II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2139 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to address critical conservation 

conditions under the regional conservation partnership program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

MANCHIN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. CARPER, Mr. COONS, and 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND) 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 address critical 

conservation conditions under the regional conservation 

partnership program, 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 ‘‘Chesapeake Bay Farm 

5 Bill Enhancements Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 Section 1271(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

3 (16 U.S.C. 3871(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(4) To encourage alignment of partnership 

6 projects with other Federal, State, and local agen7 cies and programs addressing similar natural re8 source concerns in a coordinated manner.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 Section 1271A(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

11 (16 U.S.C. 3871a(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(E) The conservation reserve program es14 tablished under subchapter B of chapter 1 of 

15 subtitle D. 

16 ‘‘(F) The Watershed Protection and Flood 

17 Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), other 

18 than section 14 of that Act (16 U.S.C. 1012).’’. 

19 SEC. 4. REGIONAL CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS. 

20 Section 1271B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

21 U.S.C. 3871b) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM LENGTH.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the term of a partnership agreement shall 

3 not be longer than 5 years. 

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) CONCURRENT PROGRAM DEAD6 LINE.—Subject to approval by the Secretary, 

7 the term of a partnership agreement may be 

8 longer than 5 years if the longer period is con9 current with a deadline established under a 

10 State or Federal program that relates specifi11 cally to the project. 

12 ‘‘(B) 1-TIME EXTENSION.—The Secretary 

13 may extend a partnership agreement 1 time for 

14 a period that is not longer than 12 months if 

15 the Secretary determines that the extension is 

16 necessary to meet the objectives of the pro17 gram.’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘An eligible’’ and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible’’; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) FORM.—A contribution of an eligible 

24 partner under this paragraph may be in the 

25 form of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) direct funding; 

2 ‘‘(ii) in-kind support; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) a combination of direct funding 

4 and in-kind support. 

5 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT.—Any amounts ex6 pended before the effective date of a partner7 ship agreement under this section by an eligible 

8 partner for staff salaries or development of the 

9 partnership agreement shall be considered to be 

10 a part of the contribution of the eligible partner 

11 under this paragraph.’’; and 

12 (3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(5) FUNDING RENEWALS.—If an eligible part15 ner demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary 

16 that the eligible partner has made progress in ad17 dressing one or more natural resource concerns by 

18 not later than the date that is 1 fiscal year before 

19 the date on which the partnership agreement ex20 pires, the eligible partner may submit to the Sec21 retary an application for a renewal of the partner22 ship agreement, including a renewal of funding, 

23 through an expedited application process— 

24 ‘‘(A) to continue to implement the partner25 ship agreement; 


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1 ‘‘(B) to expand the scope of the partner2 ship agreement; 

3 ‘‘(C) to enroll additional eligible producers; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(D) to carry out other conservation activi6 ties relating to the project, including monitoring 

7 and reporting on outcomes, as mutually agreed 

8 by the Secretary and the eligible partner. 

9 ‘‘(6) REVIEW.—To the extent practicable, after 

10 receipt of an application under this subsection, the 

11 Secretary shall provide to each applicant information 

12 and feedback (including written information and 

13 feedback, as the Secretary determines to be appro14 priate) throughout the annual program application 

15 process for any improvements that could be made to 

16 the application.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS THROUGH GRANT 

18 AGREEMENTS. 

19 Section 1271C(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

20 (16 U.S.C. 3871c(b)) is amended by striking paragraph 

21 (2) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(2) FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS THROUGH

23 GRANT AGREEMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A partnership agree25 ment may be a grant agreement entered into 


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1 with an eligible partner in accordance with this 

2 paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Under a grant 

4 agreement under subparagraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) using amounts made available to 

6 carry out this subtitle, the Secretary shall 

7 provide to the eligible partner a grant; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the eligible partner shall carry 

9 out eligible activities on eligible land (in10 cluding by contracting with one or more 

11 producers, if the eligible partner deter12 mines the contracting to be appropriate), 

13 on the condition that the eligible activities 

14 directly or indirectly benefit agricultural 

15 producers (including forestry producers), 

16 to address natural resource concerns on a 

17 regional or watershed scale, such as— 

18 ‘‘(I) infrastructure investments 

19 relating to agricultural or nonindus20 trial private forest production that 

21 would benefit multiple producers, such 

22 as a multiproducer irrigation water 

23 delivery system; 

24 ‘‘(II) projects addressing water 

25 quality or quantity concerns in coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:29 Nov 21, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2139.IS S2139

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1 nation with producers, including the 

2 development and implementation of 

3 watershed plans; 

4 ‘‘(III) projects that use innova5 tive approaches to leveraging the Fed6 eral investment in conservation with 

