Fischer Bill to Expedite Wildfire Disaster Relief Passes Senate

WASHINGTON –
Today, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senator Deb Fischer’s (R-NE)
Emergency Conservation Program Improvement
Act to expedite ag producers’ access to federal disaster relief under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP).
Download video Fischer’s remarks
here
Download audio of Fischer’s remarks
here
Fischer’s remarks as prepared:
Mr. President,
My home state of Nebraska is currently facing devastating wildfires – the worst in our state’s history.
Yesterday, I along with Senator Ricketts, Congressman Smith, and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen welcomed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to Nebraska to meet with first responders and ag producers who have experienced incredible damage.
Across the state, more than 800,000 acres and counting have burned, turning grasslands to ash. We saw this firsthand up close.
Family farms and ranchers have watched hundreds of miles of fences burn. They have done everything they can to protect livestock.
The coming weeks and months will be difficult. Fences will need to be rebuilt. Grazing plans will need to change. Entire seasons of work will likely need to be reconsidered.
While recovery will be difficult, we should do everything in our power to ensure that disaster recovery programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture can support our farmers and ranchers during this difficult time.
It was feedback from ag producers in previous years’ wildfires that led me to introduce my bipartisan Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act.
The goal of this legislation is to expedite federal cost-sharing following natural disasters, just like the wildfires burning across Nebraska right now. My bill would ensure that the Emergency Conservation Program eligibility can be triggered faster in response to a wildfire and provide flexibility for the producers completing the rehabilitative work.
In times of crisis, Nebraskans deserve relief, not additional burdens. The Emergency Conservation Program’s current distribution system too often fails to provide the support it was designed to offer. We need to streamline the recovery process, so we can restore agricultural land more quickly following emergencies like these tragic wildfires.
This legislation won’t solve all the challenges Nebraska’s producers are facing, but it would meaningfully improve this disaster recovery program.
Mr. President, that’s why I’m asking my colleagues to join my bipartisan effort to improve the Emergency Conservation Program. Farmers and ranchers not only in Nebraska – but across America – will have more security and stability because of it.
Background
The Emergency Conservation Program
(ECP) and
Emergency Forest Restoration Program
(EFRP) were created to help to reduce the burden of natural disasters by providing producers with financial and technical assistance to repair and restore their land.
These programs, however, are often slow to respond to wildfires, floods, and other disasters. This means producers face significant delays and red tape when trying to get access financial assistance.
For many producers, that significant time delay forces them to put off needed repair work, or risk beginning the recovery process without a guarantee of federal help.
The
Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act
would address these issues by reforming the programs. The bill would specifically give producers impacted by disasters the option to receive an advance on cost-sharing relief that is based on existing USDA estimates.
This expedited option would ensure family farmers and ranchers in dire need of help could begin the critical work of restoring their property to productive levels.
The
Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act
would also reframe eligibility for relief from wildfire damage to include any wildfire caused or spread due to natural causes, as well as wildfires caused by the federal government.
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