H.R. 1011 · Passed House · Agriculture and Food

Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025

What it does

Expands eligibility under the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program for producers and forest owners hit by natural disasters.
Allows advance cost-share payments of 75% for replacing or rehabilitating farmland or conservation structures and 50% for repairs, up from a 25% cap limited to fencing.
Makes damage from a wildfire not caused naturally, including one caused by the federal government, eligible if the spread was due to natural causes.
Lets owners of nonindustrial private forest land receive advances of up to 75% of emergency measure costs, which must be used within 180 days.

Official summary

Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025 This bill revises the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) to expand eligibility for payments to agricultural producers and owners of forest land impacted by natural disasters. The bill also provides additional options to receive an advance on cost-sharing payments before carrying out emergency measures. The bill expands advance ECP payments to include payments for the rehabilitation of farmland or to repair or replace a farmland or conservation structure. Producers may receive an advance on cost-sharing payments for 75% of the cost of the replacement or rehabilitation and 50% of the cost of the repair. Current law limits advanced cost-sharing payments to 25% of the cost of the repair or replacement of fencing. The bill also expands eligibility for payments under ECP to include emergency measures to address damages caused by a wildfire that is not caused naturally (including a wildfire that is caused by the federal government), if the damage is caused by the spread of the wildfire due to natural causes. Under EFRP, the bill allows owners of nonindustrial private forest land…

Latest action

Apr 15, 2026: Received in the Senate.

Committee: House Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Subcommittee