7 private financial mechanisms, in con8 junction with agricultural production 

9 or forest resource management, such 

10 as— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the provision of per12 formance-based payments to pro13 ducers; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) support for an envi15 ronmental market; 

16 ‘‘(IV) projects that facilitate pilot 

17 testing of new conservation practices, 

18 technologies, or activities; 

19 ‘‘(V) projects that promote the 

20 long-term viability and sustainability 

21 of agricultural land through innova22 tive agricultural land protection strat23 egies and mechanisms, including 

24 projects that support the transfer of 

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1 ers, veteran farmers and ranchers, so2 cially disadvantaged farmers and 

3 ranchers, and limited resource farm4 ers and ranchers, as determined by 

5 the Secretary; and 

6 ‘‘(VI) other projects for which 

7 the Secretary determines that the 

8 goals and objectives of the program 

9 would be easier to achieve through the 

10 grant agreement; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary may provide tech12 nical and administrative assistance, as mu13 tually agreed by the parties. 

14 ‘‘(C) NONAPPLICABILITY OF ADJUSTED

15 GROSS INCOME LIMITATION.—The adjusted 

16 gross income limitation described in section 

17 1001D(b)(1) shall not apply to the receipt by 

18 an eligible partner of a grant under this para19 graph. 

20 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may 

21 not use more than 30 percent of funding made 

22 available to carry out the program for grant 

23 agreements. 


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1 ‘‘(E) REPORTS.—An eligible partner that 

2 enters into a grant agreement under this para3 graph shall submit to the Secretary— 

4 ‘‘(i) any information that the Sec5 retary requires to prepare the report under 

6 section 1271E(b); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) an annual report that describes 

8 the status of the project carried out by the 

9 eligible partner, including a description 

10 of— 

11 ‘‘(I) the use of the grant funds; 

12 ‘‘(II) any subcontracts awarded 

13 using grant funds; 

14 ‘‘(III) the producers receiving 

15 funding using the grant funds; 

16 ‘‘(IV)(aa) the progress made by 

17 the project in addressing any natural 

18 resource concerns, including in a 

19 quantified form; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) as appropriate, other envi21 ronmental, economic, or social out22 comes of the project; and 

23 ‘‘(V) any other reporting data the 

24 Secretary determines are necessary to 


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1 ensure compliance with the program 

2 rules.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. FUNDING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1271D of the Food Secu5 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871d) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’ and in8 serting ‘‘$300,000,000’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘for each of fiscal years 

10 2014 through 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘for each 

11 fiscal year’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (c)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for each 

14 of fiscal years 2014 through 2018’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘for each fiscal year’’; and 

16 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert17 ing the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Any funds 

19 or acres reserved under paragraph (1) shall remain 

20 available for obligation only for the purposes of car21 rying out the program until expended. 

22 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—To the max23 imum extent practicable, of projects receiving funds 

24 or acres reserved under paragraph (1) from a cov25 ered program, the percentage of projects that shall 


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1 have purposes similar to the purposes of the applica2 ble covered program from which funds or acres were 

3 reserved shall be approximately equal to the percent4 age of funds or acres reserved from the applicable 

5 covered program.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (d)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘25 per8 cent of the funds and acres to projects based on 

9 a State competitive process administered by the 

10 State Conservationist, with the advice of the 

11 State technical committee’’ and inserting the 

12 following: ‘‘40 percent of the funds and acres to 

13 projects based on a State or multistate competi14 tive process administered, as applicable, by the 

15 State Conservationist or jointly by the State 

16 Conservationists of each State participating in 

17 the multistate process, with the advice of the 

18 applicable State technical committees’’; 

19 (B) by striking paragraph (2); 

20 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

21 paragraph (2); and 

22 (D) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), 

23 by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘60 per24 cent’’; 

25 (4) in subsection (e)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘None of the funds’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para4 graph (2), none of the funds’’; and 

5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(2) PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND OUT7 REACH.—Under a partnership agreement, the Sec8 retary may advance reasonable amounts of funding 

9 for technical assistance to eligible partners to con10 duct project development and outreach activities in 

11 a project area (including activities conducted before 

12 the effective date of the partnership agreement), in13 cluding— 

14 ‘‘(A) providing outreach and education to 

15 producers for potential participation in the 

16 project; 

17 ‘‘(B) the development of a watershed or 

18 habitat plan; and 

19 ‘‘(C) establishing baseline metrics to sup20 port the development of the assessment re21 quired under section 1271B(c)(1)(E).’’; and 

22 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the time of project se25 lection, the Secretary shall identify and make pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:29 Nov 21, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2139.IS S2139

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1 lically available the amount that the Secretary shall 

2 use to provide technical assistance under the terms 

3 of the partnership agreement. 

