II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1426

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to promote the conservation of

soil and related resources, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 22, 1999

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. KERREY, Mr.

CONRAD, and Mr. JOHNSON) 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 promote the

conservation of soil and related resources, 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 ‘‘Conservation Security

5 Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONSERVATION SECURITY PROGRAM.

7 Subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of

8 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830 et seq.) is amended by adding at

9 the end the following:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 6—CONSERVATION SECURITY

2 PROGRAM

3 ‘‘SEC. 1240P. CONSERVATION SECURITY PROGRAM.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

5 conservation security program through the use of con6 tracts to assist owners and operators of farms and ranches

7 to promote—

8 ‘‘(1) conservation of soil, water, and related re9 sources;

10 ‘‘(2) water quality protection and improvement;

11 ‘‘(3) air quality protection and improvement;

12 ‘‘(4) wetland restoration, protection, and cre13 ation;

14 ‘‘(5) wildlife habitat development and protec15 tion; and

16 ‘‘(6) any similar conservation purpose.

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to participate

19 in the conservation security program, an owner or

20 operator shall—

21 ‘‘(A) submit a resource security plan or a

22 livestock nutrient management plan to the Sec23 retary, and obtain the approval of the Secretary

24 for the plan, in accordance with subsection (c);

25 and
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1 ‘‘(B) enter into a contract with the Sec2 retary that requires compliance with the plan in

3 accordance with subsection (e).

4 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—An owner or operator shall

5 not be eligible to enter into a contract specifying

6 compliance with a livestock nutrient management

7 plan if the total number of animals raised by the

8 owner or operator exceeds 1,000 animal units, as de9 fined by the Secretary.

10 ‘‘(c) PLANS.—

11 ‘‘(1) RESOURCE SECURITY PLANS.—A resource

12 security plan shall—

13 ‘‘(A) identify the resources to be secured

14 by the plan;

15 ‘‘(B) describe the class of conservation

16 practices under subsection (d) to be imple17 mented and maintained on the land subject to

18 the contract during the contract period;

19 ‘‘(C) contain a schedule for the implemen20 tation and maintenance of the class of conserva21 tion practices described in the plan;

22 ‘‘(D) comply with the highly erodible land

23 and wetland conservation requirements of sub24 titles B and C; and
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1 ‘‘(E) contain such other terms as the Sec2 retary may require.

3 ‘‘(2) LIVESTOCK NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

4 PLANS.—A livestock nutrient management plan

5 shall—

6 ‘‘(A) contain a plan for managing the ma7 nure and other organic byproducts produced on

8 the farming or ranching operation of an owner

9 or operator in a manner that protects air,

10 water, and soil quality; and

11 ‘‘(B) contain such other terms as the Sec12 retary may require.

13 ‘‘(3) STATE AND LOCAL CONSERVATION PRIOR14 ITIES.—To the maximum extent practicable and in

15 a manner that is consistent with the conservation se16 curity program, resource security plans and livestock

17 nutrient management plans shall address the con18 servation priorities established by the State and lo19 cality in which the farming or ranching operation is

20 located.

21 ‘‘(d) CONSERVATION PRACTICES UNDER RESOURCE

22 SECURITY PLANS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab24 lish 3 classes of conservation practices that are eligi-
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1 ble for payment under a contract entered into under

2 this section to carry out a resource security plan.

3 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN PRACTICES.—The

4 Secretary shall include in 1 of the classes of con5 servation practices—

6 ‘‘(A) each environmental or conservation

7 practice that is included in the National Hand8 book of Conservation Practices of the Natural

9 Resources Conservation Service; and

10 ‘‘(B) any other conservation practice the

11 Secretary determines is appropriate.

12 ‘‘(3) CLASSES.—To carry out this subsection,

13 the Secretary shall establish the following 3 classes

14 of conservation practices (as appropriate for the

15 farm or ranch operation of an owner or operator):

16 ‘‘(A) CLASS I.—Class I conservation prac17 tices shall include—

18 ‘‘(i) residue management;

19 ‘‘(ii) nutrient management; and

20 ‘‘(iii) environmentally sound grazing.

21 ‘‘(B) CLASS II.—Class II conservation

22 practices shall include—

23 ‘‘(i) Class I conservation practices;

24 ‘‘(ii) comprehensive nutrient manage25 ment;
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1 ‘‘(iii) pesticide management;

2 ‘‘(iv) partial field conservation prac3 tices (including windbreaks, grass water4 ways, shelter belts, filter strips and ripar5 ian buffers); and

6 ‘‘(v) intensive grazing and wildlife

7 habitat measures.

8 ‘‘(C) CLASS III.—Class III conservation

9 practices shall include—

10 ‘‘(i) Class I and Class II conservation

11 practices; and

12 ‘‘(ii) such additional conservation

13 practices as are necessary to implement

14 and maintain a total resource management

15 plan that addresses the long-term sustain16 ability of the natural resource base of a

17 farm or ranch operation.

