# S. 629 (119th): Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025 This act 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

Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025 This act 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 act also provides additional options to receive an advance on cost-sharing payments before carrying out emergency measures. The act expands advance ECP payments to include the replacement, repair, or restoration of farmland or conservation structures requiring an immediate response. Producers may receive an advance on cost-sharing payments for 75% of the cost of the replacement and 50% of the cost of the repair or restoration. Current law limits advance payments to 25% of the cost of the repair or replacement of fencing. Under EFRP, the act allows owners of nonindustrial private forest land impacted by a natural disaster to receive an advance on cost-sharing payments for up to 75% of the cost of the emergency measures. Currently, advance payments are not available under the program. ECP and EFRP recipients must use the funds within 180 days after the funds are disbursed. This provides additional time to ECP recipients who currently must use the funds within 60 days. The act also expands eligibility for payments under the programs to include emergency measures to address damages caused by (1) a wildfire that is not caused naturally, if the damage is caused by the spread of the wildfire due to natural causes; and (2) a wildfire that is caused by the federal government.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: debt_spending. Category: honest_money. Lane tag: prudential.
Lane: disaster_relief. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: environmental_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: federal_spending_expansion. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: stewardship. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 223: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure combines ordinary, legitimate disaster relief and land stewardship goods with prudential questions about the breadth of eligibility, advance payment design, and expanded federal outlays. It does not directly advance or restrain a named moral harm on the face of the summary.
Theological note: The bill concerns stewardship of land and care for neighbors harmed by disaster, which are relevant goods. Its moral weight depends mainly on prudent design, fiscal scope, and accountability in federal disaster aid, not on any direct advancement or restraint of a named moral evil. Expanded eligibility for federally caused wildfire damage raises questions of responsible federal accountability that merit review of the operative text.

## Recorded votes

Roll 223: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass. Yea 368 · Nay 19 · Other 44.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/s-629-119/