I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2793

To provide for the establishment and funding of a conservation incentives

program to assist farmers and ranchers in developing and implementing

conservation practices to protect soil, water, and related resources.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 15, 1995

Mr. ROSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Agriculture

A BILL

To provide for the establishment and funding of a conservation incentives program to assist farmers and ranchers

in developing and implementing conservation practices

to protect soil, water, and related resources.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Conservation Incentives Program Act of 1995’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

Sec. 3. Establishment and administration of conservation incentive program.
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Sec. 4. Program priorities and coordination.

Sec. 5. Duties of operators.

Sec. 6. Duties of the secretary.

Sec. 7. Eligible lands.

Sec. 8. Funding.

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) CONSERVATION PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘con4 servation practice’’ means a structural practice, veg5 etative practice, or management practice that is used

6 to protect soil, water, and related resources and is

7 tailored to local resource conditions.

8 (2) STRUCTURAL PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘struc9 tural practice’’ means a practice or measure that is

10 constructed, such as a waste treatment lagoon,

11 waste storage structure, terrace, grassed waterway,

12 and such other structures as the Secretary considers

13 appropriate.

14 (3) VEGETATIVE PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘vege15 tative practice’’ means a practice or measure that

16 uses vegetation to protect soil, water, and related re17 sources, such as the use of crop rotation, cover

18 crops, wildlife plantings, and such other practices as

19 the Secretary considers appropriate.

20 (4) MANAGEMENT PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘man21 agement practice’’ means a practice or measure that

22 is used to manage crops, livestock, nutrients, or pes-
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1 ticides, and such other practices as the Secretary

2 considers appropriate.

3 (5) PROGRAM PLAN.—The term ‘‘program

4 plan’’ means a plan that includes an evaluation of

5 the farm or ranch resources, a record of resource

6 management decision made by the farmer or ranch7 er, a schedule for implementing the plan compo8 nents, a list of conservation practices eligible for

9 cost-share and incentives, and an estimated total

10 cost of the plan.

11 (6) LARGE CONFINED LIVESTOCK OPER12 ATIONS.—The term ‘‘large confined livestock oper13 ation’’ means a farm or ranch that—

14 (A) is a confined animal feeding operation;

15 and

16 (B) has more than—

17 (i) 700 mature dairy cattle;

18 (ii) 1,000 beef cattle;

19 (iii) 100,000 laying hens or broilers;

20 (iv) 55,000 turkeys;

21 (v) 2,500 swine; or

22 (vi) 10,000 sheep or lambs.

23 (7) OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘operator’’ means a

24 person who is engaged in crop or livestock produc25 tion as defined by the Secretary.
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1 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of Agriculture.

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF CON4 SERVATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—During the fiscal years 1996

6 through 2005, the Secretary shall carry out a conservation

7 incentive program under this Act to provide technical as8 sistance, cost-sharing payments, and incentive payments

9 to operators who enter into contracts with the Secretary

10 to develop and implement conservation practices.

11 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of the conservation

12 incentive program—

13 (1) to carry out a conservation program that

14 uses incentives and technical assistance to solve lo15 cally identified resource problems from agricultural

16 activities and that provides—

17 (A) flexible technical and financial assist18 ance to operators that face the most serious

19 threats to soil, water, and related resources, in20 cluding grazing lands, wetlands, and wildlife

21 habitat;

22 (B) assistance to operators in complying

23 with Federal and State environmental laws, and

24 encourages long term agricultural sustain25 ability;
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1 (C) assistance to operators in making ben2 eficial, cost-effective changes to cropping sys3 tems, grazing management, manure manage4 ment, nutrient, pest, or irrigation management,

5 land uses, or other measures needed to conserve

6 and improve soil, water, and related natural re7 sources; and

8 (D) simplification of the conservation plan9 ning process to reduce administrative burdens

10 on operators.

11 (2) to complement other Federal and State pro12 grams to provide—

13 (A) optimum and effective use of available

14 Federal and State programs at the local level

15 where resource problems exist;

16 (B) coordination of the Federal and State

17 programs through the State technical commit18 tees established under section 1261 of the Food

19 Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3861); and

20 (C) development of a performance meas21 urement process for each local resource problem

22 area that reflects progress in program imple23 mentation and resolution of the resource prob24 lem.

25 (c) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—
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1 (1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary

2 shall use conservation incentive program funds to

3 provide operators with technical assistance to de4 velop a program plan and design program plan com5 ponents. An operator who develops and implements

6 a program plan approved by the Natural Resources

7 Conservation Service and the local conservation dis8 trict shall be eligible for additional technical assist9 ance from conservation incentive program funds, in10 cluding assistance in laying out the program plan

11 components on the farm or ranch, training on oper12 ation and maintenance of the plan components, and

13 assistance in evaluating program plan performance.

