I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1938

To extend and expand conservation programs administered by the Department

of Agriculture.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 22, 2001

Mr. MORAN of Kansas (for himself, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. HAYES, and Mr. PICKERING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Agriculture

A BILL

To extend and expand conservation programs administered

by the Department of Agriculture.

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conservation En5 hancement Act of 2001’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—EXTENSION AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR

CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

Sec. 101. Extension of conservation programs through 2012.
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Sec. 102. Provision of additional funding.

TITLE II—SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES TO CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

Subtitle A—Environmental Quality Incentives Program

Sec. 201. Implementation of best management practices.

Sec. 202. Time for payments.

Sec. 203. Contract term.

Sec. 204. Federal share of cost-share payments.

Sec. 205. Carry over of unobligated amounts.

Sec. 206. Conservation priority areas and priority issues.

Subtitle B—Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

Sec. 211. Pilot programs to prevent listing of endangered species and preserve

critical habitats.

Subtitle C—Conservation Reserve Program

Sec. 221. Full enrollment of authorized acreage.

Sec. 222. Additional pilot program.

Sec. 223. Expanded haying and grazing.

Sec. 224. Protection of farm program base.

Subtitle D—Wetlands Reserve Program

Sec. 231. Increase in authorized maximum enrollment.

Sec. 232. Enrollment methods.

Subtitle E—Conservation Technical Assistance

Sec. 241. Sense of Congress concerning conservation technical assistance.

1 TITLE I—EXTENSION AND ADDI2 TIONAL FUNDING FOR CON3 SERVATION PROGRAMS

4 SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

5 THROUGH 2012.

6 (a) ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION ACREAGE RE7 SERVE PROGRAM.—Section 1230(a)(1) of the Food Secu8 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830(a)(1)) is amended by

9 striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’.

10 (b) CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM.—(1) Sec11 tion 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.
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1 3831) is amended in subsections (a), (b)(3), and (d) by

2 striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’.

3 (2) Section 1232(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985

4 (16 U.S.C. 3832(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and

5 inserting ‘‘2012’’.

6 (c) WETLAND RESERVE PROGRAM.—Section 1237(c)

7 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837(c)) is

8 amended by striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’.

9 (d) ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PRO10 GRAM.—Section 1240B(a)(1) of the Food Security Act of

11 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(a)(1)) is amended by striking

12 ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’.

13 (e) WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM.—

14 Section 387(c) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement

15 and Reform Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 3836a(c)) is amended

16 by striking ‘‘1996 through 2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2003

17 through 2012’’.

18 SEC. 102. PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL FUNDING.

19 (a) ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION ACREAGE RE20 SERVE PROGRAM.—Section 1241 of the Food Security Act

21 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3841) is amended—

22 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2002’’ and

23 inserting ‘‘2012’’;

24 (2) in subsection (b)(1)—

25 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘1996,’’; and
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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘and $500,000,000 for

2 each of fiscal years 2003 through 2012,’’; and

3 (3) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘2002’’

4 and inserting ‘‘2012’’.

5 (b) WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM.—

6 Section 387(c) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement

7 and Reform Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 3836a(c)) is amended

8 by striking ‘‘$50,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$200,000,000’’.

9 TITLE II—SUBSTANTIVE

10 CHANGES TO CONSERVATION

11 PROGRAMS

12 Subtitle A—Environmental Quality

13 Incentives Program

14 SEC. 201. IMPLEMENTATION OF BEST MANAGEMENT PRAC15 TICES.

16 Section 1240A(2) of the Food Security Act of 1985

17 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–1(2)) is amended by adding at the end

18 the following new sentence: ‘‘The term includes best man19 agement practices approved for use in agricultural produc20 tion by the Secretary.’’.

21 SEC. 202. TIME FOR PAYMENTS.

22 Section 1240G of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

23 U.S.C. 3839aa–7) is amended by striking subsection (c)

24 and inserting the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall

2 make cost-share payments and incentive payments under

3 this chapter as soon as possible after the contract between

4 the producer and the Secretary is executed.’’.

5 SEC. 203. CONTRACT TERM.

6 Section 1240B(b)(2) of the Food Security Act of

7 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(b)(2)) is amended by striking

8 ‘‘5’’ and inserting ‘‘3’’.

