65836 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service 

Commodity Credit Corporation 

7 CFR Part 1470 

RIN 0578–AA63 

[Docket No. NRCS–2014–0008] 

Conservation Stewardship Program 

(CSP) Interim Rule 

AGENCY: Natural Resources 

Conservation Service and the 

Commodity Credit Corporation, United 

States Department of Agriculture. 

ACTION: Interim rule with request for 

comment. 

SUMMARY: This interim rule with request 

for comment amends the existing 

Natural Resources Conservation Service 

(NRCS) regulation for the Conservation 

Stewardship Program (CSP) to 

incorporate programmatic changes as 

authorized by amendments in the 

Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Act). 

DATES: Effective date: This rule is 

effective November 5, 2014. 

Comment date: Submit comments on 

or before January 5, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

using one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

for Docket No. NRCS–2014–0008. 

• U.S. mail or hand delivery: Public 

Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. 

NRCS–2014–0008, Regulatory and 

Agency Policy Team, Strategic Planning 

and Accountability, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Natural Resources 

Conservation Service, 5601 Sunnyside 

Avenue, Building 1–1112D, Beltsville, 

MD 20705. 

NRCS will post all comments on 

http://www.regulations.gov. If your 

comment includes your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information, please 

be aware that your entire comment, 

including this personal information, 

will be made publicly available. Do not 

include personal information with your 

comment submission if you do not wish 

for it to be made public. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Director, Financial Assistance Programs 

Division, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Natural Resources 

Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890, 

Washington, DC 20013–2890. 

Telephone: (202) 720–1845. Fax: (202) 

720–4265. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulatory Certifications 

Executive Order 12866 and 13563 

Executive Order 12866, ‘‘Regulatory 

Planning and Review,’’ and Executive 

Order 13563, ‘‘Improving Regulation 

and Regulatory Review,’’ directs 

agencies to assess all costs and benefits 

of available regulatory alternatives and, 

if regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, distributive impacts, 

and equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, of 

reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, 

and of promoting flexibility. Upon 

implementation of this rule the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service intends 

to conduct a retrospective review of this 

rule with the purpose of improving 

program performance, emphasizing 

priority enhancements, and better 

understanding the longevity of 

conservation implementation. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) designated this interim rule with 

request for comment a significant 

regulatory action. The administrative 

record is available for public inspection 

in Room 5831 South Building, USDA, 

14th and Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC. Pursuant to Executive 

Order 12866, NRCS conducted a costeffectiveness analysis (CEA) of the 

potential impacts associated with this 

program. A summary of the 

effectiveness analysis can be found at 

the end of this preamble and a copy of 

the analysis is available upon request 

from the Director, Financial Assistance 

Programs Division, Natural Resources 

Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890, 

Washington, DC 20250–2890 or 

electronically at: http://

www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/ 

under the CSP Rules and Notices with 

Supporting Documents title. 

Executive Order 12866, as 

supplemented by Executive Order 

13563, requires each agency to write all 

rules in plain language. In addition to 

your substantive comments on this 

interim rule, we invite your comments 

on how to make the provisions easier to 

understand. For example: 

• Are the requirements in the rule 

clearly stated? Are the scope and intent 

of the rule clear? 

• Does the rule contain technical 

language or jargon that is not clear? 

• Is the material logically organized? 

• Would changing the grouping or 

order of sections or adding headings 

make the rule easier to understand? 

• Could we improve clarity by adding 

tables, lists, or diagrams? 

• Would more, but shorter, sections 

be better? Are there specific sections 

that are too long or confusing? 

• What else could we do to make the 

rule easier to understand? 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601–612) (RFA) generally 

requires an agency to prepare a 

regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule 

subject to notice and comment 

rulemaking requirements under the 

Administrative Procedure Act or any 

other statute. NRCS did not prepare a 

regulatory flexibility analysis for this 

rule because NRCS is not required by 5 

U.S.C. 553, or any other provision of 

law, to publish a notice of proposed 

rulemaking with respect to the subject 

matter of this rule. Even so, NRCS has 

determined that this action, while 

mostly affecting small entities, will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of these small 

entities. NRCS made this determination 

based on the fact that this regulation 

only impacts those who choose to 

participate in the program. Small entity 

applicants will not be affected to a 

greater extent than large entity 

applicants. 

Environmental Analysis 

NRCS has determined that changes 

made by this rule fall within a category 

of actions that are excluded from the 

requirement to prepare either an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) or 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

The changes made by the rule are 

primarily those mandated by the 2014 

Act, though there are additional 

administrative changes made to improve 

consistency with other NRCS programs 

and make other clarifications. NRCS has 

no discretion with respect to changes 

mandated by the 2014 Act; therefore the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) does not apply. Administrative 

changes made in this rule fall within a 

categorical exclusion for policy 

development relating to routine 

activities and similar administrative 

functions (7 CFR 1b.3(a)(1)) and NRCS 

has identified no extraordinary 

circumstances that would otherwise 

require preparation of an EA or EIS. 

To further its site-specific compliance 

with NEPA, NRCS reviewed the 2009 

CSP Programmatic EA, and found this 

rule makes no substantial changes that 

are relevant to environmental concerns 

as compared to the EA proposed action. 

Furthermore, NRCS has not found any 

significant new circumstances or 

information relevant to environmental 

concerns. As a result, NRCS will 

continue to tier to the 2009 CSP 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 65837 

Programmatic EA as appropriate to meet 

NEPA requirements related to sitespecific activities. 

Public comment on the environmental 

analysis only may be submitted by any 

of the following means: (1) Email 

comments to andree.duvarney@

wdc.usda.gov, (2) go to http://

www.regulations.gov and follow the 

instructions for submitting comments 

for Docket No. NRCS–2014–0008, or (3) 

mail written comments to: National 

Environmental Coordinator, Natural 

Resources Conservation Service, 

Ecological Sciences Division, Room 

6159–S, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 

20013–2890. 

Civil Rights Impact Analysis 

NRCS has determined through a Civil 

Rights Impact Analysis that the interim 

rule discloses no disproportionately 

adverse impacts for minorities, women, 

or persons with disabilities. The 

national target of setting aside 5 percent 

of CSP acres for socially disadvantaged 

farmers and ranchers and an additional 

5 percent of CSP acres for beginning 

farmers and ranchers; and prioritizing 

veterans applications that are competing 

in these subaccounts for socially 

disadvantaged farmers or ranchers and 

beginning farmer or ranchers is 

expected to increase participation 

among these groups. 

The data presented in the analysis 

indicates producers who are members of 

the protected groups have participated 

in NRCS conservation programs at 

parity with other producers. 

Extrapolating from historical 

participation data, it is reasonable to 

conclude that CSP will continue to be 

administered in a nondiscriminatory 

manner. Outreach and communication 

strategies are in place to ensure all 

producers will be provided the same 

information to allow them to make 

informed decisions regarding the use of 

their lands that will affect their 

participation in USDA programs. NRCS 

conservation programs apply to all 

persons equally regardless of their race, 

color, national origin, gender, sex, or 

disability status. Therefore, this interim 

rule portends no adverse civil rights 

implications for women, minorities and 

persons with disabilities. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

Section 1246 of the Food Security Act 

of 1985 (the 1985 Act) provides that 

implementation of programs authorized 

by Title XII of the 1985 Act be made 

without regard to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). Therefore, NRCS is not 

reporting recordkeeping or estimated 

paperwork burden associated with this 

interim rule. 

Government Paperwork Elimination 

Act 

NRCS is committed to compliance 

with the Government Paperwork 

Elimination Act and the Freedom to 

E-File Act, which require government 

agencies, in general, to provide the 

public the option of submitting 

information or transacting business 

electronically to the maximum extent 

possible. To better accommodate public 

access, NRCS has developed an online 

application and information system for 

public use. 

Executive Order 13175 

This interim rule has been reviewed 

in accordance with the requirements of 

Executive Order 13175, Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments. Executive Order 13175 

requires Federal agencies to consult and 

coordinate with Tribes on a 

government-to-government basis on 

policies that have Tribal implications, 

including regulations, legislative 

comments or proposed legislation, and 

other policy statements or actions that 

have substantial direct effects on one or 

more Indian Tribes, on the relationship 

between the Federal Government and 

Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal Government and Indian Tribes. 

NRCS has assessed the impact of this 

interim rule on Indian Tribes and 

determined that this rule does not have 

Tribal implications that require Tribal 

consultation under E.O. 13175. The rule 

neither imposes substantial direct 

compliance costs on Tribal 

Governments nor preempts Tribal law. 

The agency has developed an outreach/ 

collaboration plan that it will 

implement as it develops its Farm Bill 

policy. If a Tribe requests consultation, 

NRCS will work with the Office of 

Tribal Relations to ensure meaningful 

consultation is provided where changes, 

additions, and modifications identified 

herein are not expressly mandated by 

Congress. 

The 2014 Act changes to CSP that 

address participation by Indian Tribes 

are limited to special funding 

arrangements from the CSP-specific 

provisions of Section 1241 of the 1985 

Act, and streamlining the use of the 

definition of Indian Tribes. These 

changes are discussed more fully herein. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 

Law 104–4, requires Federal agencies to 

assess the effects of their regulatory 

actions on State, local, and Tribal 

Governments or the private sector of 

$100 million or more in any one year. 

When such a statement is needed for a 

rule, section 205 of the UMRA requires 

NRCS to prepare a written statement, 

including a cost-benefit assessment, for 

proposed and final rules with ‘‘Federal 

mandates’’ that may result in such 

expenditures for State, local, or Tribal 

Governments, in the aggregate, or to the 

private sector. UMRA generally requires 

agencies to consider alternatives and 

adopt the more cost effective or least 

burdensome alternative that achieves 

the objectives of the rule. 

This rule contains no Federal 

mandates, as defined under Title II of 

the UMRA, for State, local, and Tribal 

Governments or the private sector. 

Thus, this rule is not subject to the 

requirements of sections 202 and 205 of 

UMRA. 

Executive Order 13132 

NRCS has considered this interim rule 

in accordance with Executive Order 

13132, issued August 4, 1999. NRCS has 

determined that the interim rule 

conforms with the Federalism 

principles set out in this Executive 

Order; would not impose any 

compliance costs on the States; and 

would not have substantial direct effects 

on the States, on the relationship 

between the National Government and 

the States, nor on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government. Therefore, 

NRCS concludes that this interim rule 

does not have Federalism implications. 

Economic Analysis—Executive 

Summary 

The Conservation Stewardship 

Program (CSP) is authorized under the 

provisions of Chapter 2, Subtitle D of 

Title XII of the Food Security Act of 

1985 (1985 Act), as amended by Title II, 

Subtitle D of the Food, Conservation, 

and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Act) and 

by Title II, Subtitle B of the Agriculture 

Act of 2014 (2014 Act). The Secretary of 

Agriculture, acting through the Chief of 

the Natural Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS), administers the 

program. 

As part of the 2014 Act, Congress 

reauthorized CSP and capped 

enrollment at 10 million acres for each 

fiscal year (FY) during the period 

February 7, 2014, through September 

30, 2022; however, the 2014 Act only 

provided funding through FY 2018. CSP 

contracts run for 5 years and include the 

potential for a one-time renewal for an 

additional 5 years, thus creating 

financial obligations through FY 2027 

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65838 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

for commitments made during FY 2014 

to FY 2018. Nationally, program costs 

cannot exceed an annual average rate of 

$18 per acre. For each of the five FY 

signups (FY 2014 to FY 2018) including 

a one-time contract renewal for an 

additional 5 years, Congress committed 

a maximum of $1.8 billion. Total 

authorized funding equals $9 billion for 

the five signups (FY 2014 to FY 2018). 

Participation in CSP is voluntary. 

Agricultural and forestry producers 

decide whether or not CSP participation 

helps them achieve their conservation 

objectives. Hence, CSP participation is 

not expected to negatively impact 

program participants and 

nonparticipants. 

Pursuant to Executive Order 12866 

and OMB Circular A–4 that provides 

guidance in conducting regulatory 

analyses, NRCS conducted an 

assessment of CSP consistent with this 

rule’s designation as a significant 

regulatory action. Most of this rule’s 

impacts consist of transfers from the 

Federal Government to producers. 

Although these transfers create 

incentives that very likely cause 

changes in the way society uses its 

resources, we lack data to estimate the 

resulting social costs or benefits. This 

analysis therefore, includes a summary 

of program costs and qualitative 

assessment of program impacts. 

