S 5234

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

August 4, 2026

Mr. Schiff (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Padilla, and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Act of March 2, 1931, to establish a Human-Wildlife Conflict Reduction Program, 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 “Human-Wildlife Conflict Reduction Act of 2026”.

SEC. 2. HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT REDUCTION PROGRAM.

The Act of March 2, 1931 (46 Stat. 1468, chapter 370), is amended by adding at the end the following:

“SEC. 4. HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT REDUCTION PROGRAM.

“(a) Establishment.—

“(1) In general.—The Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’) shall establish a program, to be known as the ‘Human-Wildlife Conflict Reduction Program’ (referred to in this section as the ‘Program’), to develop, implement, and coordinate nonlethal strategies and projects to reduce conflicts between humans and wildlife and between livestock and wildlife, including depredation of livestock.

“(2) Priorities.—In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall prioritize—

“(A) deploying resources in States in which the Nonlethal Initiative of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service operates as of the date of enactment of this section;

“(B) reducing livestock depredation and conflict with predator species; and

“(C) reducing harms caused by wildlife to human infrastructure or agriculture.

“(3) Nonlethal initiative.—The operations of the Nonlethal Initiative of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service shall be subsumed into the Program.

“(b) Research and Development.—In carrying out the activities of the Program, the Secretary shall pursue research and development—

“(1) to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of various nonlethal strategies for reducing human-wildlife conflict, livestock depredations, and bolstering livestock safety; and

“(2) to develop new and effective nonlethal strategies for reducing human-wildlife conflict and livestock depredations and bolstering livestock safety.

“(c) Assistance.—Under the Program, the Secretary may implement projects to provide assistance to landowners, agricultural producers, Indian Tribes, and nonprofit organizations to deploy nonlethal strategies—

“(1) to reduce human-wildlife conflict; and

“(2) to reduce predator depredation on livestock.

“(d) Best Practices; Training; Demonstration Projects.—

“(1) In general.—Under the Program, the Secretary—

“(A) shall share best practices with agricultural producers, landowners, Indian Tribes, nonprofit organizations, and relevant Federal or State agency personnel;

“(B) may provide training in nonlethal strategies to those entities;

“(C) may support demonstration projects and pilot projects to evaluate the effectiveness of nonlethal strategies under local conditions; and

“(D) may incorporate monitoring and adaptive management to improve outcomes of nonlethal strategies over time.

“(2) Resource.—To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall carry out paragraph (1) with consideration of State-level plans developed under subsection (e).

“(e) State-Level Plans.—The Program shall assist States, on request, to develop or update a State-level plan to guide the implementation of nonlethal strategies.

“(f) Annual Report.—The Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report describing—

“(1) the use of funds under the Program;

“(2) species impacted by the Program; and

“(3) the nonlethal strategies used under the Program and the effectiveness of each of those strategies.

“(g) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031, of which not more than 10 percent per fiscal year shall be used for research activities under the Program.”. <all>