Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025
Signed into law Jul 12, 2026 · Agriculture and Food
What this law does
- Expands disaster aid eligibility for farmers and forest landowners under the Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program.
- Allows advance payments of up to 75% for replacing and 50% for repairing farmland or conservation structures that need immediate work.
- Allows owners of private nonindustrial forest land hit by disaster to get advances of up to 75% of emergency costs.
- Gives recipients 180 days to use the funds, up from 60 days for the conservation program.
- Covers damage from certain human-caused wildfires that spread naturally and from wildfires caused by the federal government.
Plain-language list by Voting On, based only on the official summary by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service and the bill's titles. Read the official summary.
How it became law
- IntroducedFeb 19, 2025 · Senate
- 398 daysPassed SenateMar 24, 2026
- 91 daysPassed HouseJun 23, 2026
- 7 daysPresented to the PresidentJun 30, 2026
- 12 daysSigned into lawJul 12, 2026
Official summary
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.
Summary by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (Public Law, Jul 12, 2026).
Who wrote it
Sponsor: Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE]
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats. 2 signed on the day it was introduced.
Show all cosponsors
| Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|
| Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] | Feb 19, 2025 | Original cosponsor |
| Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] | Feb 19, 2025 | Original cosponsor |
Recorded votes
| Date | Chamber | Vote | Yeas | Nays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2026 | House | On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 368 - 19 (Roll no. 223). | 368 | 19 |
What was added
Amendments adopted (0)
No floor amendments were adopted. Any changes were made in committee or in a later version of the bill.
Sections in the final law that were not in the first version (Introduced in Senate) (0)
None. Every section heading in the final law was already in the first version (Introduced in Senate).
What was removed
Sections in the first version (Introduced in Senate) that did not make it into the law (0)
None. Every section heading from the first version (Introduced in Senate) remains in the law.
Compared by section heading between the Introduced in Senate text (Feb 19, 2025) and the Enrolled Bill text, both from GovInfo. Wording changes inside a section that kept its heading are not shown here; see the amendments and the text versions.
Proposed but not adopted
No amendments were voted down or withdrawn.
Full action history
Show all 22 official actions
| Jul 12, 2026 | Sent to Archivist of the United States unsigned. |
| Jul 12, 2026 | Became Public Law No: 119-102. |
| Jul 12, 2026 | Became Public Law No: 119-102. |
| Jun 30, 2026 | Presented to President. |
| Jun 30, 2026 | Presented to President. |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 368 - 19 (Roll no. 223). (text: CR H4137) |
| Jun 23, 2026 | On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 368 - 19 (Roll no. 223). (text: CR H4137) |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H4192) |
| Jun 23, 2026 | At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed. |
| Jun 23, 2026 | DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 629. |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H4137-4138) |
| Jun 23, 2026 | Mr. Lucas moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Held at the desk. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Received in the House. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry discharged by Unanimous Consent. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry discharged by Unanimous Consent. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S1565; text: CR S1565) |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Message on Senate action sent to the House. |
| Feb 19, 2025 | Introduced in Senate |
| Feb 19, 2025 | Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. |
Sources: Congress.gov (bill record, sponsors, actions, amendments, CRS summary) and GovInfo (official text). Days are calendar days.