14 (2) COST-SHARE.—Structural practices and

15 vegetative practices shall be eligible for cost-share

16 payments or technical assistance, or both, as deter17 mined by the Secretary.

18 (3) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Management prac19 tices shall be eligible for incentive payments or tech20 nical assistance, or both, as determined by the Sec21 retary.

22 (d) CONTRACTS.—

23 (1) TERM AND CONDITIONS.—A contract be24 tween an operator and the Secretary under the con25 servation incentives program may—
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1 (A) apply to 1 or more conservation prac2 tices;

3 (B) have a term of not more than 10

4 years, as determined appropriate by the Sec5 retary, depending on the conservation practice

6 or practices covered by the contract; and

7 (C) provide cost-share and incentive pay8 ments.

9 (2) CONCURRENCE OF OWNER.—If the operator

10 is a tenant, the operator shall obtain the concur11 rence of the owner of the land before the conserva12 tion incentive program contract is accepted by the

13 Secretary.

14 (e) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—

15 (1) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—

16 The total amount of cost-share and incentive pay17 ments paid to a person under the conservation in18 centives program may not exceed—

19 (A) $10,000 for any fiscal year for one

20 year contract; or

21 (B) $75,000 for any multiyear contract.

22 (2) PAYMENT INCREMENTS.—The Secretary

23 shall make payments for multiyear contracts in an24 nual increments. The entire contract obligation may

25 be paid in one year when the operator is required to
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1 make a major initial investment based on the con2 tract, as determined by the Secretary.

3 (3) FEDERAL SHARE OF COST-SHARE PAY4 MENTS.—The Federal share of cost-share payments

5 to an operator proposing to implement 1 or more

6 structural or vegetative practices, or both, as part of

7 an approved program plan shall not receive more

8 than 75 percent of the projected cost of the practice,

9 as determined by the Secretary.

10 (4) SPECIAL RULE FOR LIVESTOCK OPER11 ATIONS.—An operator of a large confined livestock

12 operation shall not be eligible for cost-sharing on

13 structural and vegetative practices to construct an

14 animal waste management facility, but shall be eligi15 ble for incentive payments and technical assistance.

16 An operator of a confined livestock operation, re17 gardless of size, that has been in operation for less

18 than 5 years shall not be eligible for cost-share on

19 structural and vegetative practices to construct an

20 animal waste management facility, but shall be eligi21 ble of technical assistance.

22 (5) FEDERAL SHARE OF INCENTIVE PAY23 MENTS.—The Secretary shall make incentive pay24 ments in an amount and at a rate determined by the

25 Secretary to be necessary to encourage an operator
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1 to perform 1 or more management practices, when

2 necessary to attain the purposes of the conservation

3 incentives program and in the public interest as de4 termined by the Secretary.

5 (6) FUNDING FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—

6 The Secretary shall allocate funding for the provi7 sion of technical assistance according to the purpose

8 and projected cost for which the technical assistance

9 is provided in a fiscal year. The receipt of technical

10 assistance under the conservation incentives program

11 shall not affect the eligibility of the operator to re12 ceive technical assistance under other authorities of

13 law available to the Secretary.

14 (f) MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION OF CON15 TRACTS.—

16 (1) VOLUNTARY MODIFICATION OR TERMI17 NATION.—The Secretary may modify or terminate a

18 contract entered into with an operator under the

19 conservation incentives program if—

20 (A) the operator agrees to the modification

21 or termination; and

22 (B) the Secretary determines that the

23 modification or termination is in the public in24 terest.
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1 (2) INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION.—The Sec2 retary may terminate a contract under the conserva3 tion incentives program if the Secretary determines

4 that the operator violated the contract.

5 (g) NON-FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary

6 may request the services of a State water quality agency,

7 State fish and wildlife agency, State forestry agency, or

8 any other governmental or private resource considered ap9 propriate to assist in providing the technical assistance

10 necessary for the development and implementation of a

11 conservation practice.

12 (h) REGULATIONS.—Within 180 days after the date

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue reg14 ulations to administrator of the conservation incentive pro15 gram.

16 SEC. 4. PROGRAM PRIORITIES AND COORDINATION.

17 (a) PRIORITIES.—The Secretary shall provide tech18 nical assistance, cost-share payments, and incentive pay19 ments to operators in a region, watershed, or conservation

20 priority area under the conservation incentives program

21 based on the significance of the soil, water, and related

22 natural resource problems in the region, watershed, or

23 area.

24 (b) COORDINATION OF PRIORITIES.—The Secretary

25 shall coordinate the establishment of priorities within a
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1 State or multiple States for large interstate regions with

2 other Federal and State programs through the State tech3 nical Committee established under section 1261 of the

4 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3861) to optimize

5 program effectiveness and maximize environmental bene6 fits for per dollar of expenditures.

