II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3720 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve the protection of 

farm and ranch land. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2006 

Mr. SANTORUM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve the 

protection of farm and ranch land. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farm and Ranch Land 

5 Protection Flexibility Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FARMLAND PROTECTION PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1238H of the Food Secu8 rity Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3838h) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)— 

10 (A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’; 


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1 (B) in clause (iv), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(v) meets certification requirements 

5 described in paragraph (6)(B).’’; 

6 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LAND.—The term ‘eligible land’ 

9 means land on a farm or ranch that is— 

10 ‘‘(A) cropland; 

11 ‘‘(B) rangeland; 

12 ‘‘(C) grassland; 

13 ‘‘(D) pasture land; or 

14 ‘‘(E) forest land that is an incidental part 

15 of an agricultural operation, as determined by 

16 the Secretary, including woodlots, wooded cor17 ners, and forested riparian areas that may com18 prise up to 50 percent of the offered acreage.’’; 

19 (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para20 graph (5); 

21 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(4) PERMANENT CONSERVATION EASEMENT.— 

24 The term ‘permanent conservation easement’ means 


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1 a conservation easement or other interest in eligible 

2 land that— 

3 ‘‘(A) is for the primary purpose of pro4 tecting the agricultural production capacity of 

5 the eligible land; and 

6 ‘‘(B) is permanent or for the maximum du7 ration allowed under State law.’’; and 

8 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(6) QUALIFIED STATE OR LOCAL ENTITY.— 

10 The term ‘qualified State or local entity’ means a 

11 public or private entity that— 

12 ‘‘(A) operates a farm and ranch land pro13 tection program that— 

14 ‘‘(i) has for at least 3 calendar or fis15 cal years used or provided public or private 

16 funds to purchase permanent conservation 

17 easements on not less than 10 farms or 

18 ranches; 

19 ‘‘(ii) has the necessary authority 

20 under State law, as well as the technical 

21 and financial capacity— 

22 ‘‘(I) to monitor and enforce the 

23 terms of the permanent conservation 

24 easements so that the purpose of the 

25 permanent conservation easements is 


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1 carried out for the maximum allow2 able duration; or 

3 ‘‘(II) in the case of a govern4 mental entity, to require other public 

5 or private holders of the permanent 

6 conservation easements acquired with 

7 public funding to hold, monitor, and 

8 enforce the permanent conservation 

9 easements for the purpose described 

10 in subclause (I); and 

11 ‘‘(iii) has financial control policies to 

12 ensure that, on average, the purchase price 

13 of the permanent conservation easements 

14 does not exceed the appraised fair market 

15 value of the permanent conservation ease16 ments; and 

17 ‘‘(B) is certified by the Secretary in ac18 cordance with a process under which the entity 

19 shall demonstrate— 

20 ‘‘(i) strategic planning and articulated 

21 objectives; 

22 ‘‘(ii) long-term commitment and orga23 nizational viability; 

24 ‘‘(iii) a record of funds management 

25 and accountability; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a history of successfully com2 pleting projects.’’. 

3 (b) FARMLAND PROTECTION.—Section 1238I of the 

4 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3838i) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

7 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 

8 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

12 through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 

13 shall carry out a farm and ranch land protection 

14 program under which the Secretary shall facilitate 

15 the purchase of conservation easements or other in16 terests in eligible land for the purpose of protecting 

17 the agricultural production capacity of the land by 

18 limiting incompatible nonagricultural uses of the 

19 land. 

20 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In carrying out the program, 

21 the Secretary shall give priority to protecting farm 

22 and ranch land— 

23 ‘‘(A) with prime, unique, or other produc24 tive soils that are at risk of non-agricultural de25 velopment; 


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1 ‘‘(B) that shall stay in production agri2 culture; 

3 ‘‘(C) in rural communities that face in4 tense conversion pressure, as defined by the 

5 Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(D) in areas that have locally-led land-use 

7 planning and zoning strategies; and 

8 ‘‘(E) in watersheds that would benefit 

9 most from the protection of farm and ranch re10 sources, as determined by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not 

13 less than 75 percent of the funds made available to 

14 carry out this subchapter for each fiscal year to 

15 award grants, administered by the Natural Re16 sources Conservation Service State Conservationists 

17 in consultation with the appropriate State technical 

18 committees established under section 1261, to quali19 fied State or local entities for the purchase of per20 manent conservation easements. 