Total projected government program 

obligations for CSP are shown in table 

1. Obligations include only costs to the 

government between FY 2014 and FY 

2027 (five signups with one-time, 5-year 

contract renewals). Projected maximum 

program obligations in nominal dollars 

equal $9 billion. Given a 3 percent 

discount rate, projected cumulative 

program obligations equal $6,405 billion 

in constant 2014 dollars. At a 7 percent 

discount rate, maximum program 

obligations equal $4,942 billion in 

constant 2014 dollars. Average 

annualized obligations at the 3 percent 

and 7 percent discount rates equal $567 

million and $565 million, respectively. 

TABLE 1—TOTAL PROJECTED PROGRAM OBLIGATIONS FOR CSP, FY 2014 THROUGH FY 2027 a

Fiscal year Obligation b

(million $) 

GDP price 

deflator c

(2014=100) 

Obligation 

constant 

dollars 

(million $) 

Discount 

factors 

for 3% 

Present 

value of 

obligation—3% 

(million $) 

Discount 

factors for 

7% 

Present 

value of 

obligation—7% 

(million $) 

FY14 ............................. 180 100.0000 180 0.9709 175 0.9346 168 

FY15 ............................. 360 102.1000 353 0.9426 332 0.8734 308 

FY16 ............................. 540 104.2441 518 0.9151 474 0.8163 423 

FY17 ............................. 720 106.4332 676 0.8885 601 0.7629 516 

FY18 ............................. 900 108.6683 828 0.8626 714 0.7130 591 

FY19 ............................. 900 110.9504 811 0.8375 679 0.6663 541 

FY20 ............................. 900 113.0584 796 0.8131 647 0.6227 496 

FY21 ............................. 900 115.2065 781 0.7894 617 0.5820 455 

FY22 ............................. 900 117.3954 767 0.7664 588 0.5439 417 

FY23 ............................. 900 119.6260 752 0.7441 560 0.5083 382 

FY24 ............................. 720 121.8989 591 0.7224 427 0.4751 281 

FY25 ............................. 540 124.2149 435 0.7014 305 0.4440 193 

FY26 ............................. 360 126.5750 284 0.6810 194 0.4150 118 

FY27 ............................. 180 128.9799 140 0.6611 92 0.3878 54 

Total ...................... 9,000 ........................ 7,912 ........................ 6,405 ........................ 4,942 

Annualized Obligations ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 567 ........................ 565 

aTable 1 in the main document. 

b Congress set a maximum of 10 million acres per signup and a national payment rate of $18 per acre. With a one-time contract renewal option, each signup equals $1.8 billion in projected program obligations over its 10-year period. Congress authorized five signups. cFor years 1 to 5, the GDP adjustment is 2.10 percent (OMB); for years 6 to 14, the GDP adjustment factor is 1.90 percent (average growth 

since 1993). 

Compared to CSP as authorized under 

the 2008 Act, Congress significantly 

reduced its size but left much of CSP’s 

underlying structure intact. In addition, 

the Secretary of Agriculture proposed a 

number of discretionary administrative 

changes as a means of improving 

program implementation. 

As shown in table 2, the downsizing 

of CSP from an annual 12.769 million 

acre program to an annual 10 million 

acre program has the greatest impact on 

program funds, conservation activities, 

and cost-effectiveness. Program funds, 

which include financial and technical 

assistance, decrease by $2.492 billion 

(nominal dollars) compared to CSP 

under the 2008 Act. With fewer acres 

and fewer dollars, fewer contracts will 

be funded under the 2014 Act. The new 

conservation activities that would have 

been applied to enhance the existing 

activities on the lost 2.769 million acres 

will not be applied to the Nation’s 

working lands. However, costeffectiveness, defined as dollars per 

additional unit of conservation effect, 

will improve slightly because lower 

ranked eligible applications are the first 

ones cut from every State’s ranking 

pools. That is, obligations per unit of 

conservation effect will be lower under 

the 2014 Act. Properly implemented, a 

smaller sized CSP will be neutral in its 

impacts across all producer types, 

including beginning and socially 

disadvantaged groups. 

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TABLE 2—PROGRAM IMPACTS OF THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS AND DISCRETIONARY ACTIONS a

Based on 2008 CSP Farm Bill Provisions: 12.769 Millions Acres vs. 10 Million Acres 

Statutory Program Funds Impacts of 

Conservation Activities 

Cost-Effectiveness Participant Diversity 

Acreage Enrollment Limitations ..................... ¥$2.492 billion in program funds.Significantly large decrease.Slight improvement .... No impact. 

2008 CSP at 10 Million Acres vs. 2014 CSP at 10 Million Acres 

Statutory Program Funds Impacts of 

Conservation Activities 

Cost-Effectiveness Participant Diversity 

Conditions for Contract Renewal ................... Small/Moderate decrease.Increase ..................... Improvement .............. No Impact. 

Discretionary Program Funds Impacts of 

Conservation Activities 

Cost-Effectiveness Participant Diversity 

Contract Renewal: To renew contracts, shift 

eligibility determinations to applicable priority resource concerns.

Moderate decrease .... Marginal Increase ...... Marginal Improvement No Impact. 

aShortened version of table 10 in the accompanying regulatory impact analysis. 

One additional legislated change in 

the 2014 Act, additional contract 

renewal requirements is also expected 

to generate smaller, yet important 

program impacts. The legislated 2014 

contract renewal requirements— 

producer agrees to meet the stewardship 

thresholds for at least two additional 

priority resource concerns by the end of 

the renewed contract period or to 

exceed the stewardship thresholds of at 

least two existing priority resource 

concerns specified in the original 

contract—will likely result in a slightly 

larger portion of CSP participants not 

renewing their contracts compared to a 

comparably sized 2008 CSP and renewal 

rate. The 2008 Act only requires the 

addition of one or more new 

conservation activities for contract 

renewal. However, CSP participants 

under the 2014 Act are required to add 

activities to meet or exceed stewardship 

thresholds for at least two priority 

resource concerns, thus likely 

increasing the number of additional 

activities applied during the second 5- 

year period. With yearly payments 

extended and more activities being 

applied under 2014 Act renewals, a 

small improvement in cost-effectiveness 

is expected. Overall no differential 

impacts are expected between general 

agricultural and general forest producers 

and beginning and socially 

disadvantaged producers, including 

veteran status. 

An important discretionary change is 

clearly defining the terms ‘‘applicable 

priority resource concerns’’ and ‘‘other 

priority resource concerns.’’ 

‘‘Applicable priority resource concerns’’ 

represent resource issues within a 

watershed or portion of a State that 

NRCS is targeting for improvement. 

‘‘Other priority resource concerns’’ are 

resource concerns that are currently not 

being targeted for improvement. These 

definitions allow NRCS to better 

describe how it is targeting resources to 

meet statutory objectives. 

In summary, differences in program 

impacts between the 2008 CSP and the 

2014 CSP can be attributed primarily to 

the program’s smaller acre cap of 10 

million acres. Statutory requirements 

related to contract renewals and 

proposed discretionary actions will 

result in a more focused approach to 

meeting conservation objectives. 

Comments Invited 

NRCS invites interested persons to 

participate in this rulemaking by 

submitting written comments or views 

about the changes made by this interim 

rule. The most helpful comments 

reference a specific portion of the 

regulation, explain the reason for any 

recommended changes, and include 

supporting data and references to 

statutory language. All comments 

received on or before the closing date 

for comments will be considered. This 

regulation may be changed because of 

the comments received. All comments 

received, as well as a report 

summarizing each substantive public 

comment received concerning this 

interim rule will be filed in the docket 

(No. NRCS–2014–0008). The docket, 

including any personal information 

provided, will be made available for 

public inspection. 

Discussion of Conservation 

Stewardship Program (7 CFR Part 1470) 

The Food, Conservation, and Energy 

Act of 2008 Act (2008 Act) amended the 

Food Security Act of 1985 (1985 Act) to 

establish the Conservation Stewardship 

Program (CSP) and authorize the 

program in FY 2009 through FY 2013. 

The Agriculture Act of 2014 (the 2014 

Act) reauthorizes and revises CSP. 

The purpose of CSP is to encourage 

producers to address priority resource 

concerns and improve and conserve the 

quality and condition of the natural 

resources in a comprehensive manner 

by: (1) Undertaking additional 

conservation activities; and (2) 

improving, maintaining, and managing 

existing conservation activities. The 

Secretary of Agriculture delegated 

authority to the Chief, NRCS, to 

administer CSP. 

Through CSP, NRCS provides 

financial and technical assistance to 

eligible producers to conserve and 

enhance soil, water, air, and related 

natural resources on their land. Eligible 

lands include private or tribal cropland, 

grassland, pastureland, rangeland, 

nonindustrial private forest lands and 

other land in agricultural areas 

(including cropped woodland, marshes, 

and agricultural land or capable of being 

used for the production of livestock) on 

which resource concerns related to 

agricultural production could be 

addressed. Participation in the program 

is voluntary. 

CSP encourages land stewards to 

improve their conservation performance 

by installing and adopting additional 

activities, and improving, maintaining, 

and managing existing activities on 

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65840 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

eligible land. NRCS makes funding for 

CSP available nationwide on a 

continuous application basis. 

NRCS coordinates its implementation 

of CSP with the other premier Farm Bill 

working lands program, the 

Environmental Quality Incentives 

Program (EQIP). CSP and EQIP work in 

a complementary manner to address 

conservation issues associated with 

agricultural operations. In particular, 

EQIP emphasizes assistance upon the 

magnitude of the expected conservation 

benefit and thus address those natural 

resource concerns that are creating 

significant environmental impact, while 

CSP emphasizes assistance to producers 

who are already addressing some of 

these potential environmental impacts 

by meeting a priority resource concern’s 

stewardship level of treatment and 

encourages these producers to achieve 

greater stewardship performance in a 

comprehensive manner. Thus, a 

producer can receive assistance to 

install conservation practices under 

EQIP that enables the producer to meet 

the stewardship threshold for a priority 

resource concern, which in turn enables 

the producer to be eligible for CSP. In 

this way, CSP builds upon the 

conservation efforts initiated under 

EQIP and expands upon them to a new 

level of conservation performance. 

Summary of CSP Provisions 

The CSP regulation is organized into 

three subparts: Subpart A—General 

Provisions; Subpart B—Contracts; and 

Subpart C—General Administration. 

Below is a summary of the changes 

made to each subpart based upon the 

changes made to CSP by the 2014 Act. 

The 2014 Act made the following 

changes to CSP implementation: 

• Establishes implementation for FY 

2014 through FY 2018 (the 2008 Act 

was for FY 2008 through FY 2014); 

• Limits eligible land to land in 

production for at least four of the 6 

years preceding February 7, 2014, the 

date of enactment of the Agricultural 

Act of 2014 (previous date was June 18, 

2008); 

• Requires contract offers to meet or 

exceed the stewardship threshold for at 

least two priority resource concerns (the 

2008 Act only required one resource 

concern) and meet or exceed the 

stewardship threshold for one 

additional priority resource concern by 

the end of the contract (the 2008 Act 

required one priority resource concern); 

• Strikes the definition and references 

to ‘‘conservation measurement tools’’ 

(the 2008 Act did not contain a similar 

provision); 

• Requires that the contract must 

include all eligible land under the 

effective control of the applicant that is 

operated substantially separate from 

other operations for the term of the 

contract; 

• Allows enrollment of lands that are 

protected by an agricultural land 

easement under the newly authorized 

Agricultural Conservation Easement 

Program (ACEP) (the 2008 Act did not 

include ACEP); 

• Allows enrollment of lands that are 

in the last year of the Conservation 

Reserve Program (CRP) (the 2008 Act 

did not contain a similar provision). The 

CRP contract must expire at the end of 

the fiscal year in which the land is to 

be enrolled in CSP, and the CRP 

payment for enrolled land must cease 

before the first CSP payment is made; 

• Allows contract to be renewed if the 

threshold for two additional priority 

resource concerns will be met or the 

stewardship threshold will be exceeded 

for two existing priority resource 

concerns (the 2008 Act did not contain 

a similar provision); 

• Requires that at least five priority 

resource concerns be identified for each 

area or watershed (the 2008 Act 

required three to five priority resource 

concerns); 

• Requires NRCS to establish a 

science-based stewardship threshold for 

each priority resource concern (the 2008 

Act did not contain a similar provision); 

• Authorizes NRCS to prorate 

conservation performance so that a 

participant may receive equal annual 

payments to the greatest extent 

practicable; 

• Emphasizes conservation activities 

to be implemented across the 

agricultural operation; 

• Authorizes a supplemental payment 

for improving resource conserving crop 

rotations (the 2008 Act did not contain 

a similar provision); 

• Removed the 10 percent cap on 

nonindustrial private forest land 

enrollment; 

• Included a preference for veterans 

(the 2008 Act did not contain a similar 

provision); 

• Reduces the annual enrollment 

limit from 12,769,000 to 10,000,000 

acres; and 

• Establishes CSP as a covered 

program authorized to be used to 

accomplish the purposes of the Regional 

Conservation Partnership Program 

(RCPP) (Subtitle I of Title XII of the 

Food Security Act of 1985, as amended 

by the 2014 Act) (the 2008 Act did not 

contain a similar provision). 

