II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 909 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend and improve conservation 

programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2017 

Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend and 

improve conservation programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conservation Program 

5 Improvement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO CONSERVATION RESERVE PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 1231(a) of the Food Secu9 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(a)) is amended by strik10 ing ‘‘2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2023’’. 


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1 (b) ENROLLMENT.—Section 1231(d) of the Food Se2 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘during—’’ in 

4 the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and all that 

5 follows through the period at the end and inserting 

6 ‘‘during each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 not 

7 more than 30,000,000 acres, not including any land 

8 that is transferred under section 1235(f).’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(3) STATE TARGET ACREAGE ENROLLMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During each of fiscal 

12 years 2019 through 2023, to the maximum ex13 tent practicable, the Secretary shall carry out 

14 this subchapter in such a manner as to enroll 

15 and maintain acreage in the conservation re16 serve in accordance with the target acreage for 

17 each State, as determined under subparagraph 

18 (B). 

19 ‘‘(B) TARGET ACREAGE.—The target acre20 age referred to in subparagraph (A) for a State 

21 shall be equal to the product obtained by multi22 plying— 

23 ‘‘(i) the quotient (rounded to the 

24 eighth decimal point) obtained by divid25 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the average number of acres 

2 of land in the State enrolled in the 

3 conservation reserve during each of 

4 fiscal years 2007 through 2016; by 

5 ‘‘(II) the average number of 

6 acres of land enrolled in the conserva7 tion reserve nationally during each of 

8 fiscal years 2007 through 2016; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) 30,000,000.’’. 

10 (c) RESTRICTIONS ON LAND PLANTED TO TREES.— 

11 Section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

12 3831) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(j) RESTRICTIONS ON LAND PLANTED TO TREES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REDUCTION OF BASE ACRES.—In a case in 

15 which, as result of a contract under this subchapter, 

16 the base acres (as defined in section 1111 of the Ag17 ricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9011)) on a farm 

18 that are enrolled in the conservation reserve is great19 er than the acres of available cropland on the farm, 

20 the Secretary shall permanently reduce the number 

21 of base acres of the farm by the number of acres 

22 that are planted to trees under the conservation plan 

23 described in section 1232(a)(1). 

24 ‘‘(2) RENEWAL.—No contract under this sub25 chapter may be renewed with respect to any acreage 


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1 that is planted to trees under the conservation plan 

2 described in section 1232(a)(1).’’. 

3 (d) HAYING AND GRAZING.—Section 1233(b) of the 

4 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3833(b)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 

8 and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and 

9 indenting appropriately; 

10 (B) in the matter preceding clause (i) (as 

11 so designated), by striking ‘‘in permitting those 

12 activities’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘in per13 mitting— 

14 ‘‘(A) those activities’’; 

15 (C) in subparagraph (A)(ii) (as so des16 ignated), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

17 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) those activities and the activities described in paragraph (4), not more than 1 19 ⁄3 of 

20 the acres covered by the contract may be har21 vested during any year;’’; 

22 (2) in paragraph (3)(B), in the matter pre23 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘grazing,’’ the first 

24 place it appears and inserting ‘‘grazing outside the 

25 normal grazing period described in paragraph (5),’’; 


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1 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 

2 paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and 

3 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(4) mechanical harvesting of vegetative cover, 

6 without any restriction on the use of the vegetative 

7 cover harvested (except harvesting the vegetative 

8 cover for seed), subject to the conditions that— 

9 ‘‘(A) the harvesting may not occur more 

10 frequently than once every 3 years; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the annual rental rate for the acres 

12 harvested during a year shall be reduced by 25 

13 percent; 

14 ‘‘(5) grazing during the applicable normal graz15 ing period determined under subclause (I) of section 

16 1501(c)(3)(D)(i) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 

17 U.S.C. 9081(c)(3)(D)(i)), without any restriction on 

18 grazing during the primary nesting period, subject 

19 to the conditions that— 

20 ‘‘(A) the grazing shall be at 25 percent of 

21 the normal carrying capacity determined under 

22 that subclause; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the annual rental rate for the acres 

24 harvested during a year shall be reduced by 25 

25 percent;’’. 


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1 (e) WELLHEAD PROTECTION.—Section 1234(g) of 

2 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(g)) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The total’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

6 and (3), the total’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(3) WELLHEAD PROTECTION.—Paragraph (1) 

9 shall not apply to rental payments received by a 

10 rural water district or association for land that is 

11 enrolled under this subchapter for the purpose of 

12 protecting a wellhead.’’. 

13 (f) TRANSITION OPTION FOR CERTAIN FARMERS OR

14 RANCHERS.—Section 1235 of the Food Security Act of 

15 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3835) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (c)(1)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘a 

17 retired or retiring owner or operator to a beginning 

18 farmer or rancher or socially disadvantaged farmer 

19 or rancher’’ and inserting ‘‘an eligible owner or oper20 ator to a covered farmer or rancher (as those terms 

21 are defined in subsection (f)(1))’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (f)— 

23 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

24 (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 


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1 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 

2 so designated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

4 ‘‘(A) COVERED FARMER OR RANCHER.— 

5 The term ‘covered farmer or rancher’ means— 

6 ‘‘(i) a beginning farmer or rancher; 

7 ‘‘(ii) a veteran farmer or rancher (as 

8 defined in section 2501(e) of the Food, Ag9 riculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 

10 1990 (7 U.S.C. 2279(e))); or 

11 ‘‘(iii) a socially disadvantaged farmer 

12 or rancher. 

