I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1440

To amend the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act to provide

for comprehensive site-specific resource management plans on land used

for the production of agricultural commodities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 24, 1993

Mr. ENGLISH of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. DE LA GARZA, Mr. COMBEST,

Mr. PENNY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. MINGE, and Mr. BARLOW) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment

Act to provide for comprehensive site-specific resource

management plans on land used for the production of

agricultural commodities, 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 ‘‘Site-Specific Agricul5 tural Resource Management Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

7 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in

8 this Act a section or other provision is amended, repealed,
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1 or referenced, such amendment, repeal, or reference shall

2 be considered to be made to that section or other provision

3 of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16

4 U.S.C. 590a et seq.).

5 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

7 (1) agricultural land users are required to de8 velop and implement an increasing number of plans

9 that have conservation and environmental benefits as

10 a primary purpose;

11 (2) within the Department of Agriculture, there

12 are as many as fifteen programs that provide for the

13 development of such plans, and currently some agri14 cultural land users may have six different conserva15 tion and environmentally-related plans in effect with

16 regard to their land;

17 (3) future legislation may mandate additional

18 requirements for agricultural land users;

19 (4) most plans are single purpose in nature,

20 and requirements imposed by one plan may conflict

21 with the purposes, objectives, or requirements of

22 another plan;

23 (5) the complexity of the planning process is

24 such that it is difficult for many agricultural land
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1 users to coordinate the various requirements into

2 their individual farming or ranching operations;

3 (6) there is a need to approach conservation

4 and environmental problems on agricultural land on

5 a more rational basis in order to promote practical

6 and economically feasible site-specific resource meas7 ures that take into consideration the economic vital8 ity of agricultural land units involved; and

9 (7) to ensure consistency, all pertinent con10 servation and environmental requirements on agri11 cultural land should be coordinated, through a single

12 agency of the Government, into one integrated re13 source management plan for the land unit.

14 SEC. 4. PURPOSE.

15 (a) It is the purpose of this Act to—

16 (1) assist agricultural land users in meeting

17 conservation and environmental requirements on

18 such lands, while maintaining viable farming or

19 ranching operations;

20 (2) provide that a single Federal agency, the

21 Soil Conservation Service, be responsible for working

22 with other governmental agencies and agricultural

23 land users in the development and implementation of

24 integrated resource management plans for agricul25 tural lands;
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1 (3) provide a more efficient and effective meth2 od to coordinate Federal, State, and local conserva3 tion and environmental requirements with respect to

4 individual land units;

5 (4) help ensure that a site-specific approach en6 compassing all resources will be used in an inter7 related manner when developing and implementing

8 plans on agricultural land for conservation and envi9 ronmental purposes; and

10 (5) help ensure that a balance is maintained

11 among productivity, efficient management of re12 sources, and environmental quality with respect to

13 the agricultural land unit.

14 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

15 The Act is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 18. COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

18 PLANNING.

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

20 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL LAND.—The term ‘agricul21 tural land’ means crop land, pastureland, native pas22 ture, rangeland, orchards, vineyards, and any other

23 land used to produce or support the production of

24 an annual or perennial crop of a commodity, aqua25 culture product, nursery product, or livestock. The
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1 term ‘agricultural land’ shall not include Federal

2 lands subject to the Forest and Rangeland Renew3 able Resources Planning Act of 1974 or the Na4 tional Forest Management Act of 1976.

5 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURAL LAND USER.—The term

6 ‘agricultural land user’ means any landowner, lease7 holder, tenant, sharecropper, or other person re8 quired to meet conservation and environmental re9 quirements on agricultural land.

10 ‘‘(3) STATE.—Notwithstanding section 17(a),

11 the term ‘State’ means any State of the United

12 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

13 of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern

14 Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Amer15 ican Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific

16 Islands.

17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Within one hundred and

18 eighty days of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Ag19 riculture, acting through the Soil Conservation Service,

20 shall issue regulations establishing a program to develop

21 site-specific integrated resource management plans for ag22 ricultural land.

23 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding

24 any other provision of other law—
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1 ‘‘(1) the regulations issued under this section

2 shall establish procedures under which all plans re3 quired by the agencies of the Department of Agri4 culture pursuant to any provision of law or regula5 tion with respect to soil, water, and other resource

6 conservation and environmental concerns on agricul7 tural land are to be integrated into a single com8 prehensive site-specific plan for the land involved;

9 ‘‘(2) the regulations shall provide that, with re10 spect to any such single comprehensive site-specific

11 plan developed under paragraph (1), the Soil Con12 servation Service shall be responsible for, among

13 other things, determining compliance with the terms

14 of the plan and any permit, exemption, and waiver

15 issued in connection therewith;

16 ‘‘(3) the procedures shall ensure that, on or

17 after January 1, 1996, a single comprehensive site18 specific plan shall be in place with respect to any ag19 ricultural land for which more than one plan is re20 quired by agencies of the Department of Agriculture;

21 ‘‘(4) during the period of January 1, 1994,

22 through December 31, 1994, the Soil Conservation

23 Service shall give priority to developing (A) single

24 comprehensive plans that are requested by agricul25 tural land users and (B) single comprehensive plans
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1 that are targeted to specific watersheds or other

