H.R. 9394 · Passed House · Emergency Management

Civil Preparedness for Agroterrorism Exercise Act of 2026

Sponsor: Dale W. Strong (R-AL)

What it does

• Requires DHS to conduct a domestic agroterrorism exercise within four years of enactment involving a biological agent scenario affecting critical agriculture and food operations.
• Mandates the exercise address how public and private entities coordinate to prevent, respond to, and recover from agroterrorism and mitigate widespread disruption.
• Requires DHS to submit an after-action report to Congress within 180 days of exercise completion detailing findings, lessons learned, and recommended legislative actions.

Official summary

Civil Preparedness for Agroterrorism Exercise Act of 2026 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), within four years after the bill’s enactment, to conduct an exercise to enhance collective domestic prevention, response, and recovery regarding acts of agroterrorism (i.e., terrorism targeting or threatening agriculture and food systems of vital importance to national security, public health, or safety). The scenario in the exercise must involve agroterrorists transporting and deploying in the United States a biological agent (e.g., microorganism or infectious substance) capable of harming critical agriculture and food operations and must address how relevant public and private entities can coordinate to develop preparedness and mitigate widespread disruption. Within 180 days after completion of the exercise, DHS must submit to Congress an after-action report including the findings of the exercise, plans for incorporating lessons learned into future operations, and recommended legislative actions.

Latest action

Sep 16, 2026: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Committee: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs