H.R. 1420 – Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated November 24, 2025 at 9:38 PM UTC

The Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act amends the 1985 Food Security Act to expand the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. It creates a new option for seasonally flooded working‑land agreements, letting non‑eligible agricultural land be enrolled when essential for protecting wetland wildlife. The bill also sets payment and management rules and allows the matching‑fund requirement to be waived, benefiting landowners, the USDA, and wetland‑dependent species along the Pacific Flyway.

Key Provisions

Adds a new “Seasonally Flooded Working Lands Habitat Conservation Agreements” option to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, letting the USDA enroll additional agricultural land that isn’t normally eligible if it’s needed to protect wetland wildlife habitats.
Allows working cropland that supports wetland‑dependent species to be seasonally flooded, provided the landowner follows at least one best‑management practice.
Requires the USDA to set annual rental payments for these lands at rates comparable to the cost of maintaining similar seasonal wetland habitats in the region, ensuring consistency across the area.
Gives the USDA Secretary authority to waive the usual matching‑fund requirement for these agreements.

Legislative Activity

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HouseFloor Latest Action

ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Gallagher asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 1420, a bill originally introduced by Representative LaMalfa, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.

July 16, 2026 • 11:22 AM

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

February 18, 2025

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Agriculture Committee

February 18, 2025

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.

Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Subcommittee

March 28, 2025

HouseFloor

ASSUMING FIRST SPONSORSHIP - Mr. Gallagher asked unanimous consent that he may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 1420, a bill originally introduced by Representative LaMalfa, for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII. Agreed to without objection.

July 16, 2026 • 11:22 AM

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 1420 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. James GallagherR-CA-1 · Jul 16, 2026

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered to be the first sponsor of H.R. 1420 and H.R. 4970, bills originally introduced by Representative LaMalfa of California, for…

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued February 18, 2025

I

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1420

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 18, 2025

Mr. LaMalfa (for himself, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Costa, and Ms. Matsui) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to allow for additional agricultural lands to be enrolled under the conservation reserve enhancement program, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Pacific Flyway Habitat Enhancement Act.

2.

Conservation reserve enhancement program

Section 1231A of the Food Security Act of 1985 is amended—

(1)

by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and

(2)

by inserting after subsection (e) the following:

(f)

Seasonally flooded working lands habitat conservation agreements

(1)

In general

In the case of an agreement entered into under subsection (b)(1) that addresses diminished quantity and quality of wetland wildlife habitats, the Secretary, in consultation with the applicable State technical committee established under section 1261(a), may—

(A)

enroll other agricultural land that is not eligible land on which the resource concerns identified in the agreement can be addressed if the enrollment of such other agricultural land is critical to the accomplishment of the purposes of the agreement;

(B)

if the agreement involves the maintenance of habitat for one or more wetland-dependent species on working cropland, permit seasonally flooded agricultural uses on such working cropland with the adoption of at least one best management practice; and

(C)

calculate annual rental payments in a manner that—

(i)

is comparable with annual costs to maintain other seasonally-flooded wetland wildlife habitats in the region; and

(ii)

ensures regional consistency in those rental payment rates.

(2)

Matching requirement waiver

In the case of an agreement described in paragraph (1), the Secretary may waive the matching requirement described in subsection (c)(1).

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