2 areas or regions determined by the Soil Conservation

3 Service to be environmentally sensitive, taking into

4 consideration the lands described in section 1238C

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

6 3838C);

7 ‘‘(5) the regulations shall provide that all re8 quests for cost-sharing or other assistance available

9 under any program or activity of the Department of

10 Agriculture with respect to a conservation practice

11 on agricultural land for which a single comprehen12 sive plan is in effect, and all requests for permits,

13 exemptions, or waivers under such programs or ac14 tivities with respect to such land, shall be made

15 through and approved by the Soil Conservation Serv16 ice;

17 ‘‘(6)(A) the head of each agency or entity of the

18 Government, other than the agencies of the Depart19 ment of Agriculture, may enter into agreements with

20 the Secretary of Agriculture under which any con21 servation and environmental requirements with re22 spect to agricultural land under any program or ac23 tivity of such agency will be incorporated into the

24 single comprehensive plan developed by the Soil Con25 servation Service for the land involved;
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1 ‘‘(B) agreements entered into under subpara2 graph (A) may provide for the manner in which

3 cost-share or other assistance available from the

4 other agency with respect to a conservation practice

5 on agricultural land for which a single comprehen6 sive plan has been developed will be coordinated with

7 any cost-share or other assistance available from the

8 Department of Agriculture;

9 ‘‘(C) agreements entered into under subpara10 graph (A) may provide for the delegation to the Soil

11 Conservation Service of the responsibility for (i) re12 ceiving, processing, and approving requests for cost13 sharing or other assistance, permits, exemptions, or

14 waivers under such program or activity and (ii) per15 forming any other responsibilities and functions in

16 connection with such program or activity;

17 ‘‘(D) agreements entered into under subpara18 graph (A) shall provide for the reimbursement to the

19 Secretary of Agriculture, on an annual basis, of such

20 sums as are necessary to cover the costs of the Soil

21 Conservation Service of performing any function of

22 activity delegated to it under the agreement, and

23 any funds reimbursed under this section shall re24 main available to the Soil Conservation Service until

25 expended.
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1 ‘‘(7) the Secretary of Agriculture may enter

2 into agreements with any State, including any agen3 cy or subdivision thereof, under which (A) any con4 servation and environmental requirements with re5 spect to agricultural land under any program or ac6 tivity of the State will be incorporated into the single

7 comprehensive plan developed by the Soil Conserva8 tion Service for the land involved, and (B) any cost9 sharing or other assistance available from the State

10 with respect to any practice on agricultural land for

11 which a single comprehensive plan has been devel12 oped will be coordinated with any Federal cost-share

13 or other assistance to be provided.

14 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA FOR COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE

15 MANAGEMENT PLANS.—The Secretary of Agriculture,

16 acting through the Soil Conservation Service, shall estab17 lish criteria and standards to be used in the development

18 of comprehensive site-specific resource management plans

19 for agricultural land. In establishing such criteria and

20 standards, the Soil Conservation Service shall consult with

21 Federal and State agencies, including the technical com22 mittee in each State established under section 1261 of the

23 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3861), that have

24 expertise in, or whose programs and activities involve, con-
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1 servation and environmental measures on agricultural

2 lands.

3 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUAL PLANS.—

4 Each individual comprehensive resource management plan

5 shall be developed using the criteria and standards estab6 lished under subsection (d) and shall, among other

7 things—

8 ‘‘(1) be specifically designed for the land unit,

9 and each subpart thereof, described in the plan;

10 ‘‘(2) provide, to the extent possible, various

11 management alternatives which the agricultural land

12 user may use to meet the conservation and environ13 mental concerns with respect to the land unit in14 volved;

15 ‘‘(3) encompass soil, water, plant, and animal

16 resources;

17 ‘‘(4) take into consideration the ability of agri18 cultural land users to manage natural resources for

19 meeting agricultural production, conservation, envi20 ronmental, and quality of life objectives;

21 ‘‘(5) provide for systems that promote the effi22 cient long-term production of food and fiber and the

23 maintenance and enhancement of natural resources;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(6) take into consideration the economic, so2 cial, and environmental costs and benefits of the var3 ious management alternatives described.

4 ‘‘(f) REVISION OF PLANS.—The Soil Conservation

5 Service shall revise any plan—

6 ‘‘(1) upon request of the agricultural land user

7 involved, to reflect anticipated changes in the oper8 ation of the unit, providing that the conservation

9 and environmental requirements with respect to the

10 unit will continue to be met if the changes are imple11 mented; and

12 ‘‘(2) to reflect any changes in the conservation

13 and environmental requirements with respect to the

14 land unit.

15 ‘‘(g) PROMPT COMPLETION AND NOTIFICATION.—

16 Any revision of a plan under subsection (f) shall be com17 pleted and provided to the land user as promptly as pos18 sible after the request or notification of change in require19 ments.

20 ‘‘(h) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—Any agricultural land

21 user who, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture,

22 has properly applied, or who is properly implementing, a

23 comprehensive resource management plan developed for

24 an agricultural land unit under this section shall be

25 deemed to be in compliance with all conservation and envi-
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1 ronmental requirements covered by the plan with respect

2 to such land unit.’’.

3 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

5 be effective on the date of enactment.

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