To provide for a one-year enrollment in the conservation reserve of land covered by expiring conservation reserve program contracts.

Summary: Authorizes a one-year conservation reserve program (CRP) enrollment (to begin October 1, 1997) for land covered by a CRP contract expiring in FY 1997 if:  (1) such land is eligible CRP land, had a wheat, oats, or barley crop acreage base, and is located in an area where fall-seeded crops are regularly planted; and (2) the owner submitted an enrollment bid during the March 28, 1997 enrollment period.    States that:  (1) such one-year enrollment shall be considered part of any subsequent long-term enrollment, but shall not take effect if the March 28, 1997 enrollment has been completed prior to enactment of this Act; and (2) the maximum FY 1998 CRP enrollment shall be 30 million acres. Authorizes specified owners or operators who did not bid for contract extensions to terminate an expiring FY 1997 CRP contract anytime after June 30, 1997, without any rental payment reduction.

SECTION 1. ONE-YEAR ENROLLMENT OF LAND COVERED BY EXPIRING CONSERVATION 
              RESERVE PROGRAM CONTRACTS.

    (a) Eligible Farm Lands.--This section applies with respect to a 
farm containing land covered by a conservation reserve program contract 
expiring during fiscal year 1997 if--
            (1) the farm had a crop acreage base for wheat, oats, or 
        barley at the time the conservation reserve program contract 
        was executed;
            (2) the farm is located in an area in which fall-seeded 
        crops are regularly planted, as determined by the Secretary of 
        Agriculture;
            (3) the owner of the farm (or the operator with the consent 
        of the owner) submitted, during the enrollment period that 
        ended on March 28, 1997, an eligible bid to enroll all or part 
        of the land covered by the expiring contract in the 
        conservation reserve established under subchapter B of chapter 
        1 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 
        (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.); and
            (4) the land designated in the bid satisfies the 
        eligibility criteria in effect for enrollment of land in the 
        conservation reserve.
    (b) One-Year Enrollment Authorized.--
            (1) Authority of owner or operator.--Except as provided in 
        subsection (g), the owner or operator of a farm described in 
        subsection (a) may enroll in the conservation reserve for a 
        one-year term to begin on October 1, 1997, the land covered by 
        the expiring conservation reserve program contract and included 
        in the owner's or operator's enrollment bid (as described in 
        subsection (a)(3)) if--
                    (A) the owner or operator notifies the Secretary in 
                writing, during the special notification period 
                required under paragraph (2), that the owner or 
                operator desires to enroll the land in the conservation 
                reserve for one year under this section; and
                    (B) the Secretary does not accept, before October 
                1, 1997, the owner's or operator's enrollment bid (as 
                described in subsection (a)(3)) to enroll the land in a 
                long-term conservation reserve program contract.
            (2) Special notification period.--Promptly upon the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide a special 
        period for owners and operators of farms described in 
        subsection (a) to permit the owners and operators to provide 
        the notification required under paragraph (1)(A) to enter into 
        one-year conservation reserve program contracts under this 
        section.
    (c) Rental Rate.--The rental rate for a one-year conservation 
reserve program contract under subsection (b) shall be equal to the 
amount of the bid (as described in subsection (a)(3)) that the owner or 
operator submitted with respect to the land to be covered by the one-
year contract.
    (d) Effect of One-Year Contract on Subsequent Enrollment.--If an 
owner or operator who enrolls eligible farm land in a one-year 
conservation reserve program contract under subsection (b) submits a 
bid to enroll the same land in the conservation reserve under a long-
term conservation reserve program contract that would commence on 
October 1, 1998, and the Secretary accepts the bid and enters into a 
long-term conservation reserve program contract with the owner or 
operator, then the one-year contract shall be considered to be the 
first year of that long-term conservation reserve program contract.
    (e) Maximum Enrollment.--The maximum number of acres in the 
conservation reserve during fiscal year 1998, including land enrolled 
by the Secretary under one-year conservation reserve program contracts 
under subsection (b), may not exceed 30,000,000 acres.
    (f) Application of Conservation Reserve Laws.--Except as 
specifically provided in this section, the terms and conditions of 
subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) shall apply with respect 
to one-year conservation reserve program contracts authorized by this 
section.
    (g) Effect of Completion of 15th Enrollment.--If, as of the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary has already acted on the bids 
submitted during the enrollment period that ended on March 28, 1997, to 
enroll land in the conservation reserve, either by accepting or 
rejecting the bids, then the authority provided by this section for 
special one-year conservation reserve program contracts shall not take 
effect.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL EARLY TERMINATION AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN CONSERVATION 
              RESERVE PROGRAM CONTRACTS EXPIRING IN 1997.

    (a) Early Termination Authority.--A farm owner or operator 
described in subsection (b) who is a party to a conservation reserve 
program contract expiring during fiscal year 1997 may terminate the 
contract at any time after June 30, 1997. Notwithstanding section 
1235(e) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3835(e)), the 
termination shall take effect immediately upon submission of notice of 
the termination to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall not result in 
a reduction in the amount of the rental payment due under the 
conservation reserve program contract for fiscal year 1997.
    (b) Eligible Owners and Operators.--A farm owner or operator 
referred to in subsection (a) is a farm owner or operator with respect 
to whom one of the following circumstances apply:
            (1) Neither the owner, operator, nor any other eligible 
        person submitted, during the enrollment period that ended on 
        March 28, 1997, an eligible bid to enroll all or part of the 
        land covered by the expiring conservation reserve program 
        contract in the conservation reserve established under 
        subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of title XII of the 
        Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.).
            (2) An eligible bid was submitted during the enrollment 
        period to enroll all or part of the land covered by the 
        expiring contract in the conservation reserve, but the 
        Secretary of Agriculture rejected the bid and the owner or 
        operator did not notify the Secretary, in the manner provided 
        in section 1(b), that the owner or operator desired a one-year 
        contract under section 1.
    (c) Conservation Reserve Program Contract Defined.--In this 
section, the term ``conservation reserve program contract'' means a 
contract entered into under subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of 
title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) for 
enrollment of farm acreage in the conservation reserve established 
under such subchapter.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 29, 1997.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.