Alignment of Farm Service Agency and Forest Service drought response

(a) In general Not later than 60 days after the date of submission of the report under section 5(d), the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency and the Chief of the Forest Service shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to better align drought response activities of the Farm Service Agency and the Forest Service (referred to in this section as the agencies). (b) Contents The memorandum of understanding entered into under subsection (a) shall include— (1) a commitment to better align practices of the agencies with respect to determining the severity of regional drought conditions; (2) a strategy for amending those determinations to ensure consistent policy with respect to drought response in cases where the agencies are making inconsistent determinations within the same spatial scale; (3) an agreement to utilize, to the extent practicable, the United States Drought Monitor in making those determinations; and (4) an agreement to provide consistent information to grazing permittees, operators, and other stakeholders affected by determinations relating to drought.