18 ‘‘(e) CONTRACTS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On approval of a resource

20 security plan or a livestock nutrient management

21 plan of an owner or operator, the Secretary shall

22 enter into a contract with the owner or operator that

23 specifies—

24 ‘‘(A) the land subject to the contract;
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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a resource security

2 plan, the class of conservation practices under

3 subsection (d) that will be carried out on the

4 land; and

5 ‘‘(C) in the case of a livestock nutrient

6 management plan, the livestock facilities that

7 are covered by the contract.

8 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—Subject to paragraphs (3)

9 and (4), the contract shall be for a term of not less

10 than 3 years nor more than 5 years.

11 ‘‘(3) REVISION.—The Secretary may require an

12 owner or operator to modify a resource security plan

13 or livestock nutrient management plan before the ex14 piration of the plan if the Secretary determines that

15 a change made to the size, management, or any

16 other aspect of the farming or ranching operation of

17 the owner or operator would, without the modifica18 tion, interfere with the conservation security pro19 gram.

20 ‘‘(4) RENEWAL.—The contract of the owner or

21 operator may be renewed for successive 5-year peri22 ods, at the option of the owner or operator, if—

23 ‘‘(A) the owner or operator agrees to any

24 modification of the applicable resource security

25 plan or the livestock nutrient management plan
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1 that the Secretary determines is necessary to

2 carry out the conservation security program;

3 and

4 ‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the

5 owner or operator has complied with—

6 ‘‘(i) the terms and conditions of the

7 applicable resource security plan or a live8 stock nutrient management plan of the

9 owner or operator; and

10 ‘‘(ii) the terms and conditions of the

11 contract.

12 ‘‘(f) DUTIES OF OWNERS AND OPERATORS.—Under

13 a contract entered into under subsection (e), during the

14 term of the contract, an owner or operator of a farm or

15 ranch shall agree—

16 ‘‘(1) to implement the applicable resource secu17 rity plan or livestock nutrient management plan ap18 proved by the Secretary;

19 ‘‘(2) to keep such records as the Secretary may

20 require for purposes of evaluation of the implemen21 tation of the plan;

22 ‘‘(3) not to engage in any activity that would

23 defeat the purposes of the conservation security pro24 gram; and
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1 ‘‘(4) to forgo incentive payments, rental pay2 ments, or easement payments under any other con3 servation program administered by the Secretary for

4 land subject to the contract, except that the owner

5 or operator shall not otherwise become ineligible for

6 participation in and receipt of cost-share payments

7 under any other conservation program as a result of

8 payments received under this section.

9 ‘‘(g) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—

10 ‘‘(1) RESOURCE SECURITY PLANS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under a contract en12 tered into by an owner or operator under this

13 section to carry out a resource security plan,

14 subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary

15 shall, for a period of years not in excess of the

16 term of the contract, make an annual rental

17 payment to the owner or operator in an amount

18 equal to—

19 ‘‘(i) 10 percent of the average county

20 rental rate for the same type of land en21 rolled under the contract that will be main22 tained using Class I conservation practices

23 described in subsection (d)(3)(A);

24 ‘‘(ii) 20 percent of the average county

25 rental rate for the same type of land en-
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1 rolled under the contract that will be main2 tained using Class II conservation prac3 tices described in subsection (d)(3)(B); and

4 ‘‘(iii) 40 percent of the average county

5 rental rate for the same type of land en6 rolled under the contract that will be main7 tained using Class III conservation prac8 tices described in subsection (d)(3)(C).

9 ‘‘(2) LIVESTOCK NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

10 PLANS.—Under a contract entered into by an owner

11 or operator under this section to carry out a live12 stock nutrient management plan, the Secretary

13 shall, for a period of years not in excess of the term

14 of the contract, make an annual rental payment to

15 the owner or operator in an amount equal to the

16 product obtained by multiplying—

17 ‘‘(A) 10 percent of the simple average

18 price received by owners and operators for each

19 type of livestock covered by the plan during the

20 5 marketing years immediately preceding the

21 year covered by the annual payment; by

22 ‘‘(B) the number of that type of livestock

23 raised by the owner or operator during the year

24 covered by the annual payment.
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1 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS.—The

2 total amount of payments paid to an owner or

3 operator under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not

4 exceed $50,000 for any fiscal year.

5 ‘‘(4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary

6 shall use not less than 15 percent, nor more than 20

7 percent, of the funds that are made available to

8 carry out this section for a fiscal year to provide

9 technical assistance to owners and operators enter10 ing into contracts under this section.

11 ‘‘(5) OTHER PAYMENTS.—Except as otherwise

12 provided in this section, payments received by an

13 owner or operator under this subsection shall be in

14 addition to, and not affect, the total amount of pay15 ments that the owner or operator is otherwise eligi16 ble to receive under—

17 ‘‘(A) this Act;

18 ‘‘(B) the Federal Agriculture Improvement

19 and Reform Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–

20 127), including the Agricultural Market Transi21 tion Act (7 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.);

22 ‘‘(C) the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

23 and Trade Act of 1990 (Public Law 101–624);

24 or
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1 ‘‘(D) the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7

2 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.).’’.

3 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendment

5 made by this Act take effect on October 1, 1999.

6 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pro8 mulgate such regulations as are necessary to carry out this

9 Act and the amendment made by this Act.

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