II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1224 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the conservation reserve 

enhancement program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. 

HICKENLOOPER) 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 modify the 

conservation reserve enhancement program. 

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 ‘‘Conservation Reserve 

5 Enhancement Program Improvement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1231A of the Food Secu9 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831a) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(4), in the matter pre2 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

3 an agreement described in subsection (e))’’ after 

4 ‘‘this subchapter’’; 

5 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(A)(vi), by inserting ‘‘or 

6 other appropriate practices, such as dryland agricul7 tural uses and grazing,’’ after ‘‘conservation prac8 tices’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(5) VARIABLE ALLOCATION.—An owner or op12 erator may elect to determine the amounts of annual 

13 payments under this section allocated to each year 

14 of the agreement under subsection (b)(1). 

15 ‘‘(6) DROUGHT AND WATER CONSERVATION

16 AGREEMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) RETIREMENT OF WATER RIGHTS.—In 

18 the case of an agreement described in sub19 section (e) that includes a permanent retire20 ment of water rights, the payment rates for an21 nual payments shall be equal to the irrigated 

22 acre payment rates determined by the Sec23 retary. 

24 ‘‘(B) DRYLAND AGRICULTURAL USES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

2 agreement described in subsection (e) that 

3 permits dryland agricultural uses pursuant 

4 to paragraph (2) of that subsection, the 

5 payment rates for annual payments shall 

6 be equal to the difference between— 

7 ‘‘(I) the irrigated acre payment 

8 rates determined by the Secretary; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) the dryland acre payment 

11 rates determined by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(ii) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—In 

13 the case of an agreement covered by clause 

14 (i) entered into before the date of enact15 ment of this paragraph under which the 

16 payment rate is lower than the payment 

17 rate that would be calculated for the agree18 ment under that clause, the Secretary shall 

19 modify the agreement by calculating the 

20 payment rate in accordance with that 

21 clause.’’; and 

22 (4) in subsection (e)— 

23 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

24 by striking ‘‘may—’’ and inserting ‘‘shall—’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(in2 cluding agricultural land on which a continuous 

3 crop or crop rotation is maintained)’’ after ‘‘ag4 ricultural land’’; 

5 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘with the 

6 adoption of best management practices on’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘in accordance with a conservation 

8 plan adopted with respect to’’; and 

9 (D) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘subject 

10 to subsection (c)(6),’’ before ‘‘calculate’’. 

11 (b) EXEMPTION FROM PAYMENT LIMITATION.—Sec12 tion 1234(g) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

13 3834(g)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘paragraph 

15 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT

18 PROGRAM.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to rental 

19 payments received under agreements entered into 

20 under section 1231A.’’. 

Æ 


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