Subpart A—General Provisions 

Section 1470.1 Applicability 

Section 1470.1, ‘‘Applicability,’’ sets 

forth the policies, procedures, and 

requirements of CSP. In paragraph (a), 

NRCS clarifies that contracts entered 

into prior to the 2014 Act are 

administered according to the CSP 

regulation in effect prior to enactment, 

and that contracts entered into after 

enactment of the 2014 Act will be 

administered under these regulations. 

Paragraph (b) updates CSP purposes 

consistent with the changes made to 

CSP purposes by the 2014 Act. 

Section 1470.2 Administration 

Section 1470.2, ‘‘Administration,’’ 

describes the roles of NRCS at the 

National and State levels. Paragraph (b) 

is revised to clarify the scope of the 

authority of the Chief to change 

delegations within the agency or to 

modify or waive certain discretionary 

provisions of this regulation. As revised 

by the 2014 Act, NRCS replaced 

reference in paragraph (c) to 

‘‘conservation measurement tools’’ with 

the establishment of ‘‘science-based 

stewardship thresholds for each priority 

resource concern.’’ NRCS revised 

paragraph (d) to identify that between 

FY 2014 and FY 2022, NRCS will enroll 

an additional 10,000,000 acres in each 

fiscal year and continue operating the 

program to achieve a national average 

rate of $18 per acre, which includes the 

costs to the Federal Government for all 

financial and technical assistance, and 

any other expenses associated with 

program enrollment and participation. 

NRCS modified paragraph (e)(1)(ii) to 

require that NRCS will identify not less 

than five applicable priority resource 

concerns in particular watersheds, 

geographic areas, or other appropriate 

regions within a State, as required by 

statute. Applicable priority resource 

concerns are selected by the State from 

a defined list of priority resource 

concerns identified at the national level 

and have the most important 

environmental challenges associated 

with agricultural production in the State 

or region. The current suite of priority 

resource concerns is comprised of the 

following: air quality, animal, energy, 

plants, soil erosion, soil quality, water 

quality, and water quantity. NRCS 

retains the authority to modify this suite 

of priority resource concerns. For 

example, the Chief may want to target 

a geographic area where expanding 

wildlife concerns are deemed more 

significant as compared to energy 

concerns. This requirement is now 

captured in (e)(2). NRCS removed 

paragraphs (e)(1)(iv) and (v) consistent 

with the 2014 Act changes to remove 

on-farm research and demonstration and 

pilot projects under CSP, and to reflect 

the repeal of the Cooperative 

Conservation Partnership Initiative. 

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Section 1470.3 Definitions 

Section 1470.3, ‘‘Definitions,’’ sets 

forth definitions for terms used 

throughout this regulation. The 

following definitions have been 

modified to reflect changes made by the 

2014 Act: ‘‘agricultural operation,’’ 

‘‘conservation activities,’’ and ‘‘priority 

resource concern.’’ The terms 

‘‘conservation measurement tool’’ and 

‘‘resource concern’’ have been removed 

to conform to changes made by the 2014 

Act. 

The term ‘‘animal waste storage or 

treatment facility’’ was also removed. 

This avoids unnecessarily narrowing the 

application of the term. 

The term ‘‘conservation planning’’ 

was removed because its terms are 

covered in § 1470.22, Conservation 

Stewardship Plan. The definition of 

‘‘conservation practice’’ was modified to 

be more consistent with the definition 

used in the Environmental Quality 

Incentives Program (EQIP). The 

definition of ‘‘conservation stewardship 

plan’’ was modified to be consistent 

with § 1470.22, Conservation 

Stewardship Plan. 

The term ‘‘designated 

conservationist’’ was removed since it is 

no longer used in the regulation. 

Throughout, the term ‘‘agricultural 

land’’ was removed and replaced with 

‘‘eligible land,’’ which describes those 

areas identified by CSP’s authorizing 

legislation—working agricultural land 

being actively managed for agricultural 

production purposes upon which CSP 

will be focused. The definition for 

eligible land is consistent with that term 

added by the 2014 Act to section 

1238D(4) of the Food Security Act of 

1985. 

The term ‘‘enhancement’’ was 

modified to link an enhancement’s 

management intensity with the Field 

Office Technical Guide quality criteria, 

Section III, for each resource concern. 

Quality criteria specifics are located at: 

http://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/. 

The term ‘‘enrollment’’ was removed. 

Since this definition was unique to the 

FY 2009 enrollment, it is no longer 

needed. 

The term ‘‘historically underserved 

producer’’ was added to simplify 

references to several statutorily-defined 

categories of producers who are 

frequently referred to collectively. 

The definition of ‘‘legal entity’’ was 

modified to be consistent with the 

definition used in EQIP. 

The definition of ‘‘limited resource 

farmer or rancher,’’ was modified by 

removing the reference to ‘‘$142,000’’ 

that applied in 2010 only, and clarifying 

how the term is applied to legal entities 

or joint operations. 

The definition of ‘‘National Organic 

Program’’ was modified to include the 

reference to the Organic Foods 

Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 

et seq.). 

The definition of ‘‘operation and 

maintenance’’ was modified to be 

consistent with the definition in the 

EQIP regulation. 

The definition of ‘‘priority resource 

concern’’ was amended to conform to 

the statute which defines the term as a 

natural resource concern or problem 

that is identified at the national, State, 

or local level and to explain the terms 

‘‘applicable’’ priority resource concerns 

and ‘‘other’’ priority resource concerns 

in the context of the base term. 

The definition of ‘‘producer’’ was 

modified to correct a citation. 

The definition of ‘‘socially 

disadvantaged producer’’ was amended 

to conform to the statutory definition of 

the term. 

The term ‘‘state conservationist’’ was 

removed and replaced throughout with 

the term ‘‘NRCS’’ to allow more 

flexibility in internal agency delegation 

of authority. 

The definition of ‘‘stewardship 

threshold’’ was modified to remove 

reference to the conservation 

measurement tool (CMT) consistent 

with its removal by the 2014 Act. 

Additionally, NRCS removed the clause 

‘‘natural resource conservation and 

environment.’’ The stewardship 

threshold is used to determine if an 

applicant meets the minimum treatment 

requirements to be eligible for CSP, and 

is also used as part of the ranking 

process. NRCS guides its efforts to set 

stewardship thresholds at sustainable 

levels for natural resource treatment. 

The definition of ‘‘technical service 

providers’’ was modified to be 

consistent with 7 CFR part 652. 

The definition of ‘‘veteran farmer or 

rancher’’ was added to address the new 

provision in the 2014 Act to prioritize 

individuals under this category. 

Several other definitions in this rule 

were amended for clarity and to be 

consistent with definitions adopted for 

other conservation programs. 

Section 1470.4 Allocation and 

Management 

Section 1470.4, ‘‘Allocation and 

management,’’ addresses national 

allocations and how the proportion of 

eligible land will be used as the primary 

means to distribute CSP acres and 

associated funds among States. The 

agency plans to use a nationally 

consistent method to document resource 

needs and provide a foundation for 

establishing priorities within States. 

Inputs may include National Resources 

Inventory (NRI) land use data, NRI soil 

erosion estimates, NRI Rangeland 

Resource Assessment rangeland health 

data, NRI CEAP soil organic carbon 

data, and various attributes from the 

Soil Survey Geographic database. These 

and other data layers maybe used to 

calculate critical acres by State and 

resource concern. The considerations 

listed in paragraph (a)(2) have been 

modified to follow statutory allocation 

criteria provided in section 1238G(b)(2) 

of the Food Security Act. The 2014 Act 

amended section 1241(h) of the Food 

Security Act of 1985 to extend the 

assistance available to ‘‘certain farmers 

or ranchers for conservation access’’ for 

FY 2014 through FY 2018. Therefore, 

NRCS modified paragraph (c) to reflect 

that 5 percent of the CSP acres in each 

of FY 2014 through FY 2018 will be 

available to assist socially 

disadvantaged farmers or ranchers and 5 

percent of the CSP acres in each of FY 

2014 through FY 2018 will be available 

to assist beginning farmers or ranchers. 

Additionally, the 2014 Act added a 

priority within the conservation access 

acreage set-aside for veteran farmer or 

ranchers. This priority has been added 

to paragraph (d). 

The original language in paragraph (e) 

has been removed from the regulation, 

consistent with the repeal of the 

Cooperative Conservation Partnership 

Initiative. NRCS identifies in the revised 

paragraph (e) that certain adjustments, 

based on resource assessments, may 

need to be made to the allocation of 

acres to States to ensure equitable and 

effective implementation to meet the 

purposes of the program and ensure 

National enrollment. In particular, 

NRCS may know at the time of 

determining a fiscal year’s allocation of 

acres that while the allocation is based 

primarily on each State’s proportion of 

eligible land to the total acreage of 

eligible land in all States, resource 

assessment adjustments are needed to 

ensure that each State’s allocation does 

not exceed its ability to enroll land into 

the program. Additionally, once 

allocations have been made, a 

reallocation of acres may be necessary 

because one State is unable to meet its 

enrollment targets while demand of 

high priority projects is available in 

another State. 

Section 1470.5 Outreach Activities 

NRCS removed paragraph (d) to align 

the CSP rule with the EQIP rule. 

Section 1470.6 Eligibility requirements 

Section 1470.6, ‘‘Eligibility 

requirements,’’ sets forth the criteria for 

determining applicant and land 

eligibility. NRCS adjusted the regulatory 

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65842 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

language slightly to address ‘‘other 

producers’’ who are not identified as the 

operator in the Farm Service Agency 

farm records system but otherwise meet 

program eligibility criteria. NRCS 

modified the rule to reflect several 

changes made in the Food Security Act 

of 1985 by the 2014 Act. Paragraph (b) 

was modified to use the new term 

‘‘eligible land,’’ that reflects the new 

statutory definition. 

Subpart B—Contracts and Payments 

Section 1470.20 Application for 

Contracts and Selecting Offers From 

Applicants 

Section 1470.20, ‘‘Application for 

contracts and selecting offers from 

applicants,’’ identifies procedures 

associated with contract application 

requirements, the application evaluation 

process, and application acceptance. 

NRCS amended paragraph (a) to clarify 

that applicants may submit an 

application for the agricultural 

operation. Paragraph (b) defines contract 

application requirements. Consistent 

with the 2014 Act revision to 

enrollment eligibility, NRCS modified 

paragraph (b)(1) to specify that an 

applicant must meet a stewardship 

threshold for at least two priority 

resource concerns at the time of contract 

offer. The 2008 Act had only required 

an applicant to meet one resource 

concern at the time of application. 

NRCS also amended paragraph (b)(2) to 

clarify that an applicant must meet or 

exceed the stewardship threshold for at 

least one additional priority resource 

concern by the end of the conservation 

stewardship contract. An applicant 

accomplishes this by installing and 

adopting additional conservation 

activities and by improving, 

maintaining, and managing existing 

conservation activities across the entire 

agricultural operation in a manner that 

increases or extends the conservation 

benefits in place at the time the contract 

application is accepted by NRCS. 

NRCS removed paragraph (b)(4) as it 

addressed on-farm research and 

demonstration activities or pilot testing, 

which are activities removed from 

stewardship contracts by the 2014 Act. 

The 2014 Act specified application 

ranking factors and paragraph (c) was 

modified to conform to the amended 

statutory ranking factors. The 2014 Act 

slightly modified the phraseology used 

to describe the ranking factors that had 

originally been identified in the 2008 

Act and added a new factor related to 

the extent to which priority resource 

concerns will be addressed when 

transitioning from CRP to agricultural 

production. 