13 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE OWNER OR OPERATOR.— 

14 The term ‘eligible owner or operator’ means a 

15 farmer or rancher who is— 

16 ‘‘(i) an owner or operator who is re17 tired or retiring; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) an owner who is not less than 65 

19 years of age.’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (2) (as designated by 

21 subparagraph (A))— 

22 (i) in the matter preceding subpara23 graph (A), by striking ‘‘a retired farmer or 

24 rancher’’ and all that follows through 

25 ‘‘ ‘covered farmer or rancher’)’’ and insertVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Apr 18, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S909.IS S909

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1 ing ‘‘an eligible owner or operator to a cov2 ered farmer or rancher’’; 

3 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

4 (A) through (E) as subparagraphs (B) 

5 through (F), respectively; 

6 (iii) by inserting before subparagraph 

7 (B) (as so designated) the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) allow, without any penalty, the eligi9 ble owner or operator to terminate the contract 

10 entered into under this subchapter during the 

11 3-year period ending on the date on which the 

12 contract would expire;’’; 

13 (iv) by striking ‘‘retired or retiring 

14 owner or operator’’ each place it appears 

15 and inserting ‘‘eligible owner or operator’’; 

16 (v) by striking subparagraph (D) (as 

17 designated by clause (ii)) and inserting the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(D) require the covered farmer or rancher 

20 to develop and implement, and provide to the 

21 covered farmer or rancher technical and finan22 cial assistance in the development of, a com23 prehensive conservation plan that addresses any 

24 resource concerns and meets such sustainability 

25 criteria as the Secretary may establish;’’; and 


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1 (vi) in subparagraph (E) (as des2 ignated by clause (ii)), by striking ‘‘by not 

3 later than’’ and all that follows through 

4 ‘‘ownership or lease’’ and inserting ‘‘at any 

5 time during the period beginning on the 

6 date that is 1 year before the date of ter7 mination of the contract’’; and 

8 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBILITY.—An eligible owner or oper10 ator who may qualify for the option under para11 graph (2) shall include an eligible owner or operator 

12 who entered into a contract under this subchapter 

13 not later than 2 years before the date of enactment 

14 of this paragraph.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO CONSERVATION EASEMENT 

16 PROGRAMS. 

17 Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

18 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after subtitle 

19 E the following: 

20 ‘‘Subtitle F—Other Conservation 

21 Provisions 

22 ‘‘SEC. 1251. MODIFICATIONS TO CONSERVATION EASEMENT 

23 PROGRAMS. 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROGRAM.—In this 

25 section, the term ‘covered program’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the conservation reserve program estab2 lished under subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle 

3 D; 

4 ‘‘(2) the farmable wetland program carried out 

5 under section 1231B; 

6 ‘‘(3) the special conservation reserve enhance7 ment program described in section 1234(g)(2); 

8 ‘‘(4) the agricultural conservation easement 

9 program established under subtitle H; 

10 ‘‘(5) the healthy forests reserve program estab11 lished under section 501 of the Healthy Forests Res12 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6571); or 

13 ‘‘(6) any similar program, as determined by the 

14 Secretary, that is established on or after the date of 

15 enactment of the Conservation Program Improve16 ment Act of 2017. 

17 ‘‘(b) MODIFICATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 

18 provision of law applicable to a covered program, subject 

19 to subsection (c), the Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) allow land enrolled in a covered program 

21 to be— 

22 ‘‘(A) modified for water management, gen23 eral maintenance, vegetative cover control, wild24 life habitat management, or any other purpose, 


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1 subject to the condition that the modification 

2 shall be approved jointly by— 

3 ‘‘(i) the State department of natural 

4 resources (or equivalent State agency); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the technical committee estab6 lished under section 1261(a) of the State; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(B) exchanged for land that has equal or 

9 greater conservation, wildlife, ecological, and 

10 economic values, as determined by the Sec11 retary; and 

12 ‘‘(2) provide for the modification of an agree13 ment, a contract, or an easement under a covered 

14 program if the Secretary determines that the modi15 fication— 

16 ‘‘(A) would facilitate the practical adminis17 tration and management of the land covered by 

18 the agreement, contract, or easement; and 

19 ‘‘(B) would not adversely affect the func20 tions and values for which the agreement, con21 tract, or easement was established. 

22 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ENROLLED ACREAGE.—Any modification 

24 or exchange under subsection (b) shall not result in 


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1 a net loss of acreage enrolled in the covered pro2 gram. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCHANGED ACRES.—Any land for which 

4 an exchange is made under subsection (b) shall sat5 isfy all requirements for enrollment in the covered 

6 program. 

7 ‘‘(d) COSTS.—A party to an agreement, a contract, 

8 or an easement under a covered program that requests 

9 a modification or exchange under subsection (b) shall be 

10 responsible for all costs of the modification or exchange, 

11 including— 

12 ‘‘(1) an appraisal to determine whether the eco13 nomic value of the land for which an exchange is 

14 made under subsection (b) is equal to or greater 

15 than the value of the land removed from the covered 

16 program; 

17 ‘‘(2) the repayment of the costs paid by the 

18 Secretary for any restoration of land removed from 

19 the covered program; 

20 ‘‘(3) if applicable, a survey of property bound21 aries, including review and approval by the applica22 ble agency; 

23 ‘‘(4) preparation and recording in accordance 

24 with standard real estate practices of any exchange, 

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1 retary, subordination of liens, and amended war2 ranty easement deed recording; and 

3 ‘‘(5) any applicable recording and legal fees.’’. 

Æ 


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