CONSERVATION

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FARM SERVICE AGENCY FACT SHEET

December 2016

Conservation Reserve Program: Clean Lakes, Estuaries

and Rivers (CLEAR) - Bioreactors and Saturated Buffers

OVERVIEW

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a 

voluntary program whereby the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture (USDA) contracts with agricultural 

producers so that environmentally sensitive 

agricultural land is not farmed or ranched, but 

instead used for conservation benefits. CRP 

participants establish long-term, resourceconserving vegetative species, such as approved 

grasses or trees (known as “covers”) to control 

soil erosion, improve the water quality and 

enhance wildlife habitat. In return, FSA provides 

participants with rental payments and cost-share 

assistance. Contracts are 10 to 15 years in duration.

Under “continuous enrollment authority,” land may 

be enrolled in CRP at any time. Certain eligibility 

requirement still apply, but applicants are not 

subject to competitive bidding.

The Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, 

authorized CRP. The program is also governed by 

regulations published in 7 CFR, part 1410. The 

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers 

CRP.

IMPROVING WATER QUALITY

Since its creation in 1985, CRP has reduced 

nitrogen and phosphorous from fields that 

otherwise would enter lakes, streams and rivers by 

95 and 85 percent.

USDA continues to improve water quality through 

its clean lakes, estuaries and rivers (CLEAR) effort 

to combat hypoxia in areas such as the Mississippi 

River and Great Lakes Basin.

Research shows that proper installation of a 

denitrifying bioreactor or a saturated buffer on 

farmland can significantly reduce nitrate runoff 

from fields, particularly on tiled fields adjacent 

to streams or waterbodies that can reduce nitrate 

concentration in subsurface drain discharge.

DENITRIFYING BIOREACTOR AND 

SATURATED BUFFER

A denitrifying bioreactor is a structure that 

uses a carbon source, such as wood chips, to 

reduce the concentration of nitrate nitrogen in 

subsurface agricultural drainage flow via enhanced 

denitrification.

A saturated buffer is a vegetated buffer (filter strip 

or riparian buffer) on which the water table is 

artificially raised by diverting much of the water 

from a subsurface drainage system along the buffer 

to reduce nitrate loading to surface water via 

enhanced denitrification.

ELIGIBILITY

Through CLEAR, FSA is targeting existing Filter 

Strip (CP21) and Riparian Buffer (CP22) practices 

that are already enrolled in CRP or are part of a 

new enrollment offer in areas with a need to reduce 

nitrate loading to surface water from subsurface 

drain outlets.

These CRP practices can be used at sites 

where there is a need to reduce nitrate nitrogen 

concentration in subsurface drainage flow. These 

practices do not apply to underground outlets from 

practices such as terraces, where the drainage 

source is primarily from surface inlets.

The CRP bioreactor and saturated buffer practices 

must be installed according to standards and 

specifications approved by the USDA Natural 

Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS).

PAYMENTS AND OTHER ASSISTANCE

FSA will offer the following types of payments:

• Cost-share of up to 50 percent of the eligible 

reimbursable practice costs; and

• Practice incentives of up to 40 percent of the 

eligible establishment cost, not to exceed 
FACT SHEET

CRP: CLEAR - Bioreactors and Saturated Buffers December 2016

$1,500 per bioreactor on existing CRP filter 

strips and riparian buffers.

• Practice incentives of up to 40 percent of the 

eligible establishment cost for newly enrolled 

bioreactors or saturated buffers on filter strips 

and riparian buffers.

NRCS or a Technical Service Provider (TSP) 

will provide technical assistance needed in the 

assessment of site suitability and conservation 

planning and design.

In addition, other groups partner with FSA and 

can provide assistance. These groups include 

state government, private conservation and 

environmental groups, and other conservation 

groups, including watershed organizations and 

local conservation districts.

ENROLLING IN CRP

CRP participants who have enrolled eligible land 

in Filter Strip (CP21) and Riparian Buffer (CP22) 

practices or desire to offer new eligible land into 

CRP should contact their local FSA office to see 

if their acreage is suitable for installation of a 

denitrifying bioreactor or saturated buffer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

This fact sheet is for informational purposes only; 

other eligibility requirements or restrictions may 

apply. To learn more about FSA CLEAR, visit 

www.fsa.usda.gov/crp or contact your local FSA 

office. To find your local FSA office, visit 

http://offices.usda.gov.

_________________________________________

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, 

its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in 

or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating 

based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital 

status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance 

program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil 

rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by 

USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint 

filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, 

American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency 

or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or 

contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. 

Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 

Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at 

http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html and at any USDA 

office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter 

all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the 

complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or 

letter to USDA by:

1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant

 Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW

 Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;

2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or

3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

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