NRCS removed reference to the CMT 

that had previously been identified in 

the ranking factors. However, the 

removal of the statutory and regulatory 

reference does not prohibit NRCS from 

utilizing the CMT or equivalent 

methodology, but simply removes the 

requirement that it be used. 

Paragraph (d) on weighting of ranking 

factors was modified to clarify the 

authority of the Chief to adjust these 

factors as required to address any 

program objective, including placing 

emphasis on increasing net conservation 

benefits. Previously, the regulation 

simply identified the Chief could adjust 

the weighting of ranking factors to 

increase net conservation benefit. 

During the first years of program 

implementation, NRCS ranked every 

application within a pool according to 

equally weighted ranking factors. NRCS 

selected applications for enrollment 

beginning with the highest ranked one 

and worked down the ranked list until 

a pool’s funding limit or acreage limit 

was reached. This translated into an 

effective weighting scheme that shifted 

the program towards enrollment based 

upon additionality. 

For the 2014 Act, the Chief will apply 

weights to the ranking factors to address 

evolving resource issues and priority 

adjustments. As reflected by the 

statutory ranking factors, NRCS will 

maintain weightings of ranking factors 

that continue to emphasize greatly the 

extent to which additional activities 

will be adopted. For example, the NRCS 

Chief may decide to place increased 

weights to those factors that relate to 

additional activities in order to increase 

the net new conservation benefit. 

Further, the NRCS Chief may make 

adjustments to ensure that the 

consideration of the enrollment of 

transitioning CRP lands as a ranking 

factor are fully assimilated with the 

other ranking factors so that such 

applications are equitably evaluated. 

NRCS is seeking specific comment on 

how the factor for CRP land should be 

weighted in proportion to other ranking 

factors giving consideration for other 

lands being offered for enrollment. 

NRCS removed from paragraph (f) the 

reference to NIPF enrollment limitation 

that had been removed by the 2014 Act. 

Section 1470.21 Contract 

Requirements 

Section 1470.21, ‘‘Contract 

requirements,’’ identifies elements 

contained within a contract and the 

responsibilities of a CSP participant. A 

participant must enter into a CSP 

contract, including a conservation 

stewardship plan, to enroll their eligible 

land and to receive payment. NRCS 

modified paragraph (b)(4)(i) to clarify 

that the participant must implement the 

conservation stewardship plan. NRCS 

also clarified at paragraph (b)(4)(vi) that 

a participant is required to ‘‘maintain 

and supply information’’ as requested 

by NRCS to determine ‘‘compliance 

with the conservation stewardship plan 

and any other requirements of the 

program.’’ Similarly, NRCS clarified at 

paragraph (b)(4)(vii) that a participant 

must not conduct any activities on the 

agricultural operation that would tend 

to defeat the purposes of the program. 

These participant requirements are 

included in the 2014 Act revisions to 

the participant’s responsibilities under 

CSP. 

Section 1470.22 Conservation 

Stewardship Plan 

Section 1470.22, ‘‘Conservation 

stewardship plan,’’ describes that NRCS 

will use the conservation planning 

process to encourage producers to 

address priority resource concerns in a 

comprehensive manner. The 

conservation stewardship plan contains 

a record of the participant’s decisions 

on the schedule of conservation 

activities to be implemented, managed, 

and improved under CSP. 

NRCS added language at paragraph (c) 

that the conservation stewardship plan 

describes ‘‘conservation activities to be 

implemented, managed, or improved.’’ 

Additionally, NRCS removed the 

references to the CMT, revised the term 

‘‘resource concerns’’ to be ‘‘priority 

resource concerns, and removed the 

reference to on-farm research and 

demonstration or pilot testing, 

consistent with such changes made by 

the 2014 Act. 

Section 1470.24 Payments 

Section 1470.24, ‘‘Payments,’’ 

describes the types of payments issued 

under CSP, how payments will be 

derived, and payment limitations. The 

2014 Act revisions to CSP require NRCS 

to make several changes to the 

provisions at § 1470.24. Section 1470.24 

was modified to remove all references to 

the CMT. NRCS also modified 

paragraph (a) by adding the payment 

factors required by the 2014 Act. 

Under paragraph (b), a participant 

may receive supplemental payments 

when he or she adopts a resourceconserving crop rotation. NRCS 

modified paragraph (b), consistent with 

2014 Act, to identify that a participant 

is eligible for a supplemental payment 

if the participant agrees to adopt or 

improve beneficial crop rotations as 

appropriate for the eligible land of the 

participant. 

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NRCS removed the provision related 

to on-farm research and demonstration 

or pilot testing at paragraph (c), and redesignated the remaining paragraphs as 

appropriate. 

As re-designated, paragraph (f) 

addresses payment limitations 

applicable to a person or legal entity. 

Consistent with the 2014 Act revision, 

NRCS replaced the rolling 5-year period 

with the time period FY 2014 through 

FY 2018. NRCS also simplified the 

references to ‘‘federally-recognized’’ 

Indian Tribes, consistent with the 

definition of Indian Tribe at section 

1201(14) of the Food Security Act of 

1985 and corresponding to the 

streamlining of terminology at section 

1238G(f) made by the 2014 Act. 

The 2008 Act required that a person 

or legal entity may not receive, directly 

or indirectly, payments that, in the 

aggregate, exceed $200,000 for all 

contracts entered into during any 5-year 

period. The 2014 Act replaced this 

‘‘rolling’’ 5-year payment limitation 

with a $200,000 limitation for all 

contracts entered into between FY 2014 

and FY 2018. The regulation continues 

to include an annual payment limit of 

$40,000 during any fiscal year to a 

person or legal entity. This annual limit 

was originally added to reduce the 

chance that participants would reach 

their $200,000 5-year limit early in their 

contract term and have diminished 

incentive to meet their obligations over 

the 5-year life of the contract. NRCS 

clarified that participants that in the 

aggregate exceed $200,000 for all 

contracts entered into prior to the end 

of the applicable period are expected to 

fulfill their contract obligation during 

the full term of the contract. NRCS 

monitors person or legal entity payment 

limitations through direct attribution to 

real persons. 

The absence of a contract payment 

limitation in the 2008 Act caused 

concern because of the potential for 

excessively large contracts. Since each 

member of a joint operation is treated as 

a separate person or legal entity with 

payments directly attributed to them, 

contracts with a joint operation could be 

very large. For example, a contract with 

a joint operation with five members who 

each reach their $200,000 per person or 

legal entity limit could have contract 

payments of $1 million. This created the 

potential for a high percentage of 

allocated acres and funds to be utilized 

in contracts with large joint operations 

to the detriment of smaller operations. 

To prevent large contracts of this nature, 

the 2010 final rule included a contract 

limit of $200,000 over the term of the 

initial contract period with the 

exception of joint operations that could 

receive up to $400,000 over the term of 

the initial contract period. This same 

limitation remains in this interim rule. 

With regard to the payment limitation 

as it applies to contracts with Indians 

represented by the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs (BIA) or an Indian Tribe, 

payments exceeding the payment 

limitation may be made to the Tribal 

participant if the BIA or Tribal official 

certifies in writing that no individual 

will receive more than the payment 

limitation. The BIA or Tribe must also 

provide, annually, a listing of 

individuals and payments made, by tax 

identification number or other unique 

identification number, during the 

previous year for calculation of overall 

payment limitations. The BIA or Indian 

Tribe must also produce, at the request 

of NRCS, proof of payments made to the 

person or legal entity that incurred costs 

or had income foregone related to 

conservation practice implementation. 

NRCS also removed paragraph (l) 

related to payment data as the 

requirement to detail and segment CSP 

data has been removed from the CSP 

statute. 

Section 1470.25 Contract 

Modifications and Transfers of Land 

Changes made to section 1470.25, 

‘‘Contract modifications and transfers of 

land,’’ clarify agency policy regarding 

voluntary contract modifications, 

consistent with the 2014 Act. NRCS 

modified paragraph (b) to authorize the 

removal of acres from CSP to enroll in 

the Conservation Reserve Program 

(CRP), in a wetland easement through 

the Agricultural Conservation Easement 

Program (ACEP–WRE), other Federal or 

State program that offers greater natural 

resource protection. NRCS may also 

approve modifications related to 

voluntary land use changes to another 

land use, eligible or ineligible, that the 

participant wishes to make within 

particular parameters to ensure program 

purposes can be met. Prior to approving 

any modification, NRCS must determine 

that the modification is consistent with 

CSP purposes. 

Paragraph (c) states that NRCS will 

not modify a contract to increase the 

contract obligation beyond the amount 

of the initial contract, except to 

implement an appeal determination or 

correct an administrative error as 

approved by NRCS. Modifications to 

transfer the contract to a successor in 

interest and changes made to the 

structure of an operation are not 

excluded from this provision. NRCS 

also has clarified policy with respect to 

transfer of land. 

Section 1470.26 Contract Renewal 

Under § 1470.26, ‘‘Contract renewal,’’ 

NRCS may allow a participant to renew 

the contract for one additional 5-year 

period if they meet specific criteria. 

These criteria were modified by the 

2014 Act, and therefore, paragraph (b) 

updates the criteria. NRCS is specifying 

that ‘‘applicable’’ priority resource 

concerns be addressed at the time of 

renewal given that the original contract 

addressed at least one or more priority 

resource concerns identified by the 

State and the test for renewal is whether 

existing or additional priority resource 

concerns identified by the State will be 

addressed during the renewed contract 

period. Previously, the requirement was 

that a participant only had to meet or 

exceed the stewardship threshold for 

one additional priority resource concern 

identified by the State. 

In addition to incorporating the 

changes made by the 2014 Act, NRCS is 

taking this opportunity to clarify a few 

administrative provisions. Additionally, 

NRCS is simplifying the administrative 

complexity of the CSP rule by 

streamlining the regulation to focus 

upon only those provisions that relate to 

conservation program participants’ 

rights and responsibilities under the 

program. In multiple places NRCS 

removed references to duties of specific 

NRCS positions, including the State 

Conservationist, and purely internal 

NRCS processes. 

Subpart C—General Administration 

Section 1470.37 Environmental Credits 

for Conservation Improvements 

Changes made to section 1470.37 

clarify that environmental benefits 

achieved through participation in the 

CSP program may qualify for 

environmental credits under an 

environmental credit-trading program, 

and that NRCS asserts no direct or 

indirect interest in these credits. 

Further, any requirements or standards 

of such environmental market program 

to receive credits must be compatible 

with the purposes of the CSP contract. 

Regulatory Changes 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1470 

Agricultural operation, Conservation 

activities, Natural resources, Priority 

resource concern, Stewardship 

threshold, Resource-conserving crop 

rotation, Soil and water conservation, 

Soil quality, Water quality and water 

conservation, Wildlife and forest 

management. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, part 1470 of title 7 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations is revised 

to read as follows: 

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65844 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

PART 1470—CONSERVATION 

STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM 

Subpart A—General Provisions 

Sec. 

1470.1 Applicability. 

1470.2 Administration. 

1470.3 Definitions. 

1470.4 Allocation and management. 

1470.5 Outreach activities. 

1470.6 Eligibility requirements. 

1470.7 Enhancements and conservation 

practices. 

1470.8 Technical and other assistance. 

Subpart B—Contracts and Payments 

1470.20 Application for contracts and 

selecting offers from applicants. 

1470.21 Contract requirements. 

1470.22 Conservation stewardship plan. 

1470.23 Conservation activity operation 

and maintenance. 

1470.24 Payments. 

1470.25 Voluntary contract modifications 

and transfers of land. 

1470.26 Contract renewal. 

1470.27 Contract violations and 

termination. 

Subpart C—General Administration 

1470.30 Fair treatment of tenants and 

sharecroppers. 

1470.31 Appeals. 

1470.32 Compliance with regulatory 

measures. 

1470.33 Access to agricultural operation. 

1470.34 Equitable relief. 

1470.35 Offsets and assignments. 

1470.36 Misrepresentation and scheme or 

device. 

1470.37 Environmental credits for 

conservation improvements. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 3838d–3838g. 

Subpart A—General Provisions 

§ 1470.1 Applicability. 

(a) This part sets forth the policies, 

procedures, and requirements for the 

Conservation Stewardship Program 

(CSP) as administered by the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), 

for enrollment during fiscal year (FY) 

2014 and thereafter. Contracts entered 

into prior to FY 2014 will use the 

regulations and policies in effect the 

date prior to February 7, 2014. 

