Provisions to help farmers were included in the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill the U.S. House and Senate passed March 22. The bill funds the government through fiscal year 2018, which ends Sept. 30.

In the bill, the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method Act permanently exempts farmers from reporting air emissions under CERCLA rules. The bill also prohibits enforcing electronic logging device requirements through the fiscal year.

U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, and Doug Jones, D-Alabama, voted in favor of the bill, which passed the Senate 65-32.

In the House, the bill passed 256-167. U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers and Terri Sewell of Alabama supported the bill. Reps. Mo Brooks and Gary Palmer opposed passage.

Other provisions include

Requiring USDA to fully implement the catfish inspection program within 180 days
Increasing feral swine surveillance funding by $5 million
Providing new flexibility related to studies for irrigation projects
Increasing funding to expand rural broadband internet