United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee 1 R cosponsors

HR 5610 — Improving Drought Monitoring Act

Last action — Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced September 26, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Stalled 16% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 R).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Improving Drought Monitoring ActThis bill requires increased interagency cooperation in drought monitoring and response activities and reauthorizes the Improvements to the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) program through FY2030. Specifically, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) must establish an interagency working group to improve the availability of consistent, accurate, and reliable data for use in producing the USDM. (The USDM uses multiple indicators and indexes together with expert opinions and stakeholder information to estimate the intensity and effects of ongoing drought conditions across the United States. Using this data, the USDM map shows the location and intensity of drought across the United States.)The interagency working group must submit a report to Congress and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior that contains recommendations for changes in policies, regulations, guidance documents, or existing law related to USDM data. USDA, in coordination with the Departments of Commerce and the Interior, must incorporate, to the extent practicable, the recommendations of the working group to improve USDM data.The bill also reauthorizes through FY2030 the Improvements to the USDM program, which requires USDA to coordinate with the National Drought Mitigation Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enhance the collection of data to improve the accuracy of the USDM.Further, the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service must enter into a memorandum of understanding to better align their drought response activities.

Bill Text

Sections of law this bill changes

1 section in 1 law

From the bill's own amending language, matched to the official United States Code (current through Public Law 119-124).

Research · 7 U.S.C. ch. 88 1 section
  • § 5856 Improvements to United States Drought Monitor Amends

    7 U.S.C. § 5856 — at 5856(d)(2)

    The law today

    (a) In general The Secretary shall coordinate with the Director of the National Drought Mitigation Center and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enhance the collection of data to improve the accuracy of the United States Drought Monitor. (b) Utilization To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall utilize a consistent source or sources of data for programs that are based on drought or precipitation indices, such as the livestock forage disaster program established under section 9081(c) of this title or policies or plans of insurance established under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). (c) Review Not later than 1 year after December 20, 2018, the Secretary shall conduct a review of— (1) the types of data currently utilized by the United States Drought Monitor; (2) the geographic coverage and density of existing data collection sites; and (3) other meteorological or climatological data that is being collected by other Federal agencies, State and local governments, and non-Federal entities that could be utilized by the United States Drought Monitor. (d) Improvements (1) In general Upon the completion of the review prescribed in subsection (c), the Secretary shall— (A) seek to expand the collection of relevant data in States or geographic areas where coverage is currently lacking as compared to other States or geographic areas; and (B) to the maximum extent practicable, develop standards to allow the integration of meteorological or climatological data into the United States Drought Monitor derived from— (i) in-situ soil moisture profile measuring devices; (ii) citizen science (as defined in the Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act (15 U.S.C. 3724)), including data from the Cooperative Observer Program of the National Weather Service; and (iii) other Federal agencies, State and local governments, and non-Federal entities. (2) Authorization of appropriations There is to be authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023.

    2 other bills also change this section · Follow it → Official text at uscode.house.gov ↗

How this bill changes current law

7 changes Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill extends the authorization of appropriations for drought monitoring efforts from 2023 to 2030 and establishes a new interagency working group to improve data for the United States Drought Monitor.

  • 7 U.S.C. 5856(d)(2)

    2023 → 2030

    This change extends the timeframe for appropriations for drought monitoring programs from 2023 to 2030.

  • Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an interagency working group...

    This provision establishes a new interagency working group to enhance data availability and accuracy for the United States Drought Monitor.

  • The working group shall consist of not fewer than 3 representatives from the Department of Agriculture...

    This provision specifies the membership structure of the new interagency working group.

  • The working group shall develop a means for the inclusion of additional in-situ data into the process of developing the United States Drought Monitor...

    This provision mandates the working group to incorporate additional data sources into the Drought Monitor.

  • Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the working group shall submit a report containing recommendations...

    This requirement establishes a timeline for the working group to report on recommendations for improving the Drought Monitor.

  • The working group shall terminate on the date that is 90 days after the date on which the report is submitted under subsection (d).

    This provision sets a termination date for the working group after its report is submitted.

  • Not later than 60 days after the date of submission of the report under section 3(d), the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency and the Chief of the Forest Service shall enter into a memorandum of understanding...

    This requirement establishes a timeline for the Farm Service Agency and Forest Service to align their drought response efforts.

Action History

  1. Introduced in House

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (546)

546 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

environment agriculture
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Frequently asked questions

What does HR 5610 do?
Improving Drought Monitoring ActThis bill requires increased interagency cooperation in drought monitoring and response activities and reauthorizes the Improvements to the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) program through FY2030. Specifically, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) must establish an interagency working group to improve the availability of consistent, accurate, and reliable data for use in producing the USDM. (The USDM uses multiple indicators and indexes together with expert opinions and stakeholder information to estimate the intensity and effects of ongoing drought conditions across the United States. Using this data, the USDM map shows the location and intensity of drought across the United States.)The interagency working group must submit a report to Congress and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior that contains recommendations for changes in policies, regulations, guidance documents, or existing law related to USDM data. USDA, in coordination with the Departments of Commerce and the Interior, must incorporate, to the extent practicable, the recommendations of the working group to improve USDM data.The bill also reauthorizes through FY2030 the Improvements to the USDM program, which requires USDA to coordinate with the National Drought Mitigation Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enhance the collection of data to improve the accuracy of the USDM.Further, the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service must enter into a memorandum of understanding to better align their drought response activities.
Who sponsors HR 5610?
HR 5610 is sponsored by Taylor, David J. (Republican).
What is the current status of HR 5610?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced September 26, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HR 5610?
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