Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023. This legislation will make Federal crop insurance work better for wine grapes impacted by wildfire smoke exposure.
Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards, but can damage fruit through prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into the grape, creating an ashy taste known as smoke taint.
The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. In 2020 alone, industry sources estimate that between 165,000 and 325,000 tons of California wine grapes were lost due to actual or perceived smoke damage, and financial estimates place losses at over $600 million.
Federal crop insurance tools are not working for winegrape producers grappling with the impacts of climate change induced wildfires. That's why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act.
The Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023 would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to research, develop, and create a crop insurance policy to better insure against wine grape losses due to wildfire smoke exposure.
Wine grapes are vital to the economies of California, Oregon, and Washington--the largest producers of wine grapes in the United States and the most impacted by smoke-exposure. But crop insurance is not working for wine grapes--current products do not fully capture the risks associated with growing in these smoke and wildfire-prone States.
That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023, to improve crop insurance for winegrape producers, wineries, and the consumers they support to help address the impossible choice facing producers after a wildfire: Does a grower harvest grapes knowing they may be unusable for wine or do they take an indemnity for what may be perfectly good grapes?
This bill gets us one step closer to answering that question.
I would like to thank my colleagues from California, Washington, and Oregon for joining me to introduce this bill and for our partners in the House, Representatives Mike Thompson and Dan Newhouse, for championing this bill in the House.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act as quickly as possible for inclusion in the 2023 farm Bill. ______
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Wyden):
S. 2135. A bill to require the Agricultural Research Service to conduct research relating to wildfire smoke exposure on wine grapes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023. This legislation will bolster research at land- grant universities along the west coast to better understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes.
Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards but even those vineyards that escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste known as smoke taint.
The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire- caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.
Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these impacts.
Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint.
This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill would do.
The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023 would provide $32.5 million over 5 years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the face of climate crisis.
Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land- grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers.
As researchers from the University of California Davis, Washington State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable.
We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor of fresh grapes. ``Freshness of the smoke, number of times exposed, variety of grape--the list goes on. There's so much we don't know.''
That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry.
I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, for his leadership bolstering California winegrowing communities and championing this bill in the House.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible. ______
By Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. Young):
S. 2150. A bill to establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and public service for all people of the United States, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act to support voluntary efforts to repurpose agricultural land to multibenefit uses. Enactment of this legislation would provide new tools for States, producers, water users, and Federal partners to adapt to long-term water scarcity at the basin scale.
The bill would modernize existing Federal programs at the Bureau of Reclamation to support long-term drought planning and resiliency by stakeholders.
Specifically, the bill would authorize funding for States that choose to pilot and implement their own multibenefit land repurposing programs. Eligible State-run programs must be basin-scale, reduce consumptive water use, and repurpose irrigated agricultural land for at least 10 years. Programs must also provide one or more other measurable benefits to the environment or community, including the restoration habitat or floodplains connection to streams or rivers, the creation of dedicated recharge areas, the facilitation of renewable energy projects, the creation of parks or recreational areas, and other listed uses. The bill would also prioritize State programs that provide direct benefits to disadvantaged communities or were developed through a multistakeholder planning process.
Because it may take time for States to stand up or pilot programs, the bill would also make multibenefit land repurposing an eligible use under the WaterSMART Program so that individual water users could apply and compete for funding for multibenefit land repurposing projects.
Water scarcity at the basin scale demands widespread changes in water use across the West. The Colorado River Basin's water storage shortage, Utah's decline to record low levels of the Great Salt Lake, and California's subsidence due to groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley are just a few of the many examples of long-term, basin-scale water scarcity demanding change in our water use.
Through the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has stepped up and invested billions of dollars in new technologies to shore up our water supplies, including large-scale water recycling and desalination. But a historic megadrought and the climate crisis are unfortunately forcing Western States and water users to reimagine how to allocate and govern water and forcing producers to be more efficient with water or make do with less.
One tool to bolster drought resilience is to retire irrigation from some agricultural lands, particularly where soils or productivity is marginal, where non-irrigated agricultural uses can sustainably contribute to an operation, or where important public benefits such as fish and wildlife habitat, watershed health and aquifer recharge, or renewable energy can be supported in a conversion from irrigated agriculture.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act as quickly as possible. ______
By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Durbin):
S. 2179. A bill to help increase the development, distribution, and use of clean cookstoves and fuels to improve health, protect the climate and environment, empower women, create jobs, and help consumers save time and money; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Atmospheric Rivers Reconissance, Observation and Warning Act or ARROW Act. This legislation will support critical atmospheric river reconnaissance missions to improve forecasting for water managers across the west coast.
Atmospheric rivers produce between 40 to 65 percent of annual precipitation along the U.S. west coast but cause an estimated 90 percent or more of flood damage. These extreme storm events are the primary driver of drought and major flooding events impacting the entire western region, which is why the Federal Government alongside researchers and water managers support a growing Federal investment into atmospheric river reconnaissance research missions to help improve AR forecasting.
The Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known as Hurricane Hunters, fly specially equipped aircraft directly into the eye of a storm between 8,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level to collect valuable, real-time data that allows water managers, disaster responders, researchers, and meteorologists to better predict the impact of storm events such as ARs, hurricanes, and tropical cyclones.
The ARROW Act would formalize ongoing AR reconnaissance efforts led by the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which, in consultation with NOAA, provide aircraft, personnel, and equipment to meet the AR mission requirements during the winter season in the west coast, from November through March.
The bill would direct the Air Force to work with NOAA to improve the accuracy and timeliness of west coast AR forecasts and warning services; support water management decisions and flood forecasting; and participate in the Research and Operations Partnership, which guides flight planning, to improve and expand the capabilities and effectiveness of AR Recon into the future.
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes and is a critical component of the U.S. weather forecasting apparatus.
Since fiscal year 2020, Congress has directed the 53rd to prioritize atmospheric river reconnaissance in its National Winter Storms Operations Plan. However, without formal authorization, growing AR recon research will go unmet, leaving civil authorities and military decision makers without key forecasting data to predict and respond to AR landfall and to more effectively manage water supplies in an increasingly variable climate.
That is why we need to pass the ARROW Act, to formalize the role of the Air Force Reserve's Weather Reconnaissance Squadron as a critical part of the U.S. storm forecasting and response infrastructure.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the ARROW Act as quickly as possible.
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