II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 935

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to require the Secretary to establish

a program to promote the development of riparian forest buffers in

conservation priority areas, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 16 (legislative day, JUNE 5), 1995

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, and Mr. ROBB) 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 require the

Secretary to establish a program to promote the development of riparian forest buffers in conservation priority

areas, 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 ‘‘Riparian Forest Pilot

5 Program Establishment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. RIPARIAN FOREST PILOT PROGRAM.

7 Section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

8 U.S.C. 3831) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub2 section (h); and

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(g) RIPARIAN FOREST PILOT PROGRAM.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab7 lish a program to promote the development of ripar8 ian forest buffers in conservation priority areas des9 ignated under subsection (f) by entering into con10 tracts to assist owners and operators of lands de11 scribed in paragraph (2) to improve water quality

12 and living resources in the conservation priority

13 areas.

14 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LANDS.—Notwithstanding sub15 section (b), the Secretary may include in the pro16 gram established under this subsection any cropland

17 or pasture land that, when converted to a riparian

18 forest buffer consisting of trees, shrubs, or other

19 vegetation, will—

20 ‘‘(A)(i) intercept surface runoff,

21 wastewater, and subsurface flows from upland

22 sources for the purpose of removing or

23 buffering the effects of associated nutrients,

24 sediment, organic matter, pesticides, or other
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1 pollutants, prior to entry into surface waters or

2 ground water recharge areas; or

3 ‘‘(ii) accomplish specific objectives for ter4 restrial or aquatic habitat identified by the Sec5 retary; and

6 ‘‘(B) meet specifications for size, vegeta7 tion, and tree species established by the Natural

8 Resources Conservation Service and the Forest

9 Service, in cooperation with appropriate State

10 agencies.

11 ‘‘(3) DURATION, MODIFICATION, AND EXTEN12 SION OF CONTRACTS.—Notwithstanding subsection

13 (e), during calendar years 1996 through 2000, the

14 Secretary may, in carrying out the program estab15 lished under this subsection—

16 ‘‘(A) enter into contracts of not more than

17 20 years;

18 ‘‘(B) with the consent of the owner or op19 erator, modify a contract entered into under

20 this subchapter prior to the date of enactment

21 of this paragraph to include land that meets the

22 eligibility criteria of paragraph (2); and

23 ‘‘(C) extend a contract entered into or

24 modified under this subchapter with respect to

25 land that meets the eligibility criteria of para-
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1 graph (2) for a period of not more than 20

2 years.

3 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY FOR ENROLLMENT OF ELIGIBLE

4 LANDS.—In enrolling lands under the program es5 tablished under this subchapter, the Secretary

6 shall—

7 ‘‘(A) give priority to land that meets the

8 eligibility criteria of paragraph (2); and

9 ‘‘(B) to the extent practicable, ensure that

10 at least 20 percent of enrolled lands in con11 servation priority areas designated under sub12 section (f) meets the eligibility criteria of para13 graph (2).

14 ‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Through the

15 Natural Resources Conservation Service and the

16 Forest Service, in cooperation with States that con17 tain conservation priority areas designated under

18 subsection (f), the Secretary shall provide technical

19 assistance for the design, establishment, and mainte20 nance of riparian forest buffers.

21 ‘‘(6) COST-SHARE ASSISTANCE.—Notwithstand22 ing any other provision of this title, the Secretary

23 may pay not more than 100 percent of the cost of

24 the design, establishment, and short-term mainte25 nance of riparian forest buffers consisting of trees,
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1 shrubs, or other vegetation under the program es2 tablished under this subchapter.

3 ‘‘(7) SELECTIVE HARVEST.—Notwithstanding

4 any other provision of this title, an owner or opera5 tor participating in the program established under

6 this subsection, with the prior approval of the Sec7 retary, may selectively harvest mature timber if the

8 harvest would not prevent accomplishment of the ob9 jectives of this subchapter.’’.

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