novelty: 2)
- 2024-01-25 — Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2023: cross-connection with wildfire-resilience-community-grants: HR6717’s expansion of ECP eligibility to non-naturally-caused wildfires (with natural or federal-action spread) overlaps with the wildfire resilience funding landscape by covering post-fire farmland/forest rehabilitation costs. (novelty: 2)