HR 7264 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Restoring America’s Floodplains Act
To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for floodplain easement restoration and management, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to expand the Secretary of Agriculture's authority regarding floodplain easement restoration and management under the Emergency Watershed Program. The bill authorizes the Secretary to restore and maintain vegetative cover, hydrological functions, and other values of land subject to floodplain easements, and to enter into contracts and agreements with landowners, states, nongovernmental organizations, and Indian tribes for these purposes. The bill allows compatible uses on easement lands, including economic uses such as hunting, fishing, timber harvest, and managed grazing, if consistent with floodplain protection. The bill also authorizes the Secretary to undertake restoration measures that provide a higher level of protection if determined to benefit long-term watershed health.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Vasquez, Gabe [D-NM-2] (D-NM)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Mark B. Messmer’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $75,844
- HOUSE WIFE $17,400
- WABASH VALLEY PRODUCE $13,200
- UEBELHOR & SONS $7,600
- INDIANA CARDINAL $7,200
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Mark B. Messmer → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Mar 20, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology. · house
- Jan 27, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. · house
- Jan 27, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 27, 2026
Mr. Messmer (for himself and Mr. Vasquez) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for floodplain easement restoration and management, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Restoring America’s Floodplains Act”.
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY WATERSHED PROGRAM FLOODPLAIN EASEMENT RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT.
(a) Floodplain Easements.—Section 403(b) of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203(b)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs
(5) and (6), respectively;
(2) by inserting after the subsection header the following:
“(1) Easement restoration.—The Secretary is authorized to restore appropriate vegetative cover, hydrological functions, and other functions and values of the land subject to a floodplain easement acquired under subsection (a).
“(2) Easement maintenance.—The Secretary is authorized to monitor, maintain, and enhance appropriate vegetative cover, hydrological functions, and other restoration measures on land subject to a floodplain easement acquired under subsection (a).
“(3) Contracts and agreements.—In carrying out paragraphs
(1) and (2), the Secretary may—
“(A) enter into contracts with landowners; and
“(B) enter into agreements with States, nongovernmental organizations, and Indian Tribes.
“(4) Compatible use authority.—The Secretary may authorize a landowner to carry out activities on land subject to a floodplain easement acquired under subsection (a) that are—
“(A) compatible uses necessary to carry out paragraph (1) or (2); or
“(B) compatible economic uses (including such activities as hunting and fishing, managed timber harvest, water management, or periodic haying or grazing) if such uses are consistent with long-term protection of the floodplain functions and values for which the easement was acquired.”; and
(3) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by striking “paragraph (1)” and inserting “paragraph (5)” each place it appears.
(b) Level of Restoration.—Section 403 of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2203) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Level of Restoration.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary may undertake measures that increase the level of protection above that which would be necessary to address the immediate impairment of the watershed if the Secretary determines that such restoration is in the best interest of the long-term health of the watershed and the long-term protection of the watershed from repetitive impairments.”. <all>
Comments