4 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall limit 

5 costs of the Secretary for technical assistance to 

6 costs specific and necessary to carry out the objec7 tives of the partnership agreement. 

8 ‘‘(3) THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS.—The Secretary 

9 shall develop and implement strategies to encourage 

10 third-party technical service providers to provide 

11 technical assistance to eligible partners pursuant to 

12 a partnership agreement.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1271F(a) 

14 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3871f(a)) 

15 is amended by striking ‘‘1271D(d)(3)’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘1271D(d)(2)’’. 

17 SEC. 7. CRITICAL CONSERVATION AREAS. 

18 Section 1271F of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

19 U.S.C. 3871f) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsections (a) (as amend21 ed by section 6(b)), (b), and (c) as subsections (b), 

22 (c), and (d), respectively; 

23 (2) by inserting before subsection (b) (as so re24 designated) the following: 

25 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) CRITICAL CONSERVATION AREA.—The 

2 term ‘critical conservation area’ means a geo3 graphical area that contains a critical conservation 

4 condition that can be addressed through one or more 

5 covered programs. 

6 ‘‘(2) CRITICAL CONSERVATION CONDITION.— 

7 The term ‘critical conservation condition’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a condition of land that would benefit 

9 from water quality improvement, including 

10 through reducing erosion, promoting sediment 

11 control, and addressing nutrient management 

12 activities affecting large bodies of water of re13 gional, national, or international significance; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) a condition of land that would benefit 

16 from water quantity improvement, including im17 provement relating to— 

18 ‘‘(i) groundwater, surface water, aqui19 fer, or other water sources; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) water retention and flood preven21 tion.’’; 

22 (3) in subsection (b) (as so redesignated), by 

23 inserting ‘‘that address each critical conservation 

24 condition for which the critical conservation area is 

25 designated’’ before the period at the end; 


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1 (4) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

3 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re4 spectively; 

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

6 so redesignated) the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In designating a critical 

8 conservation area under this section, the Secretary 

9 shall identify one or more critical conservation condi10 tions that the critical conservation area contains, in11 cluding— 

12 ‘‘(A) the geographical area of land that 

13 contains the critical conservation condition; and 

14 ‘‘(B) conservation goals and outcomes suf15 ficient to demonstrate that progress is being 

16 made to address the critical conservation condi17 tions.’’; 

18 (C) in paragraph (2) (as so redesig19 nated)— 

20 (i) by striking subparagraphs (C) and 

21 (D) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) contains a critical conservation condi23 tion; or’’; and 

24 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

25 (E) as subparagraph (D); and 


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1 (D) by striking paragraph (3) (as so redes2 ignated) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND WITHDRAWAL.—The Sec4 retary may— 

5 ‘‘(A) review designations of critical con6 servation areas under this section not more 

7 than once every 5 years; and 

8 ‘‘(B) withdraw designation of a critical 

9 conservation area only if the Secretary deter10 mines that the area is no longer a critical con11 servation area.’’; 

12 (5) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated)— 

13 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

14 paragraph (4); 

15 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri18 ority to an application under this section that ad19 dresses a critical conservation condition by— 

20 ‘‘(A)(i) including a diversity of stake21 holders in the project; 

22 ‘‘(ii) building new partnerships at the local, 

23 State, and corporate levels; 

24 ‘‘(iii) leveraging non-Federal financial and 

25 technical resources; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) coordinating with other local, State, 

2 or national efforts; 

3 ‘‘(B) delivering a high percentage of envi4 ronmental benefits to address the conservation 

5 goals and outcomes that shall be achieved for 

6 the Secretary to determine that the land is no 

7 longer a critical conservation area; 

8 ‘‘(C) providing innovative conservation 

9 methods and delivery, including outcome-based 

10 performance measures and methods; or 

11 ‘‘(D) implementing the project consistent 

12 with multi-State watershed restoration plans.’’; 

13 and 

14 (C) in paragraph (4) (as so redesignated), 

15 by striking ‘‘area described in subsection 

16 (b)(1)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘condition described 

17 in subsection (a)(2)(B)’’; and 

18 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—Not later than December 31, 2018, 

20 and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 

21 the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representa22 tives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

23 Forestry of the Senate a report describing the status of 

24 each critical conservation condition for each critical con25 servation area designated under this section, including— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the conditions for which each critical con2 servation area is designated; 

3 ‘‘(2) conservation goals and outcomes sufficient 

4 to demonstrate that progress is being made to ad5 dress the critical conservation conditions; 

6 ‘‘(3) the partnership agreements selected to ad7 dress each conservation goal and outcome; and 

8 ‘‘(4) the extent to which each conservation goal 

9 and outcome is being addressed by the partnership 

10 agreements.’’. 

Æ 


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