(b) The purpose of CSP is to 

encourage producers to address priority 

resource concerns and improve and 

conserve the quality and condition of 

natural resources in a comprehensive 

manner by: 

(1) Undertaking additional 

conservation activities; and 

(2) Improving, maintaining, and 

managing existing conservation 

activities. 

(c) CSP is applicable in any of the 50 

States, District of Columbia, 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

Virgin Islands of the United States, 

American Samoa, and Commonwealth 

of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

(d) NRCS provides financial and 

technical assistance to eligible 

producers. 

§ 1470.2 Administration. 

(a) The regulations in this part will be 

administered under the general 

supervision and direction of the Chief, 

NRCS, who is a Vice President of the 

Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). 

(b) No delegation in the 

administration of this part to lower 

organizational levels will preclude the 

Chief from making any determinations 

under this part, re-delegating to other 

organizational levels, or from reversing 

or modifying any determination made 

under this part. The Chief may modify 

or waive a nonstatutory, discretionary 

provision of this part if the Chief 

determines: 

(1) The application of that provision 

to a particular limited situation to be 

inappropriate and inconsistent with the 

purposes of the program; or 

(2) The waiver of such discretionary 

provision is necessary to further the 

purposes of CSP under the Regional 

Conservation Partnership Program 

(RCPP) authorized by Subtitle I of Title 

XII of the Food Security Act of 1985. To 

assist in RCPP implementation, the 

Chief may also waive the applicability 

of the adjusted gross income (AGI) 

limitation in section 1001D(b)(2) of the 

Food Security Act of 1985 for 

participating producers if the Chief 

determines that the waiver is necessary 

to fulfill RCPP objectives. 

(c) To achieve the conservation goals 

of CSP, NRCS will: 

(1) Make the program available 

nationwide to eligible applicants on a 

continuous application basis with one 

or more ranking periods to determine 

enrollments. One of the ranking periods 

will occur in the first quarter of each 

fiscal year to the extent practicable. 

(2) Establish a science-based 

stewardship threshold for each priority 

resource concern at the level of 

management required to conserve and 

improve the quality and condition of a 

natural resource. 

(d) During the period beginning on 

February 7, 2014, and ending on 

September 30, 2022, NRCS will, to the 

maximum extent practicable: 

(1) Enroll in CSP an additional 

10,000,000 acres for each fiscal year; 

and 

(2) Manage CSP to achieve a national 

average rate of $18 per acre, which 

includes the Federal costs of all 

financial and technical assistance and 

any other expenses associated with 

program enrollment and participation. 

(e) NRCS will develop State level 

technical, outreach, and program 

materials, with the advice of the State 

Technical Committee and local working 

groups, including: 

(1) Establishment of ranking pools 

appropriate for the conduct of CSP 

within the State to ensure program 

availability and better distribution of the 

funds. Ranking pools may be based on 

watersheds, geographic areas, or other 

appropriate regions within a State and 

may consider high-priority regional and 

State-level resource concern areas; 

(2) Identification of not less than five 

applicable priority resource concerns in 

particular geographic areas, or other 

appropriate regions within a State; and 

(3) Identification of resourceconserving crops that will be part of 

resource-conserving crop rotations. 

(f) NRCS may enter into agreements 

with Federal, State, and local agencies, 

conservation districts, Indian Tribes, 

private entities, and individuals to assist 

NRCS with program implementation. 

§ 1470.3 Definitions. 

The following definitions will apply 

to this part and all documents issued in 

accordance with this part, unless 

specified otherwise: 

Agricultural operation means all 

eligible land, as determined by NRCS, 

whether contiguous or noncontiguous 

that is: 

(1) Under the effective control of a 

producer at the time of enrollment in 

the program; and 

(2) Operated by the producer with 

equipment, labor, management, and 

production or cultivation practices that 

are substantially separate from other 

agricultural operations. 

Applicant means a producer who has 

requested in writing to participate in 

CSP. 

Beginning farmer or rancher means a 

person or legal entity who: 

(1) Has not operated a farm, ranch, or 

nonindustrial private forest land (NIPF), 

or who has operated a farm, ranch, or 

NIPF for not more than 10 consecutive 

years. This requirement applies to all 

members of a legal entity who will 

materially and substantially participate 

in the operation of the farm or ranch. 

(2) In the case of a contract with an 

individual, individually, or with the 

immediate family, material and 

substantial participation requires that 

the individual provide substantial dayto-day labor and management of the 

farm or ranch, consistent with the 

practices in the county or State where 

the farm is located. 

(3) In the case of a contract with a 

legal entity or joint operation, all 

members must materially and 

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substantially participate in the 

operation of the farm or ranch. Material 

and substantial participation requires 

that each of the members provide some 

amount of the management or labor and 

management necessary for day-to-day 

activities, such that if each of the 

members did not provide these inputs, 

operation of the farm or ranch would be 

seriously impaired. 

Chief means the Chief of NRCS, 

United States Department of 

Agricultural (USDA), or designee. 

Conservation activities mean 

conservation systems, practices, 

enhancements or management 

measures. The term conservation 

activities includes structural measures, 

vegetative measures, and land 

management measures, including 

agricultural drainage management 

systems as determined by NRCS, and 

planning needed to address a priority 

resource concern. 

Conservation district means any 

district or unit of State, Tribal, or local 

government formed under State, Tribal, 

or territorial law for the express purpose 

of developing and carrying out a local 

soil and water conservation program. 

Such district or unit of government may 

be referred to as a ‘‘conservation 

district,’’ ‘‘soil conservation district,’’ 

‘‘soil and water conservation district,’’ 

‘‘resource conservation district,’’ ‘‘land 

conservation committee,’’ ‘‘natural 

resource district,’’ or similar name. 

Conservation practice means 

structural practices, land management 

practices, vegetative practices, forest 

management practices, and other 

improvements that achieve the program 

purposes, including such items as 

Comprehensive Nutrient Management 

Plans, agricultural energy management 

plans, dryland transition plans, forest 

management plans, integrated pest 

management and other actions as 

approved by the Chief. Approved 

conservation practices are listed in the 

NRCS Field Office Technical Guide 

(FOTG). 

Conservation stewardship plan means 

a plan developed in accordance with the 

requirements of § 1470.22. 

Conservation system means a 

combination of conservation practices, 

management measures, and 

enhancements used to address natural 

resource and environmental concerns in 

a comprehensive, holistic, and 

integrated manner. 

Contract means a legal document that 

specifies the rights and obligations of 

any participant who has been accepted 

into the program. A CSP contract is a 

binding agreement for the transfer of 

assistance from NRCS to the participant 

for installing, adopting, improving, 

managing, and maintaining 

conservation activities. 

Effective control means possession of 

the land by ownership, written lease, or 

other legal agreement and authority to 

act as decision maker for the day-to-day 

management of the operation both at the 

time the applicant enters into a 

stewardship contract and for the 

required period of the contract. 

Eligible land means: 

(1) Private and tribal land on which 

agricultural commodities, livestock, or 

forest-related products are produced; 

and 

(2) Upon which priority resource 

concerns could be addressed through a 

contract under the program. Eligible 

land includes cropland, grassland, 

rangeland, pastureland, nonindustrial 

private forest land, and other 

agricultural lands including cropped 

woodland, marshes, and agricultural 

land used or capable of being used for 

the production of livestock as determine 

by the Chief. 

Enhancement means a type of 

conservation activity used to treat 

natural resources and improve 

conservation performance. 

Enhancements are equal to or greater 

than the performance level for the 

quality criteria identified for a given 

resource concern. Quality criteria are 

defined for each resource concern in 

Section III—Conservation Management 

Systems, Field Office Technical Guide. 

Field office technical guide means the 

official local NRCS source of resource 

information and interpretations of 

guidelines, quality criteria, and 

standards for planning and 

implementation of conservation 

practices. It contains detailed 

information on the quality standard to 

achieve conservation of soil, water, air, 

plant, energy, and animal resources 

applicable to the local area for which it 

is prepared. 

Historically underserved producer 

means a person, joint operation, legal 

entity, or Indian Tribes who is a 

beginning farmer or rancher, socially 

disadvantaged farmer or rancher, or 

limited resource farmer or rancher. 

Indian lands means land held in trust 

by the United States for individual 

Indians or Indian Tribes, or all land 

titles held by individual Indians or 

Tribes, subject to Federal restrictions 

against alienation or encumbrance, or 

land which is subject to the rights of 

use, occupancy, and/or benefit of 

certain Indian Tribes. This term also 

includes lands for which the title is held 

in fee status by an Indian, Indian family, 

or Indian Tribe. 

Indian Tribe means any Indian Tribe, 

band, nation, pueblo, or other organized 

group or community, including any 

Alaska Native village or regional or 

village corporation as defined in or 

established pursuant to the Alaska 

Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

1601 et seq.), which is recognized as 

eligible for the special programs and 

services provided by the United States 

to Indians because of their status as 

Indians. 

Joint operation means, as defined in 7 

CFR part 1400, a general partnership, 

joint venture, or other similar business 

organization in which the members are 

jointly and severally liable for the 

obligations of the organization. 

Legal entity means, as defined in 7 

CFR part 1400, an entity created under 

Federal or State law that owns land or 

an agricultural commodity, product, or 

livestock; or produces an agricultural 

commodity, product, or livestock. 

Limited Resource Farmer or Rancher 

means: 

(1) A person with direct or indirect 

gross farm sales not more than the 

current indexed value in each of the 

previous 2 fiscal years (adjusted for 

inflation using Prices Paid by Farmer 

Index as compiled by the National 

Agricultural Statistical Service); and 

(2) Has a total household income at or 

below the national poverty level for a 

family of four, or less than 50 percent 

of county median household income in 

each of the previous 2 years (to be 

determined annually using Department 

of Commerce Data). 

(3) It also includes a legal entity or 

joint operation if all individual 

members independently qualify under 

paragraphs (1) and (2) of this definition. 

Liquidated damages means a sum of 

money stipulated in the CSP contract 

that the participant agrees to pay NRCS 

if the participant fails to fulfill the terms 

of the contract. The sum represents an 

estimate of the technical assistance 

expenses incurred to service the 

contract, and reflects the difficulties of 

proof of loss and the inconvenience or 

non-feasibility of otherwise obtaining an 

adequate remedy. 

Management measure means one or 

more specific actions that is not a 

conservation practice, but has the effect 

of alleviating problems or improving the 

treatment of the natural resources. 

National Organic Program means the 

program established under the Organic 

Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 

6501 et seq.), administered by the 

Agricultural Marketing Service, which 

regulates the standards for any farm, 

wild crop harvesting, or handling 

operation that wants to market an 

agricultural product as organically 

produced. 

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Natural Resources Conservation 

Service means an agency of USDA 

which has responsibility for 

administering CSP using the funds, 

facilities, and authorities of the CCC. 

Nonindustrial private forest land 

means rural land, as determined by 

NRCS, that has existing tree cover or is 

suitable for growing trees, and is owned 

by any nonindustrial private individual, 

group, association, corporation, Indian 

Tribe, or other private legal entity that 

has definitive decision-making authority 

over the land. 

Operation and maintenance means 

work performed by the participant to 

maintain existing conservation activities 

to at least the level of conservation 

performance identified at the time of 

enrollment, and maintain additional 

conservation activities installed and 

adopted over the contract period. 

Operation includes the administration, 

management, and performance of nonmaintenance actions needed to keep the 

completed activity functioning as 

intended. Maintenance includes work to 

prevent deterioration of the activity, 

repairing damage, replacement or 

restoration of the activity to its original 

condition if one or more components 

fail. 

Participant means a producer that has 

entered into a CSP contract and is 

receiving payment or is responsible for 

implementing the terms and conditions 

of a CSP contract. 

Payment means financial assistance 

provided to the participant under the 

terms of the CSP contract. 

Person means, as defined in 7 CFR 

part 1400, an individual, natural person 

and does not include a legal entity. 

Priority resource concern means a 

natural resource concern or problem, as 

determined by NRCS, and is likely to be 

addressed successfully through 

implementation of conservation 

activities under this program. The term 

‘‘applicable’’ priority resource concern 

means a resource concern identified by 

the State as a priority for a particular 

area of a State or region, and the term 

‘‘other’’ priority resource concern means 

a resource concerns identified at the 

National level. 

Producer means a person, legal entity, 

joint operation, or Indian Tribe who 

either has an interest in the agricultural 

operation or who NRCS determines is 

engaged in agricultural production or 

forestry management on the agricultural 

operation. 

