I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2088 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cost-share payments in 

support of on-farm water conservation projects to enhance regional water 

availability and quality. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2007 

Mr. EVERETT (for himself, Mr. BONNER, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. 

ADERHOLT, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cost-share 

payments in support of on-farm water conservation 

projects to enhance regional water availability and quality. 

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

3 SECTION 1. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER EN4 HANCEMENT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) AVAILABILITY OF COST-SHARE PAYMENTS.—The 

6 Secretary of Agriculture shall assist regional efforts to en7 hance regional water availability and quality for farm op8 erations and other uses by providing cost-share payments 


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1 to agricultural producers to carry out water conservation 

2 projects on farms involving the construction, improvement, 

3 or maintenance of irrigation ponds and the implementa4 tion of other measures that improve groundwater and sur5 face water conservation, as determined by the Secretary, 

6 in the agricultural operations of producers. 

7 (b) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.— 

8 (1) PRIORITY FOR IRRIGATION COST-EFFEC9 TIVENESS.—If the Secretary determines that two or 

10 more applications for cost-share assistance for 

11 projects are comparable in achieving the conserva12 tion purposes of this section, the Secretary shall as13 sign a higher priority to those projects having the 

14 lowest total cost to irrigate each acre of land in15 volved in the project. 

16 (2) PRIORITY FOR CONTROL OF SURFACE17 WATER RUNOFF.—The Secretary shall assign a 

18 higher priority to projects that would capture sur19 face-water runoff on farms through the construction, 

20 improvement, or maintenance of irrigation ponds. 

21 However, the Secretary may not preclude a project 

22 simply because the project involves an irrigation 

23 pond filled from a different water source. 

24 (3) APPROVAL.—The actual site of a project for 

25 which cost-share assistance will be provided under 


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1 this section is subject to the approval of the Sec2 retary, acting through the Natural Resources Con3 servation Service. 

4 (c) RELATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCEN5 TIVES PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall administer the 

6 water enhancement program as part of the environmental 

7 quality incentives program. Subject to subsection (b)(1), 

8 all of the criteria of the environmental quality incentives 

9 program shall be used in evaluating applications for cost10 share payments under this section, including the environ11 mental benefits index criteria. 

12 (d) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.— 

13 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—Payments made under 

14 this section to carry out a water conservation project 

15 shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of the 

16 project. 

17 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The 

18 limitation on assistance contained in section 1240G 

19 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

20 3839aa–7) shall apply to payments made under this 

21 section, and any payments received by an individual 

22 or entity under this section shall be considered to be 

23 payments received under the environmental quality 

24 incentives program for purposes of such section 

25 1240G. 


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1 (e) CONDITION ON RECEIPT OF ASSISTANCE.—As a 

2 condition on the receipt of assistance under this section, 

3 the producer shall agree to maintain the land to be served 

4 by the project in agricultural production during not less 

5 than the five-year period beginning on the date of the com6 pletion of the project. 

7 (f) EFFECT OF VIOLATION.—If the Secretary deter8 mines, on the record after an opportunity for a hearing, 

9 that a producer has failed to comply with the condition 

10 imposed by subsection (e) or such other terms and condi11 tions as the Secretary may require in connection with the 

12 provision of assistance under this section, the producer 

13 shall repay to the Secretary an amount, to be determined 

14 by the Secretary, not to exceed the total amount of assist15 ance provided for the project. The actual repayment 

16 amount shall be based on the severity and duration of the 

17 violation. 

18 (g) PARTICIPATION IN OTHER CONSERVATION PRO19 GRAMS.—The receipt of assistance under this section does 

20 not preclude participation by the recipient in other con21 servation programs of the Department of Agriculture. 

22 (h) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use the funds of 

23 the Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out this sec24 tion in the amount of $1,000,000,000 during the five-fis25 cal year period beginning on October 1, 2007, and ending 


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1 on September 30, 2012. Such funds are in addition to, 

2 and separate from, funds made available for the environ3 mental quality incentives program. 

Æ 


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