9 SEC. 204. FEDERAL SHARE OF COST-SHARE PAYMENTS.

10 Section 1240B(e)(1)(A) of the Food Security Act of

11 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–2(e)(1)(A)) is amended by strik12 ing ‘‘not more than’’ and inserting ‘‘equal to’’.

13 SEC. 205. CARRY OVER OF UNOBLIGATED AMOUNTS.

14 Section 1241 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

15 U.S.C. 3841) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(3) MULTI-YEAR AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—

18 Funds made available under paragraph (1) for a fis19 cal year shall remain available until expended.’’.

20 SEC. 206. CONSERVATION PRIORITY AREAS AND PRIORITY

21 ISSUES.

22 (a) REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE FOR

23 CONFINED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS.—Section

24 1240B(e)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C.

25 3839aa–2(e)(1)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking subparagraph (B); and

2 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub3 paragraph (B).

4 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR CONSERVATION

5 PRIORITY AREAS.—Section 1240C of the Food Security

6 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) PRIORITIES.—’’ before ‘‘In

8 providing’’; and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section:

11 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection

12 (a)(1), the total amount of funds obligated under this

13 chapter in a fiscal year for land management practices and

14 structural practices to be implemented, or previously im15 plemented, in conservation priority areas may not exceed

16 50 percent of total amount of funds available under sec17 tion 1241(b) for that fiscal year.’’.

18 (c) ADDITIONAL PRIORITY.—Section 1240C of the

19 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa–3) is

20 amended by inserting after subsection (b), as added by

21 subsection (a) of this section, the following new sub22 section:

23 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY FUNDING FOR CONFINED LIVESTOCK

24 FEEDING OPERATIONS.—In addition to the priorities es25 tablished in subsection (a), it is the sense of the Congress
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1 that the Secretary should accord priority to the implemen2 tation of land management practices and structural prac3 tices by producers who own or operate confined animal

4 feeding operations. The priority so accorded to confined

5 animal feeding operations should not depend on the size

6 of the operation.’’.

7 Subtitle B—Wildlife Habitat

8 Incentives Program

9 SEC. 211. PILOT PROGRAMS TO PREVENT LISTING OF EN10 DANGERED SPECIES AND PRESERVE CRIT11 ICAL HABITATS.

12 Section 387 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement

13 and Reform Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 3836a) is amended—

14 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub15 section (e); and

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol17 lowing new subsections:

18 ‘‘(c) PILOT PROGRAMS TO PREVENT LISTING OF EN19 DANGERED SPECIES AND PRESERVE CRITICAL HABI20 TATS.—Of the total amount made available under sub21 section (e) for fiscal years 2003 through 2012, the Sec22 retary shall use $40,000,000 to support pilot programs in23 volving local initiatives to prevent the listing of a fish,

24 wildlife, or plant species as a threatened species or endan25 gered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
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1 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) through the preservation or de2 velopment of critical habitat for such species. No more

3 than two pilot programs may be supported under this sub4 section in any region of the United States.

5 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF PARTICIPATION.—A person receiv6 ing cost-share payments under subsection (b) or partici7 pating in a pilot program funded under subsection (c)

8 shall not be penalized or subject to increased land use reg9 ulations if, as a result of the activities undertaken with

10 the funds provided under this section, a threatened species

11 or endangered species locates on the preserved or devel12 oped wildlife habitat. Participation in the program, includ13 ing a pilot program funded under subsection (c), is vol14 untary, and a participant shall not lose any rights to con15 trol access to private property on account of the receipt

16 of a payment under this section.’’.

17 Subtitle C—Conservation Reserve

18 Program

19 SEC. 221. FULL ENROLLMENT OF AUTHORIZED ACREAGE.

20 Section 1231(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985

21 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)) is amended by adding at the end the

22 following new sentence: ‘‘If, as of the date of the enact23 ment of the ll Act of 2001, the maximum authorized

24 acreage is not yet enrolled, the Secretary shall encourage
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1 additional enrollments so as to achieve enrollment of the

2 maximum authorized acreage.’’.