Resource-conserving crop means a 

crop that is one of the following: 

(1) A perennial grass; 

(2) A legume grown for use as forage, 

seed for planting, or green manure; 

(3) A legume-grass mixture; 

(4) A small grain grown in 

combination with a grass, legume, forbs, 

grass-forbs mixture, whether interseeded or planted in rotation. 

Resource-conserving crop rotation 

means a crop rotation that: 

(1) Includes at least one resourceconserving crop as determined by 

NRCS; 

(2) Reduces erosion; 

(3) Improves soil fertility and tilth; 

(4) Interrupts pest cycles; and 

(5) In applicable areas, reduces 

depletion of soil moisture or otherwise 

reduces the need for irrigation. 

Secretary means the Secretary of 

USDA. 

Socially disadvantaged farmer or 

rancher means a producer who is a 

member of a group whose members 

have been subjected to racial or ethnic 

prejudices without regard to its 

members’ individual qualities. 

State Technical Committee means a 

committee established by the NRCS in 

a State pursuant to 7 CFR part 610, 

subpart C. 

Stewardship threshold means the 

level of management required, as 

determined by NRCS, to conserve and 

improve the quality and condition of a 

natural resource. 

Technical assistance means technical 

expertise, information, and tools 

necessary for the conservation of natural 

resources on land active in agricultural, 

forestry, or related uses. The term 

includes the following: 

(1) Technical services provided 

directly to farmers, ranchers, Indian 

Tribes, forest producers, and other 

eligible entities, such as conservation 

planning, technical consultation, 

preparation of forest stewardship 

management plans, and assistance with 

the design and implementation of 

conservation activities; and 

(2) Technical infrastructure, including 

processes, tools, and agency functions 

needed to support delivery of technical 

services, such as technical standards, 

resource inventories, training, data, 

technology, monitoring, and effects 

analyses. 

Technical Service Provider (TSP) 

means an individual, private-sector 

entity, Indian Tribe, or public agency 

certified by NRCS pursuant to 7 CFR 

part 652 and placed on the approved list 

to provide technical services to 

participants; or selected by the 

Department to assist the Department in 

the implementation of conservation 

programs covered by this part through a 

procurement contract, contribution 

agreement, or cooperative agreement 

with the Department. 

Veteran farmer or rancher means a 

producer who meets the definition in 

section 2501(e) of the Food, Agriculture, 

Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, as 

amended (7 U.S.C. 2279(e)). 

§ 1470.4 Allocation and management. 

(a) The Chief will allocate acres and 

associated funds to States: 

(1) Based on the consideration of: 

(i) Each State’s proportion of eligible 

land to the total acreage of eligible land 

in all States: 

(ii) The extent and magnitude of the 

conservation needs associated with 

agricultural production in each State, 

(iii) The degree to which 

implementation of the program in the 

State is, or will be, effective in helping 

producers address those needs, and 

(iv) Other considerations determined 

by the Chief to achieve equitable 

geographic distribution of program 

funds. 

(b) NRCS will allocate acres to 

ranking pools, to the extent practicable, 

based on the same factors the Chief 

considers in making allocations to 

States. 

(c) Of the acres made available for 

each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018 

to carry out CSP, NRCS will use, as a 

minimum: 

(1) Five percent to assist beginning 

farmers or ranchers, and 

(2) Five percent to assist socially 

disadvantaged farmers or ranchers. 

(d) NRCS will provide priority under 

paragraph (c) to any producer who is a 

veteran farmer or rancher. 

(e) NRCS may adjust the allocations to 

States in any fiscal year if it is 

determined an allocation cannot be 

utilized in a State. Additionally, 

allocated acres that are not enrolled by 

a date determined by NRCS may be 

reallocated with associated funds for 

use in that fiscal year under CSP. As 

part of the adjustments or reallocation 

process, NRCS will consider several 

factors, including demand from 

applicants, national and regional 

conservation priorities, and prior-year 

CSP performance in States. 

§ 1470.5 Outreach activities. 

(a) NRCS will establish program 

outreach activities at the national, State, 

and local levels to ensure that potential 

applicants who control eligible land are 

aware and informed that they may be 

eligible to apply for program assistance. 

(b) Special outreach will be made to 

eligible producers with historically low 

participation rates, including but not 

restricted to, beginning farmers or 

ranchers, limited resource farmers or 

ranchers, and socially disadvantaged 

farmers or ranchers. 

(c) NRCS will ensure that outreach is 

provided so as not to limit producer 

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participation because of size or type of 

operation or production system, 

including specialty crop and organic 

production. 

§ 1470.6 Eligibility requirements. 

(a) Eligible applicant. To apply for 

CSP, a producer must: 

(1) Be the operator of an agricultural 

operation in the Farm Service Agency 

(FSA) farm records management system. 

Potential applicants who are not in the 

FSA farm records management system 

must establish records with FSA. 

Applicants whose records are not 

current in the FSA farm records 

management system must update those 

records prior to the close of the 

evaluation period to be considered 

eligible. NRCS may grant exceptions to 

the ‘‘operator of record’’ requirement for 

producers, tenants, landlords, 

sharecroppers, and owners in the FSA 

farm records management system that 

can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of 

NRCS, they will operate and have 

effective control of the land, that they 

share in the risk of producing a crop and 

are entitled to share in the crop 

available for marketing from the farm (or 

would have shared had the crop been 

produced), and that they are part of the 

daily management, administration, and 

performance of the operation and share 

in the risk; 

(2) Have effective control of the land 

unless an exception is made by the 

Chief in the case of land administered 

by the BIA, Indian lands, or other 

instances in which the Chief determines 

that there is sufficient assurance of 

control; 

(3) Be in compliance with the highly 

erodible land and wetland conservation 

provisions found at 7 CFR part 12; 

(4) Be in compliance with Adjusted 

Gross Income provisions found at 7 CFR 

part 1400; 

(5) Supply information, as required by 

NRCS, to determine eligibility for the 

program, including but not limited to, 

information related to eligibility 

requirements and ranking factors; 

conservation activity and production 

system records; information to verify the 

applicant’s status as an historically 

underserved producer or a veteran 

farmer or rancher, if applicable; and 

payment eligibility as established by 7 

CFR part 1400; 

(6) Comply with applicable 

registration and reporting requirements 

of the Federal Funding Accountability 

and Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 

109–282, as amended), and 2 CFR parts 

25 and 170; and 

(7) Provide a list of all members of the 

legal entity or joint operation, as 

applicable, and embedded entities along 

with members’ tax identification 

numbers and percentage interest in the 

legal entity or joint operation. Where 

applicable; American Indians, Alaska 

Natives, and Pacific Islanders may use 

another unique identification number 

for each individual eligible for 

payments. 

(b) Eligible land. A contract 

application must include all of the 

eligible land on an applicant’s 

agricultural operation. A participant 

may submit an application(s) to enter 

into an additional contract(s) for newly 

acquired or newly eligible land, which 

would then compete with other 

applications in a subsequent ranking 

period. 

(c) Ineligible land. The following 

ineligible lands (even if covered by the 

definition of eligible land) are part of 

the agricultural operation, but ineligible 

for inclusion in the contract or for 

payment in CSP: 

(1) Land enrolled in the Conservation 

Reserve Program (CRP), 7 CFR part 1410 

unless— 

(i) The conservation reserve contract 

will expire at the end of the fiscal year 

in which the land is to be enrolled in 

the program, and 

(ii) Conservation reserve program 

payments for land enrolled in the 

program cease before the first program 

payment is made to the applicant under 

this subchapter; 

(2) Land enrolled in a wetland reserve 

easement through the Agricultural 

Conservation Easement Program; 

(3) Land enrolled in the Conservation 

Security Program, 7 CFR part 1469; 

(4) Public land including land owned 

by a Federal, State, or local unit of 

government; and 

(5) Land used for crop production 

after February 7, 2014, the date of 

enactment of the Agricultural Act of 

2014, that had not been planted, 

considered to be planted, or devoted to 

crop production for at least 4 of the 6 

years preceding that date, unless the 

land does not meet such requirements 

because that land: 

(i) Had previously been enrolled in 

CRP, 

(ii) Has been maintained using longterm crop rotation practices as 

determined by the NRCS, or 

(iii) Is incidental land needed for 

efficient operation of the farm or ranch 

as determined by NRCS. 

§ 1470.7 Enhancements and conservation 

practices. 

(a) Participant decisions describing 

the additional enhancements and 

conservation practices to be 

implemented under the conservation 

stewardship contract will be recorded in 

the conservation stewardship plan. 

(b) NRCS will make available to the 

public the list of conservation activities 

available to be installed, adopted, 

maintained, and managed through the 

CSP. 

(c) NRCS will make available bundled 

suites of conservation enhancements for 

participants to select voluntarily to 

include as part of their conservation 

stewardship plans. The bundles will be 

designed to coordinate the installation 

and adoption of enhancements with 

each other to address resource concerns 

in a more comprehensive and costeffective manner. 

(d) CSP encourages the use of other 

NRCS programs to install conservation 

practices that are required to meet 

agreed-upon stewardship thresholds, 

but the practices may not be 

compensated through CSP. 

§ 1470.8 Technical and other assistance. 

(a) NRCS may provide technical 

assistance to an eligible applicant or 

participant either directly or through a 

technical service provider (TSP) as set 

forth in 7 CFR part 652. 

(b) NRCS retains approval authority 

over certification of work done by nonNRCS personnel for the purpose of 

approving CSP payments. 

(c) NRCS will ensure that technical 

assistance is available and program 

specifications are appropriate so as not 

to limit producer participation because 

of size or type or operation or 

production system, including specialty 

crop and organic production. In 

providing technical assistance to 

specialty crop and organic producers, 

NRCS will provide appropriate training 

to field staff to enable them to work 

with these producers and to utilize 

cooperative agreements and contracts 

with nongovernmental organizations 

with expertise in delivering technical 

assistance to these producers. 

(d) NRCS will assist potential 

applicants dealing with the 

requirements of certification under the 

National Organic Program and CSP 

requirements concerning how to 

coordinate and simultaneously meet 

eligibility standards under each 

program. 

(e) NRCS may utilize the services of 

State foresters and existing technical 

assistance programs such as the Forest 

Stewardship Program of the U.S. Forest 

Service, in coordinating assistance to 

NIPF owners. 

Subpart B—Contracts and Payments 

§ 1470.20 Application for contracts and 

selecting offers from applicants. 

(a) Submission of contract 

applications. Applicants may submit an 

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65848 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

application for the agricultural 

operation to enroll all of their eligible 

land into CSP on a continuous basis. 

(b) Stewardship threshold 

requirement. To be eligible to 

participate in CSP, an applicant must 

submit to NRCS for approval, a contract 

offer for the agricultural operation that: 

(1) Demonstrates that the applicant’s 

conservation activities, at the time of 

contract offer, meet or exceed a 

stewardship threshold for at least two 

priority resource concerns; and 

(2) Would, at a minimum, meet or 

exceed a stewardship threshold for at 

least one additional priority resource 

concern by the end of the conservation 

stewardship contract by: 

(i) Installing and adopting additional 

conservation activities, and 

(ii) Improving, maintaining, and 

managing existing conservation 

activities across the entire agricultural 

operation in a manner that increases or 

extends the conservation benefits in 

place at the time the contract 

application is accepted by NRCS; 

(3) Provides a map, aerial photograph, 

or overlay that: 

(i) Identifies the applicant’s 

agricultural operation, and 

(ii) Delineates eligible land with 

associated acreage amounts. 

(c) Evaluation of contract 

applications. NRCS will conduct one or 

more ranking periods each fiscal year. 

(1) To the extent practicable, one 

ranking period will occur in the first 

quarter of the fiscal year; 

(2) In evaluating CSP applications, 

NRCS will rank applications based on 

the following factors, to the maximum 

extent practicable: 

(i) Level of conservation treatment on 

all applicable priority resource concerns 

at the time of application, 

(ii) Degree to which the proposed 

conservation activities effectively 

increase conservation performance, 

(iii) Number of applicable priority 

resource concerns proposed to be 

treated to meet or exceed the 

stewardship threshold by the end of the 

contract, 

(iv) Extent to which other priority 

resource concerns will be addressed to 

meet or exceed the stewardship 

threshold by the end of the contract 

period, and 

(v) Extent to which priority resource 

concerns will be addressed when 

transitioning from the conservation 

reserve program to agricultural 

production; 

(3) In the event that application 

ranking scores from paragraph (2) above 

are similar, the application that 

represents the least cost to the program 

will be given higher priority; and 

(4) NRCS may not assign a higher 

priority to any application because the 

applicant is willing to accept a lower 

payment than the applicant would 

otherwise be eligible to receive. 