7 (c) PRIORITY CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall estab8 lish national criteria for selecting priority areas.

9 (d) STATE AND LOCAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Sec10 retary shall accord a higher priority to operations located

11 within watersheds, regions, or conservation priority areas

12 in which State or local governments have provided or will

13 provide, financial or technical assistance to the operators

14 for the same conservation or environmental purposes.

15 (e) PRIORITY LANDS.—The Secretary shall accord a

16 higher priority to installing conservation practices on

17 lands on which agricultural production has been deter18 mined to contribute to, or create, the potential for failure

19 to meet applicable water quality standards or other envi20 ronmental objectives of Federal and State law.

21 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF OPERATORS.

22 To receive technical assistance, cost-sharing pay23 ments, or incentives payments under the conservation in24 centives program, an operator shall agree—
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1 (1) to implement a program plan that describes

2 conservation and environmental goals to be achieved

3 through one or more conservation practices approved

4 by the Secretary;

5 (2) not to conduct any practices on the farm or

6 ranch that would tend to defeat the purpose of the

7 conservation incentives program;

8 (3) on the violation of a term or condition of

9 the contract at any time the operator has control of

10 the land, to refund any cost-sharing or incentive

11 payment received with interest, and forfeit any fu12 ture payments under the conservation incentives pro13 gram, as determined by the Secretary;

14 (4) on the transfer of the right and interest of

15 the operator in land subject to the contract, unless

16 the transferee of the right and interest agrees with

17 the Secretary to assume all obligations of the con18 tract, to refund all cost-sharing payments and incen19 tive payments received under the conservation incen20 tives program, as determined by the Secretary;

21 (5) to supply information as required by the

22 Secretary to determine compliance with the program

23 plan and requirements of the conservation incentives

24 program; and
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1 (6) to comply with such additional provisions as

2 the Secretary determines are necessary to carry out

3 the conservation incentives program.

4 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.

5 To the extent appropriate, the Secretary shall assist

6 an operator in achieving the conservation and environ7 mental goals of a program plan—

8 (1) by providing an eligibility assessment of the

9 farming or ranching operation of the operator as a

10 basis for developing the program plan;

11 (2) by providing technical assistance in develop12 ing and implementing the program plan;

13 (3) by providing technical assistance, cost-shar14 ing payments, or incentive payments for developing

15 and implementing conservation practices as provided

16 in section 3;

17 (4) providing the operator with information,

18 education, and training to aid in implementation of

19 the program plan; and

20 (5) encouraging the operator to obtain technical

21 assistance, cost-sharing payments, or grants from

22 other Federal, State, local, or private sources.

23 SEC. 7. ELIGIBLE LANDS.

24 Agricultural land on which one or more conservation

25 practice shall be eligible for technical assistance, cost-shar-
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1 ing payments, or incentive payments under the conserva2 tion incentives program include—

3 (1) agricultural land (including cropland, range4 land, pasture, and other land on which crops or live5 stock are produced) that the Secretary determines

6 poses a serious threat to soil, water, or related re7 sources by reason of the soil types, terrain, climatic,

8 soil, topographic, flood, or shine characteristics, or

9 other factors or natural hazards;

10 (2) an area that is considered to be critical ag11 ricultural land on which either crop or livestock pro12 duction is carried out, as identified in a plan submit13 ted by the State under section 319 of the Federal

14 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1329) as

15 having priority problems that result from an agricul16 tural nonpoint source of pollution;

17 (3) an area recommended by the State lead

18 agency for protection of soil, water, and related re19 sources ad designated by a Governor of a State; and

20 (4) land that is not located within a designated

21 or approve area, but that if permitted to continue to

22 be operated under existing management practices,

23 would defeat the purpose of the conservation incen24 tives program, as determined by the Secretary.
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1 SEC. 8. FUNDING.

2 (a) MANDATORY EXPENSES.—Secretary shall use the

3 funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation for each of

4 the fiscal years 1996 through 2005 to carry out the con5 servation incentive program, including cost-sharing pay6 ments, incentives payments, and technical assistance

7 costs.

8 (b) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.—Funding for the con9 servation incentives program from the Commodity Credit

10 Corporation shall be limited to $100,000,000 for fiscal

11 year 1996 and $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1997

12 through 2005.

13 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF PAYMENTS.—

14 (1) LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION.—Not less than

15 50 percent of the funding for technical assistance,

16 cost-sharing payments, and incentive payments

17 under the conservation incentive program shall be

18 for conservation practices relating to livestock pro19 duction.

20 (2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may allocate

21 less than 50 percent of the total program funding

22 level for a fiscal year for conservation practices re23 lating to livestock production, but in no case less

24 than 35 percent, if the Secretary determines that

25 the 50 percent funding level is not reasonable based
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1 on need and demand as expressed by conservation

2 incentives program participants.

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