I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6877 

To amend section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 to enhance and 

update conservation practice standards, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2023 

Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. NUNN of Iowa) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend section 1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 

to enhance and update conservation practice standards, 

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 ‘‘Streamlining Con5 servation Practice Standards Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DELIVERY OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

7 Section 1242(h) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

8 (16 U.S.C. 3842(h)) is amended— 

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1 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘RE2 VIEW’’ and inserting ‘‘ESTABLISHMENT AND RE3 VIEW’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

5 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

6 as follows: 

7 ‘‘(A) not later than 1 year after the date 

8 of enactment of the Streamlining Conservation 

9 Practice Standards Act, and at least every 5 

10 years thereafter on a rolling basis, complete a 

11 review of each conservation practice standard, 

12 including engineering design specifications;’’; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

17 and 

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

19 ‘‘(E) provide a process for public input on 

20 each conservation practice standard under such 

21 review, including a process for consideration of 

22 State and local input; 

23 ‘‘(F) publicly post a summary of any input 

24 received under subparagraph (E) and any deci25 sions made relating to such input; and 

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1 ‘‘(G) revise any conservation practice 

2 standard based on the results of such review, as 

3 determined appropriate by the Secretary, and 

4 publish any such revised standard.’’; 

5 (3) by amending paragraph (3) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(3) PROCESS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF IN8 TERIM AND NEW CONSERVATION PRACTICE STAND9 ARDS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of the Streamlining 

12 Conservation Practice Standards Act, the Sec13 retary shall develop a streamlined process under 

14 which the Secretary shall establish interim con15 servation practice standards and new conserva16 tion practice standards. 

17 ‘‘(B) DEVELOPMENT.—In developing the 

18 streamlined process under subparagraph (A), 

19 the Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) ensure that the public can engage 

21 with the Department of Agriculture, in22 cluding by recommending interim conserva23 tion practice standards; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) establish— 

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1 ‘‘(I) the types of data, metrics, 

2 and other relevant information that 

3 are necessary for the establishment of 

4 interim conservation practice stand5 ards and new conservation practice 

6 standards; 

7 ‘‘(II) the process by which an in8 terim conservation practice standard 

9 may become a new conservation prac10 tice standard; and 

11 ‘‘(III) specific requirements for 

12 an expedited review of a new con13 servation practice for the purpose of 

14 establishing a new conservation prac15 tice standard for such practice. 

16 ‘‘(C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing 

17 an interim conservation practice standard or a 

18 new conservation practice standard under this 

19 subsection, the Secretary shall consider— 

20 ‘‘(i) input from State technical com21 mittees on recommendations that identify 

22 innovations or advancements in conserva23 tion practices; 

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1 ‘‘(ii) technological advancements, in2 cluding advancements from projects devel3 oped under section 1240H; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) State and local input in the 

5 form of— 

6 ‘‘(I) recommendations for interim 

7 conservation practice standards; and 

8 ‘‘(II) partnership-led proposals 

9 for new and innovative techniques to 

10 facilitate implementing agreements 

11 and grants under this title. 

12 ‘‘(D) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary 

13 shall make available on a public website a de14 tailed description of the process for recom15 mending, reviewing, and establishing interim 

16 conservation practice standards and new con17 servation practice standards under this para18 graph.’’; 

19 (4) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

21 (A)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘Agriculture Improve23 ment Act of 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘Stream24 lining Conservation Practice Standards 

25 Act’’; and 

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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘a report on’’ and in2 serting ‘‘a report detailing’’; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘ad4 ministrative’’ and inserting ‘‘streamlined’’; 

5 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

7 (D) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(D) any other information the Secretary 

11 determines useful to improve such streamlined 

12 process for reviewing and establishing conserva13 tion practice standards.’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use fund16 ing from the annual appropriations for conservation 

17 operations of the Natural Resources Conservation 

18 Service to carry out this subsection.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION. 

20 Section 1241(j)(1)(A) of the Food Security Act of 

21 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841(j)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting 

22 ‘‘, including schedules for revising existing conservation 

23 practice standards and establishing interim conservation 

24 practice standards or new conservation practice standards 

25 under section 1242(h)’’ before the semicolon at the end. 

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1 SEC. 4. CONSERVATION INNOVATION GRANTS AND PAY2 MENTS. 

3 (a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE CON4 SERVATION APPROACHES.—Section 1240H(a)(1) of the 

5 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(a)(1)) 

6 is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Out of the funds made available 

8 to carry out this subchapter, the Secretary may 

9 award competitive grants that are intended to stimu10 late development and evaluation of new and innova11 tive approaches to leveraging the Federal investment 

12 in environmental enhancement and protection, in 

13 conjunction with agricultural production or forest re14 source management, through the program, including 

15 grants for the development and evaluation of new 

16 and innovative technologies that may be incor17 porated into conservation practice standards.’’. 

18 (b) REPORTING AND DATABASE.—Section 

19 1240H(d)(2)(A) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

20 U.S.C. 3839aa–8(d)(2)(A)) is amended— 

21 (1) in clause (i)— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including both manage23 ment and structural conservation practices,’’ 

24 after ‘‘conservation practices’’; and 

25 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

26 (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 

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1 (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 

2 ‘‘(ii) data that may be used to evalu3 ate new and emerging technologies and 

4 recommendations for State and regional 

5 applications of such new and emerging 

6 technologies; and’’; and 

7 (4) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by insert8 ing ‘‘for consideration under the streamlined process 

9 developed under section 1242(h)(3)’’ before the pe10 riod at the end. 

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