(d) Weighting of ranking factors. The 

weight given to each ranking factor may 

be adjusted to achieve program 

objectives, as determined by the Chief. 

(e) National, State, and local 

priorities. The Chief may develop and 

use additional criteria that are 

determined necessary to ensure that 

national, State, and local priority 

resource concerns are effectively 

addressed. 

(f) Ranking pools. Ranking pools will 

be established in accordance with 

§ 1470.2(e)(1). 

(1) NIPF will compete in ranking 

pools separate from other eligible land. 

An applicant with both NIPF and other 

eligible land will submit one 

application for NIPF and one 

application for all other eligible land. 

(2) An applicant with an agricultural 

operation that crosses ranking pool 

boundaries will make application and 

be ranked in the ranking pool where the 

largest acreage portion of their operation 

occurs. 

(3) Within each State or established 

ranking pool, NRCS will address 

conservation access for certain farmers 

or ranchers, including: 

(i) Socially disadvantaged farmers or 

ranchers, 

(ii) Beginning farmers or ranchers, 

and 

(iii) Producers who are veteran 

farmers or ranchers. 

(g) Application pre-approval. NRCS 

will make application pre-approval 

determinations during established 

ranking periods based on eligibility and 

ranking score. 

(h) Field verification. NRCS will 

conduct onsite field verification prior to 

entering into an agreement to 

substantiate the accuracy of the 

information provided by pre-approved 

applicants during the application 

process. 

§ 1470.21 Contract requirements. 

(a) After a determination that the 

application will be approved and a 

conservation stewardship plan will be 

developed in accordance with 

§ 1470.22, NRCS will enter into a 

conservation stewardship contract with 

the participant to enroll all of the 

eligible land on a participant’s 

agricultural operation. 

(b) The conservation stewardship 

contract will: 

(1) Provide for payments over a period 

of 5 years; 

(2) Incorporate by reference the 

conservation stewardship plan; 

(3) State the payment amount NRCS 

agrees to make to the participant 

annually, subject to the availability of 

funds; 

(4) Incorporate all provisions as 

required by law or statute, including 

requirements that the participant will: 

(i) Implement the conservation 

stewardship plan as described in 

§ 1470.22, 

(ii) Operate and maintain 

conservation activities on the 

agricultural operation consistent with 

§ 1470.23, 

(iii) Comply with the terms of the 

contract or documents incorporated by 

reference into the contract, 

(iv) Refund as determined by NRCS, 

any program payments received with 

interest, and forfeit any future payments 

under the program, upon the violation 

of a term or condition of the contract, 

consistent with § 1470.27, 

(v) Refund as determined by NRCS, 

all program payments received with 

interest, upon the transfer of the right 

and interest of the participant, in land 

subject to the contract, unless the 

transferee of the right and interest agrees 

to assume all obligations of the contract, 

consistent with § 1470.25, 

(vi) Maintain and supply information 

as requested by NRCS, to determine 

compliance with the conservation 

stewardship plan and any other 

requirements of the program, and 

(vii) Not to conduct any activities on 

the agricultural operation that would 

tend to defeat the purposes of the 

program; 

(5) Permit all economic uses of the 

eligible land that: 

(i) Maintain the agricultural or 

forestry nature of the land, and 

(ii) Are consistent with the 

conservation purposes of the contract; 

(6) Include a provision to ensure that 

a participant will not be considered in 

violation of the contract for failure to 

comply with the contract due to 

circumstances beyond the control of the 

participant, including a disaster or 

related condition, as determined by 

NRCS; and 

(7) Include such other provisions as 

NRCS determines necessary to ensure 

the purposes of the program are 

achieved. 

§ 1470.22 Conservation stewardship plan. 

(a) NRCS will use the conservation 

planning process as outlined in the 

National Planning Procedures 

Handbook to encourage participants to 

address resource concerns in a 

comprehensive manner. 

(b) The conservation stewardship plan 

will contain a record of the participant’s 

decisions that describes the schedule of 

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conservation activities to be 

implemented, managed, or improved 

under the conservation stewardship 

contract. The plan will describe the 

program purposes to be achieved 

through one or more conservation 

activities. 

(c) Associated supporting information 

maintained with the participant’s plan 

will include: 

(1) Documentation that will be the 

basis for: 

(i) Identifying and inventorying 

priority resource concerns, 

(ii) Establishing benchmark data on 

the condition of existing conservation 

activities, 

(iii) Describing conservation activities 

to be implemented, managed, or 

improved, and 

(iv) Documenting the participant’s 

conservation objectives to reach and 

exceed stewardship thresholds; 

(2) A plan map delineating the land 

area identified and included in the 

program contract with associated 

acreage amounts; 

(3) In the case where a participant 

wishes to initiate or retain organic 

certification, documentation that will 

support the participant’s transition to or 

participation in the National Organic 

Program; and 

(4) Other information as determined 

appropriate by NRCS. 

§ 1470.23 Conservation activity operation 

and maintenance. 

The participant will maintain and 

manage existing conservation activities 

across the entire agricultural operation 

to at least the level of conservation 

performance identified at the time of 

enrollment for the conservation 

stewardship contract period, and 

additional activities installed and 

adopted over the term of the 

conservation stewardship contract. 

§ 1470.24 Payments. 

(a) Annual payments. Subject to the 

availability of funds, NRCS will 

provide, as appropriate, annual 

payments under the program to 

compensate a participant for installing 

and adopting additional conservation 

activities, and improving, maintaining, 

and managing existing conservation 

activities across the entire agricultural 

operation in a manner that increases or 

extends the conservation benefits in 

place at the time the contract offer is 

accepted by NRCS. A split-rate annual 

payment structure is used to provide 

separate payments for additional and 

existing conservation activities in order 

to place emphasis on implementing 

additional conservation. 

(1) To receive annual payments, a 

participant must: 

(i) Install and adopt additional 

conservation activities as scheduled in 

the conservation stewardship plan. At 

least one additional conservation 

activity must be scheduled, installed, 

and adopted in the first fiscal year of the 

contract. All enhancements must be 

scheduled, installed, and adopted by the 

end of the third fiscal year of the 

contract. Installed enhancements must 

be maintained for the remainder of the 

contract period and adopted 

enhancements must recur for the 

remainder of the contract period. 

(ii) At a minimum, maintain activities 

to the level of existing conservation 

performance identified at the time of 

enrollment for the conservation 

stewardship contract period, and 

(2) To earn annual payments for an 

eligible land use, a participant must 

schedule, install, and adopt at least one 

additional conservation activity on that 

land-use type. Eligible land-use types 

that fail to have at least one additional 

conservation activity scheduled, 

installed, and adopted will not receive 

annual payments; 

(3) A participant’s annual payments 

will be determined using the 

conservation performance computed by 

land-use type for eligible land earning 

payments. Conservation performance is 

prorated over the contract term so as to 

accommodate, to the extent practicable, 

participants earning equal annual 

payments in each fiscal year; 

(4) The annual payment rates will be 

based to the maximum extent 

practicable, on the following factors: 

(i) Costs incurred by the participant 

associated with planning, design, 

materials, installation, labor, 

management, maintenance, or training, 

(ii) Income foregone by the 

participant, 

(iii) Expected conservation benefits, 

(iv) The extent to which priority 

resource concerns will be addressed 

through the installation and adoption of 

conservation activities on the 

agricultural operation, 

(v) The level of stewardship in place 

at the time of application and 

maintained over the term of the 

contract, 

(vi) The degree to which the 

conservation activities will be integrated 

across the entire agricultural operation 

for all applicable priority resource 

concerns over the term of the contract, 

and 

(vii) Such other factors as determined 

by the Chief. 

(5) The annual payment will 

accommodate some participant 

operational adjustments. 

(i) Enhancements may be replaced 

with similar enhancements without 

adjustment of annual payment as long 

as the conservation performance is 

determined by NRCS to be equal to or 

better than the conservation 

performance of the additional 

enhancements offered at enrollment. An 

enhancement replacement that results 

in a decline below that conservation 

performance level will be considered a 

violation of the contract, and 

(ii) Adjustments to existing activities 

may occur consistent with conservation 

performance requirements from 

§ 1470.23; and 

(6) Conservation activities may be 

applied on other land included in an 

agricultural operation, as determined by 

NRCS. 

(b) Supplemental payments. Subject 

to the availability of funds, NRCS will 

provide a supplemental payment to a 

participant receiving annual payments, 

who also agrees to adopt or improve a 

resource-conserving crop rotation as 

defined by NRCS to achieve beneficial 

crop rotations as appropriate for the 

eligible land of the participant. 

(1) NRCS will determine whether a 

resource-conserving crop rotation is 

eligible for supplemental payments 

based on whether the resourceconserving crop rotation is designed to 

provide natural resource conservation 

and production benefits; 

(2) A participant must adopt or 

improve the resource-conserving crop 

rotation for the term of the contract to 

be eligible to receive a supplemental 

payment. A resource-conserving crop 

rotation is considered adopted when the 

resource-conserving crop is planted on 

at least one-third of the rotation acres. 

The resource-conserving crop must be 

adopted by the third fiscal year of the 

contract and planted on all rotation 

acres by the fifth fiscal year of the 

contract; and 

(3) The supplemental payment is to 

encourage a producer to adopt or 

improve a resource-conserving crop 

rotation and will be based, to the 

maximum extent practicable, on the 

factors from § 1470.24(a)(4). 

(c) Minimum contract payment. NRCS 

will make a minimum contract payment 

to participants who are historically 

underserved producers, at a rate 

determined by the Chief in any fiscal 

year that a contract’s payment amount 

total is less than $1,000. 

(d) Timing of payments. NRCS will 

make payments as soon as practicable 

after October 1 of each fiscal year for 

activities carried out in the previous 

fiscal year. For newly enrolled 

contracts, payments will be made as 

soon as practicable after October 1 

following the fiscal year of enrollment. 

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65850 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

(e) Noncompensatory matters. A CSP 

payment to a participant will not be 

provided for: 

(1) New conservation activities 

applied with financial assistance 

through other USDA conservation 

programs; 

(2) The design, construction, or 

maintenance of animal waste storage or 

treatment facilities, or associated waste 

transport or transfer devices for animal 

feeding operations; or 

(3) Conservation activities for which 

there is no cost incurred or income 

foregone by the participant. 

(f) Payment limits. A person or legal 

entity may not receive, directly or 

indirectly, payments that, in the 

aggregate, exceed $40,000 during any 

fiscal year for all CSP contracts entered 

into, and $200,000 under all CSP 

contracts entered into during fiscal 

years 2014 through 2018, excluding 

funding arrangements with Indian 

tribes, regardless of the number of 

contracts entered into under the CSP by 

the person or legal entity. NRCS may 

waive the annual payment limitations in 

this section where NRCS determines 

that due to circumstances beyond the 

participant’s control, payment for 

implementation for a fiscal year’s 

activities cannot be made as scheduled 

under the CSP contract. 

(g) Contract limits. Each conservation 

stewardship contract will be limited to 

$200,000 over the term of the initial 

contract period, except that 

conservation stewardship contracts with 

joint operations will be limited to 

$80,000 per fiscal year and $400,000 

over the term of the initial contract 

period. 

(h) Payment and contract limitation 

provisions for individual Indians and 

Indian Tribes. Payment limitations 

apply to individual tribal member(s) 

when applying and subsequently being 

granted a contract as an individual(s). 

Contracts with Indian Tribes are not 

subject to payment or contract 

limitations. Indian Tribes and BIA will 

certify in writing that no one individual, 

directly or indirectly, will receive more 

than the payment limitation. 

Certification provided at the time of 

enrollment will cover the entire contract 

period. The Tribal entity must also 

provide, upon request from NRCS, a 

listing of individuals and payment 

made, by Social Security number or 

other unique identification number, 

during the previous year for calculation 

of overall payment limitations. 

(i) Tax Identification Number. To be 

eligible to receive a CSP payment, all 

legal entities or persons applying, either 

alone or as part of a joint operation, 

must provide a tax identification 

number and percentage interest in the 

legal entity. In accordance with 7 CFR 

part 1400, an applicant applying as a 

joint operation or legal entity must 

provide a list of all members of the legal 

entity and joint operation and 

associated embedded entities, along 

with the members’ Social Security 

numbers and percentage of interest in 

the joint operation or legal entity. 

