Healthy Fields and Farm Economies Act

Summary: Healthy Fields and Farm Economies Act  This bill reauthorizes and modifies the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, which provides the Department of Agriculture (USDA) with strategic assessment and planning authority for the conservation, protection, and enhancement of soil, water, and related natural resources.  The bill authorizes USDA to establish a conservation effects assessment project to:   quantify the environmental and economic effects of conservation practices,  develop the science base for managing the agricultural landscape for environmental quality and sustainable productive capacity, and  improve the efficacy of conservation practices and programs by evaluating conservation effects.  USDA must establish a goals and assessment process for conservation programs that includes:  the identification of natural resource and environmental objectives, outcomes, and results for the programs; assessments of the resulting changes in the status and conditions of natural resource and the environment; and  a monitoring and evaluation process for the programs and initiatives.  In implementing the monitoring and evaluation process, USDA must use certain funds provided for conservation programs and establish a National Technical Committee. USDA may enter into cooperative agreements with government agencies, universities and colleges, and nongovernmental organizations to assist in implementing the monitoring and evaluation process. The bill also sets forth reporting requirements regarding the progress conservation programs have made in achieving the objectives and outcomes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Fields and Farm Economies 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE SOIL AND WATER RESOURCES CONSERVATION ACT OF 
              1977.

    The Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977 (16 U.S.C. 
2001 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 5(e), by striking ``and December 31, 2015'' 
        and inserting ``December 31, 2015, and December 31, 2022'';
            (2) in section 6(d), by striking ``, respectively'' and 
        inserting ``, and a program update shall be completed by 
        December 31, 2023'';
            (3) in section 7--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``and 2016'' and 
                inserting ``, 2016, and 2022''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 
                paragraph (1), by striking ``and 2017'' and inserting 
                ``, 2017, and 2023'';
            (4) in section 10, by striking ``2018'' and inserting 
        ``2023'';
            (5) by redesignating sections 8 through 10 as sections 9 
        though 11, respectively; and
            (6) by inserting after section 7 the following:

``SEC. 8. CONSERVATION PROGRAMS ASSESSMENT.

    ``(a) In General.--In coordination with the appraisal of soil, 
water, and related resources and with the national soil and water 
conservation program established under this Act, the Secretary may 
carry out a conservation effects assessment project to quantify the 
environmental and economic effects of conservation practices, develop 
the science base for managing the agricultural landscape for 
environmental quality and sustainable productive capacity, and improve 
the efficacy of conservation practices and programs by evaluating 
conservation effects.
    ``(b) Scope.--The project under this subsection may be carried out 
at national, regional, and watershed scales, and may include cropland, 
grazing lands, wetlands, forests, and such other lands as the Secretary 
may determine appropriate.
    ``(c) Activities.--The project under this subsection may include 
research, literature reviews and bibliographies, modeling, assessment, 
monitoring and data collection, outreach, extension education, and such 
other activities as the Secretary may determine appropriate.