3 SEC. 222. ADDITIONAL PILOT PROGRAM.

4 Section 1231(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985

5 (16 U.S.C. 3831(b)) is amended by adding at the end the

6 following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(i) PILOT PROGRAM TO ADDRESS LOCAL AND RE8 GIONAL CONSERVATION ISSUES.—

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED ACREAGE.—The Secretary

10 may enroll in the conservation reserve under this

11 subsection up to 10,000,000 acres. Any acreage en12 rolled under this subsection shall not be counted to13 ward maximum enrollment limitation specified in

14 subsection (d).

15 ‘‘(2) PILOT PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec16 retary shall carry out pilot programs to evaluate the

17 feasibility of using the conservation reserve program

18 to support local and regional efforts to preserve

19 croplands and pasture lands and address conserva20 tion issues. The Secretary may make grants to, or

21 enter into agreements with, public and private enti22 ties that operate farmland protection programs and

23 that offer to undertake the enrollment of acreage

24 under the pilot program.
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1 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM PROGRAM ENROLLMENT.—The

2 Secretary shall conduct at least 10 pilot programs

3 under the authority of this section, and not more

4 than 1,000,000 acres may be enrolled through a sin5 gle pilot program.

6 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE LANDS.—The following lands

7 are eligible for enrollment under the pilot program:

8 ‘‘(A) Lands described in subsection (b).

9 ‘‘(B) Croplands or pasture lands that are

10 not otherwise eligible for enrollment, but that

11 contain habitat suitable for a fish, wildlife, or

12 plant species that is listed, being considered for

13 listing, or may be considered for listing as a

14 threatened species or endangered species under

15 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.

16 1531 et seq.).

17 ‘‘(5) CONTINUATION OF AGRICULTURAL USE.—

18 Lands used before enrollment for the production of

19 an agricultural commodity or the grazing of livestock

20 may remain in production after enrollment.’’.

21 SEC. 223. EXPANDED HAYING AND GRAZING.

22 Section 1232(a)(7)(A) of the Food Security Act of

23 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3832(a)(7)(A)) is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clauses (i)

25 and (ii);
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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new

2 clauses:

3 ‘‘(iii) harvesting or grazing according

4 to approved stocking rates or other com5 mercial use of the forage on such land if

6 the Secretary determines that the har7 vesting or grazing or other commercial use

8 of the forage will enhance the quality of

9 the vegetative cover and the harvesting or

10 grazing or other commercial use of the for11 age is conducted no more frequently than

12 authorized for other maintenance options;

13 and

14 ‘‘(iv) grazing on land that is subject

15 to a contract entered into under the Sec16 retary’s continuous signup authority when

17 the grazing is incidental to the grazing of

18 a growing winter-seeded crop; and’’.

19 SEC. 224. PROTECTION OF FARM PROGRAM BASE.

20 Section 1236 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16

21 U.S.C. 3836) is amended—

22 (1) by striking subsection (a); and

23 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘may provide’’

24 and inserting ‘‘shall provide’’.
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1 Subtitle D—Wetlands Reserve

2 Program

3 SEC. 231. INCREASE IN AUTHORIZED MAXIMUM ENROLL4 MENT.

5 (a) INCREASE.—Section 1237(b)(1) of the Food Se6 curity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3837(b)(1)) is amended by

7 striking ‘‘975,000’’ and inserting ‘‘2,500,000’’.

8 (b) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 808 of the Agri9 culture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administra10 tion, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (as

11 enacted by Public Law 106–387; 114 Stat. 1549A–52),

12 is repealed.

13 SEC. 232. ENROLLMENT METHODS.

14 Section 1237(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985

15 (16 U.S.C. 3837(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (2)

16 and inserting the following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(2) METHODS OF ENROLLMENT.—The Sec18 retary may enroll up to 1,000,000 acres of eligible

19 lands into the wetlands reserve program using per20 manent easements, with the remaining authorized

21 acreage enrolled into 30-year easements or restora22 tion cost-share agreements.’’.
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1 Subtitle E—Conservation Technical

2 Assistance

3 SEC. 241. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING CONSERVA4 TION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

5 It is the sense of Congress that not less than

6 $1,000,000,000 should be appropriated the Secretary of

7 Agriculture each fiscal year to restore staffing and tech8 nical assistance levels for the Natural Resources Conserva9 tion Service to pre-1985 levels since Natural Resources

10 Conservation Service personnel are the key component

11 necessary to deliver current and expanded conservation

12 programs and to assist producers in planning and imple13 menting successful conservation initiatives.

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