Payments will be directly attributed to 

legal entity members for the purpose of 

complying with § 1470.24(f). Applicant 

applying as a joint operation must 

provide an EIN for the joint operation to 

qualify for the contract limit available 

under § 1470.24(g). 

(j) Unique tax identification numbers. 

American Indians, Alaska Natives, and 

Pacific Islanders may use another 

unique identification number for each 

individual eligible for payment. Any 

participant that utilizes a unique 

identification number as an alternative 

to a tax identification number will 

utilize only that identifier for all CSP 

contracts to which the participant is a 

party. 

§ 1470.25 Voluntary contract modifications 

and transfers of land. 

(a) NRCS may modify a conservation 

stewardship contract, if: 

(1) The participant agrees to the 

modification, and 

(2) NRCS determines the modification 

is in the public interest. 

(b) NRCS may allow modification to 

a conservation stewardship contract to 

accommodate certain changes in the 

agricultural operation, such as to 

remove contract acres to be enrolled in 

CRP, protected by a wetland reserve 

easement through ACEP, or enrolled in 

other Federal or State programs that 

offer greater natural resource protection 

through an easement, long-term 

contract, land use restrictions, or similar 

authority as determined by NRCS. 

Payments for such modified contracts 

will be reduced to reflect the modified 

acreage and performance. Participants 

will not be subject to liquidated 

damages or refund of payments received 

for enrolling land in these programs. 

NRCS may also approve modification to 

a conservation stewardship contract to 

accommodate other limited changes on 

land that the participant has effective 

control in response to a participant’s 

request made prior to implementing the 

change that would take land out of 

production or convert an area under 

contract to a different land use. Prior to 

approval, NRCS must determine that 

any modification under this section is 

authorized by the provisions of 16 

U.S.C. 3838d–3838g. 

(c) A voluntary contract modification 

under this section will not increase the 

scheduled annual payments under the 

program, except to implement an appeal 

determination or correct an 

administrative error as approved by 

NRCS. Successor in interest or other 

changes made to the structure of an 

operation are subject to this limitation 

on contract agreement. 

(d) Land under contract will be 

considered transferred if the participant 

loses control of the acreage for any 

reason. 

(1) The participant is responsible to 

notify NRCS prior to any voluntary or 

involuntary transfer of eligible land 

under contract; 

(2) If all or part of the eligible land 

under contract is transferred, the 

contract terminates with respect to the 

transferred land unless: 

(i) The transferor of the land provides 

written notice within 60 days to NRCS 

that all duties and rights under the 

contract have been transferred to, and 

assumed by, the transferee for the 

portion of the land transferred, and 

(ii) The transferee meets the eligibility 

requirements of the program, and 

(iii) NRCS approves the transfer of all 

duties and rights under the contract. 

§ 1470.26 Contract renewal. 

(a) At the end of the initial 5-year 

contract period, NRCS may allow a 

participant to renew the contract to 

receive payments for one additional 5- 

year period, subject to the availability of 

funds, if the participant meets criteria 

from paragraph (b) of this section. 

(b) To be considered for contract 

renewal, the participant must: 

(1) Be in compliance with the terms 

of their initial contract as determined by 

NRCS; 

(2) Add any newly acquired eligible 

land that is part of the agricultural 

operation that NRCS determines must 

be included in the renewal contract, 

except that any newly enrolled acres 

will be included in the yearly annual 10 

million acre cap on new enrollment; 

(3) Agree to adopt and continue to 

integrate conservation activities across 

the entire agricultural operation as 

determine by NRCS; and 

(4) Agree, at a minimum, to meet or 

exceed the stewardship thresholds for at 

least two additional applicable priority 

resource concerns on the agricultural 

operation; or to exceed the stewardship 

threshold of two existing applicable 

priority resource concerns that are 

specified by the Chief in the initial 

contract by the end of the renewed 

contract period. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 65851 

§ 1470.27 Contract violations and 

termination. 

(a) NRCS may terminate a contract: 

(1) Without the consent of the 

participant where it determines that the 

participant: 

(i) Violated the contract; or 

(ii) Is unable to comply with the terms 

of the contract as the result of 

conditions beyond their control. 

(2) With the consent of the participant 

if NRCS determines that the termination 

is in the public interest. 

(b) NRCS may allow a participant in 

a contract terminated in accordance 

with the provisions of paragraph (a) of 

this section, to retain a portion of any 

payments received appropriate to the 

effort the participant has made to 

comply with the contract, or in cases of 

hardship, where forces beyond the 

participant’s control prevented 

compliance with the contract. The 

condition that is the basis for the 

participant’s inability to comply with 

the contract must not have existed at the 

time the contract was executed by the 

participant. If a participant believes that 

such a hardship condition exists, the 

participant may submit a request with 

NRCS for relief pursuant to this 

paragraph and any such request must 

contain documentation sufficient for 

NRCS to make a determination that this 

hardship condition exists. 

(c) If NRCS determines that a 

participant is not in compliance with 

the contract terms or documents 

incorporated therein, NRCS will notify 

the participant about the actions the 

participant must take to be determined 

in compliance and the consequences of 

the failure to remedy the violation. 

NRCS will provide a reasonable period 

of time for the participant to complete 

all necessary actions, not to exceed one 

year. NRCS may authorize an additional 

period of time if NRCS determines that 

the participant is willing and able to 

comply but has not been able to 

complete the necessary actions during 

the initial period of time as a result of 

conditions beyond their control. If a 

participant continues in violation, 

NRCS may terminate the CSP contract 

in accordance with paragraph (e) of this 

section. 

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of 

paragraph (c) of this section, a contract 

termination will be effective 

immediately upon a determination by 

NRCS that the participant: 

(1) Has submitted false information or 

filed a false claim; 

(2) Engaged in any act, scheme, or 

device for which a finding of 

ineligibility for payments is permitted 

under the provisions of § 1470.36; or 

(3) Incurred in a violation of the 

contract provisions that cannot be 

corrected in a timeframe established by 

NRCS. 

(e) If NRCS terminates a contract, the 

participant will forfeit all rights to 

future payments under the contract, pay 

liquidated damages, and refund all or 

part of the payments received, plus 

interest. 

(1) NRCS may require a participant to 

provide only a partial refund of the 

payments received if a previously 

installed conservation activity has 

achieved the expected conservation 

performance improvement, is not 

adversely affected by the violation or 

the absence of other conservation 

activities that would have been installed 

under the contract, and has met the 

associated operation and maintenance 

requirement of the activity; and 

(2) NRCS will have the option to 

reduce or waive the liquidated damages, 

depending upon the circumstances of 

the case when terminating a contract, 

NRCS may reduce the amount of money 

owed by the participant by a proportion 

that reflects the good faith effort of the 

participant to comply with the contract 

or the existence of hardships beyond the 

participant’s control that have 

prevented compliance with the contract. 

Subpart C—General Administration 

§ 1470.30 Fair treatment of tenants and 

sharecroppers. 

Payments received under this part 

must be divided in the manner specified 

in the applicable contract. NRCS will 

ensure that tenants and sharecroppers 

who would have an interest in acreage 

being offered receive treatment which 

NRCS deems to be equitable, as 

determined by NRCS. NRCS may refuse 

to enter into a contract when there is a 

disagreement among joint applicants 

seeking enrollment as to an applicant’s 

eligibility to participate in the contract 

as a tenant. 

§ 1470.31 Appeals. 

A participant may obtain 

administrative review of an adverse 

decision under this part in accordance 

with 7 CFR parts 11 and 614. 

Determinations in matters of general 

applicability, such as payment rates, 

payment limits, the designation of 

identified priority resource concerns, 

and eligible conservation activities are 

not subject to appeal. 

§ 1470.32 Compliance with regulatory 

measures. 

Participants will be responsible for 

obtaining the authorities, rights, 

easements, permits, or other approvals 

or legal compliance necessary for the 

implementation, operation, and 

maintenance associated with the 

conservation stewardship plan. 

Participants will be responsible for 

compliance with all laws and for all 

effects or actions resulting from the 

implementation of the contract. 

§ 1470.33 Access to agricultural operation. 

NRCS, or its authorized 

representative, will have the right to 

enter an agricultural operation for the 

purpose of determining eligibility and 

for ascertaining the accuracy of any 

representations, including natural 

resource information provided by an 

applicant for the purpose of evaluating 

a contract application. Access will 

include the right to provide technical 

assistance, determine eligibility, assess 

natural resource conditions, inspect any 

work undertaken under the contract, 

and collect information necessary to 

evaluate the implementation of 

conservation activities in the contract. 

NRCS, or its authorized representative, 

will make an effort to contact the 

participant prior to the exercise of this 

provision. 

§ 1470.34 Equitable relief. 

(a) If a participant relied upon the 

advice or action of NRCS and did not 

know, or have reason to know, that the 

action or advice was improper or 

erroneous, the participant may be 

eligible for equitable relief under 7 CFR 

part 635. The financial or technical 

liability for any action by a participant 

that was taken based on the advice of a 

TSP will remain with the TSP and will 

not be assumed by NRCS. 

(b) If a participant has been found in 

violation of a provision of the 

conservation stewardship contract or 

any document incorporated by reference 

through failure to comply fully with that 

provision, the participant may be 

eligible for equitable relief under 7 CFR 

part 635. 

§ 1470.35 Offsets and assignments. 

(a) Any payment or portion thereof 

due to any participant under this part 

will be allowed without regard to any 

claim or lien in favor of any creditor, 

except agencies of the United States 

Government. The regulations governing 

offsets and withholdings found at 7 CFR 

part 1403 will be applicable to contract 

payments. 

(b) Any participant entitled to any 

payment may assign such payments in 

accordance with regulations governing 

assignment of payment found at 7 CFR 

part 1404. 

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65852 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 214 / Wednesday, November 5, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

§ 1470.36 Misrepresentation and scheme 

or device. 

(a) If NRCS determines that an 

applicant intentionally misrepresented 

any fact affecting a CSP determination, 

the application will be determined 

ineligible immediately. 

(b) A participant who is determined to 

have erroneously represented any fact 

affecting a program determination made 

in accordance with this part will not be 

entitled to contract payments and must 

refund to NRCS all payments, plus 

interest determined in accordance with 

7 CFR part 1403. 

(c) A participant will refund to NRCS 

all payments, plus interest determined 

in accordance with 7 CFR part 1403, 

received by such participant with 

respect to all CSP contracts if they are 

determined to have: 

(1) Adopted any scheme or device 

that tends to defeat the purpose of the 

program; 

(2) Made any fraudulent 

representation; 

(3) Adopted any scheme or device for 

the purpose of depriving any tenant or 

sharecropper of the payments to which 

such person would otherwise be 

entitled under the program; or 

(4) Misrepresented any fact affecting a 

program determination. 

(d) Participants determined to have 

committed actions identified in 

paragraph (c) of this section will have 

their interest in all CSP contracts 

terminated. 

§ 1470.37 Environmental credits for 

conservation improvements. 

(a) A participant in CSP may achieve 

environmental benefits that qualify for 

environmental credits under an 

environmental credit-trading program. 

NRCS asserts no direct or indirect 

interest in these credits. However, NRCS 

retains the authority to ensure that CSP 

purposes are met. In addition, any 

requirements or standards of an 

environmental market program in which 

a CSP participant simultaneously 

enrolls to receive environmental credits 

must be compatible with the purposes 

and requirements of the CSP contract 

and with this part. 

(b) The participant must meet all 

operation and maintenance (O&M) 

requirements for CSP-funded activities, 

consistent with §§ 1470.21 and 1470.23. 

Where activities required under an 

environmental credit agreement may 

affect the land and conservation 

activities under a CSP contract, NRCS 

recommends that CSP participants 

request assistance with the development 

of a compatibility assessment prior to 

entering into any credit agreement. The 

CSP contract may be modified in 

accordance with policies outlined in 

§ 1470.25 provided the modification 

meet CSP purposes and is in 

compliance with this part. 

(c) CSP participants may not use CSP 

funds to implement conservation 

practices and activities that the 

participant is required to establish as a 

result of a court order. 

Signed this 31 day of October, 2014, in 

Washington, DC. 

Jason A. Weller, 

Chief, Natural Resources Conservation 

Service and Vice President, Commodity Credit 

Corporation. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26295 Filed 11–4–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–16–P 

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