``SEC. 9. GOALS AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS FOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Natural Resource and Environmental Objectives and Outcomes.--
            ``(1) In general.--In coordination with the appraisal of 
        soil, water, and related resources, the soil and water 
        conservation program, and the conservation effects assessment 
        project established by this Act, the Secretary shall identify, 
        and periodically revise, specific natural resource and 
        environmental objectives and anticipated conservation outcomes 
        and results, by resource concern, for the conservation programs 
        established under subtitles D and H of title XII of the Food 
        Security Act of 1985 and the landscape conservation initiatives 
        developed by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Assessments.--To help measure outcomes and results, 
        the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, make 
        assessments of changes in the status and conditions of natural 
        resources and the environment that result from the application 
        of conservation activities supported directly by such 
        conservation programs and initiatives.
            ``(3) Monitoring and program evaluation.--The Secretary 
        shall establish a coordinated monitoring and evaluation process 
        for programs and initiatives to assess progress toward the 
        identified objectives, to gather information to improve program 
        and initiative implementation in accordance with desired 
        program and initiative outcomes and results, and to assess the 
        need for modifications to program or initiative rules or 
        statutes.
    ``(b) Monitoring and Program Evaluation.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall use not more than 
        one percent of the total annual funding from the funds of the 
        Commodity Credit Corporation made available for new annual 
        enrollments for the conservation programs established under 
        subtitles D and H of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 
        to establish a comprehensive monitoring and program evaluation 
        process to assess progress in reaching natural resource and 
        environmental objectives identified in accordance with 
        subsection (a) and the contribution of individual programs and 
        initiatives, as well as the programs and initiatives 
        collectively, to that progress.
            ``(2) Implementation.--In implementing the monitoring and 
        program evaluation process under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        may consider and incorporate resource concern inventories, 
        quality criteria, conservation practices and enhancements, and 
        such other information as the Secretary determines relevant for 
        applying the monitoring and program evaluation process across 
        each of the major land uses identified by the Secretary.
            ``(3) Monitoring and evaluation process.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than two years after 
                the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 
                shall issue a design for the comprehensive monitoring 
                and evaluation process, a schedule for implementing the 
                process, and a plan for coordinating the process with 
                the national soil and water conservation program and 
                conservation effects assessment project established 
                under this Act.
                    ``(B) Methodology.--The design for the monitoring 
                and evaluation process shall--
                            ``(i) include detailed information 
                        concerning the requisite frequency of the 
                        monitoring process at the field, water body, 
                        habitat, or other level and the manner in which 
                        the data will be aggregated at the landscape or 
                        watershed level, county or local level, State 
                        level, national level, and any other level the 
                        Secretary determines necessary; and
                            ``(ii) take into account the cumulative 
                        nature of conservation over time, the 
                        interactions and sequencing effects between 
                        conservation activities, the differing times 
                        for conservation effects to be realized, and 
                        other related measurement challenges.
                    ``(C) Public research.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, in order to facilitate implementation 
                of the monitoring and evaluation process, the Secretary 
                shall make available conservation activity and program 
                data to cooperators and researchers engaged in public 
                research and evaluation activities to improve 
                conservation outcomes under this subsection, provided 
                that--
                            ``(i) adequate assurances are provided to 
                        the Secretary that any resulting research or 
                        information will be made publicly available and 
                        in a form that protects personally identifiable 
                        information; and
                            ``(ii) the National Technical Committee 
                        finds that any such research is likely to 
                        generate information that furthers the purpose 
                        of this section.
            ``(4) Cooperative agreements.--The Secretary may implement 
        the monitoring evaluation process in part through cooperative 
        or contribution agreements with Federal, State, and local 
        agencies, universities and colleges, nongovernmental 
        organizations with requisite expertise, as determined by the 
        Secretary in consultation with the National Technical 
        Committee.
            ``(5) National technical committee.--
                    ``(A) Composition.--The monitoring and evaluation 
                process shall be administered by the Natural Resources 
                Conservation Service with assistance from a national 
                technical committee appointed by the Secretary and 
                composed of individuals with relevant technical and 
                scientific expertise representing--
                            ``(i) the Agricultural Research Service of 
                        the Department of Agriculture;
                            ``(ii) the Economic Research Service of the 
                        Department of Agriculture;
                            ``(iii) the Farm Service Agency of the 
                        Department of Agriculture;
                            ``(iv) the United States Fish and Wildlife 
                        Service;
                            ``(v) the Forest Service;
                            ``(vi) the National Institute for Food and 
                        Agriculture;
                            ``(vii) the United States Geological 
                        Survey;
                            ``(viii) the Environmental Protection 
                        Agency;
                            ``(ix) State and tribal agencies;
                            ``(x) land grant university natural 
                        resource research programs;
                            ``(xi) nongovernmental organizations with 
                        expertise in the full array of conservation 
                        issues and measurement and evaluation of 
                        conservation outcomes; and
                            ``(xii) such other agencies, institutions, 
                        or organizations as the Secretary may determine 
                        appropriate.
                    ``(B) FACA exemption.--The national technical 
                committee shall be exempt from the Federal Advisory 
                Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
                    ``(C) Transparency.--The Secretary shall ensure the 
                proceedings and recommendations of the national 
                technical committee are available to the public.
            ``(6) Voluntary participation.--In carrying out this 
        subsection, the Secretary shall ensure that any on-farm 
        monitoring activities that may be included as part of the 
        monitoring and program evaluation process are voluntary on the 
        part of the producer, and may include appropriate compensation, 
        as determined by the Secretary.
    ``(c) Reporting.--
            ``(1) Report on objectives and methods.--Beginning in the 
        fiscal year that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this 
        subsection, and periodically thereafter, as determined by the 
        Secretary, the Secretary shall submit to Congress, and make 
        publicly available, a report that includes--
                    ``(A) a description of conservation outcome 
                objectives that are, to the maximum extent practicable, 
                quantitative, measurable, and time-bound for each 
                program established under subtitle D or H of the Food 
                Security Act of 1985 and the landscape conservation 
                initiatives developed by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) a description of the approaches, tools, and 
                methods used to measure or model the conservation 
                outcomes and results and to estimate the cost-
                effectiveness of each such program; and
                    ``(C) guidance to the conservation project partners 
                working to implement conservation programs within a 
                landscape-level project that provides a description of 
                the approaches, tools, and methods the partners might 
                consider using to measure and model the conservation 
                outcomes and results of their projects.
            ``(2) Report on outcomes.--In conjunction with each of the 
        reports to Congress pursuant to section 7, the Secretary shall 
        submit to Congress, and make publicly available, a report that 
        includes--
                    ``(A) an assessment of progress made towards 
                achieving conservation program objectives and 
                anticipated outcomes and results for each conservation 
                program established under subtitle D or H of title XII 
                of the Food Security Act of 1985, as well as for such 
                programs collectively, and the landscape conservation 
                initiatives developed by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) an evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of 
                each such conservation program and initiative; and
                    ``(C) recommendations, in light of the assessment 
                and evaluation, to improve program implementation and 
                improve the scientific and economic tools (including 
                any new or revised conservation practices, conservation 
                enhancements, or conservation planning tools) used to 
                achieve stated natural resource conservation and 
                environmental objectives.
            ``(3) Coordination.--The Secretary may coordinate the 
        reports required under paragraphs (1) and (2) with any reports 
        developed as part of the conservation effects assessment 
        project authorized by section 8, whenever such coordination is 
        feasible and warranted, as determined by the Secretary.''.