21 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall dis22 tribute grants described in paragraph (1) among 

23 States based on— 

24 ‘‘(A) the demonstrated need for farm and 

25 ranch land protection; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the relative contribution of funds pro2 vided by State or local entities for the protec3 tion of farm and ranch land. 

4 ‘‘(3) USE OF GRANTS.—A qualified State or 

5 local entity that receives a grant under this sub6 section— 

7 ‘‘(A) may use the grant funds to purchase 

8 1 or more permanent conservation easements, 

9 regardless of whether the qualified State or 

10 local entity has a pending purchase offer for 

11 any of the permanent conversation easements at 

12 the time of receiving the grant; and 

13 ‘‘(B) shall use the grant funds only for the 

14 purchase of permanent conservation easements. 

15 ‘‘(c) GRANT AGREEMENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

17 through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 

18 may enter into agreements with qualified State or 

19 local entities, under which a State or local entity 

20 may purchase permanent conservation easements 

21 using a combination of the funds of the entity and 

22 grant funds made available by the Secretary under 

23 subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), an agreement described in para3 graph (1) shall stipulate the terms and condi4 tions under which qualified State or local enti5 ties shall use grant funds distributed by the 

6 Secretary under subsection (b). 

7 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—Each agreement 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) authorize the State or local entity 

10 to determine the criteria and priorities of 

11 the entity for purchasing permanent con12 servation easements; 

13 ‘‘(ii) authorize the State or local enti14 ty to establish terms and conditions for 

15 permanent conservation easements, if the 

16 attorney general of the State in which the 

17 farm or ranch is located certifies to the 

18 Secretary that State law permits the State 

19 or local entity to achieve and permit effec20 tive enforcement of the conservation pur21 poses of the permanent conservation ease22 ments; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) not require a Federal contingent 

24 right of enforcement or reversionary inter25 est in the permanent conservation easeVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:50 Jul 31, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3720.IS S3720

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1 ment, if the attorney general of the State 

2 in which the farm or ranch is located cer3 tifies to the Secretary that the State has a 

4 direct or contingent right of enforcement 

5 or reversionary interest in the permanent 

6 conservation easement. 

7 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT OF MATCHING FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

9 shall determine the percentage of matching 

10 funds (up to 100 percent) that each quali11 fied State or local entity is required to pro12 vide as a condition of receiving a grant 

13 under subsection (b) based on the proposal 

14 submitted by the qualified State or local 

15 entity. 

16 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—A proposal de17 scribed in clause (i) shall include a descrip18 tion of— 

19 ‘‘(I) the amount of matching 

20 funds of the qualified State or local 

21 entity available for the purchase of 

22 permanent conservation easements; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(II) the commitment of the 

25 qualified State or local entity to 


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1 achieve the priorities of the pro2 gram.’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (d) (as redesignated by para4 graph (1)) by striking ‘‘Any’’ and inserting ‘‘Not5 withstanding subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii), any’’; 

6 (4) in paragraph (1) of subsection (e) (as redes7 ignated by paragraph (1))— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘ex9 ceed’’ and all that follows through ‘‘land.’’ and 

10 inserting the following: ‘‘exceed the higher of— 

11 ‘‘(i) 50 percent of the appraised fair 

12 market value of the conservation easement 

13 or other interest in eligible land; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) if a qualified conservation con15 tribution (as defined by section 170(h) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of at 

17 least 25 percent of the market value is 

18 made by the landowner in connection with 

19 the purchase of a conservation easement or 

20 other interest in land, two-thirds of the ac21 tual cost of purchasing the conservation 

22 easement or other interest in land.’’; and 

23 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘an eligible’’ and in2 serting ‘‘a qualified State or local agency 

3 or other eligible’’; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘charitable donation’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘qualified conservation con6 tribution’’; and 

7 (iii) by striking ‘‘25’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘50’’; and 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(f) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Secretary 

11 shall establish performance measures for farm and ranch 

12 land protection, including performance measurements for 

13 qualified State and local entities that receive funding 

14 under this section. 

15 ‘‘(g) PROGRAM COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall 

16 carry out the program under this section and the grass17 land reserve program under subchapter C with a minimum 

18 amount of program redundancy, considering the unique 

19 role of each program. 

20 ‘‘(h) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Grant funds and 

21 technical assistance made available to a qualified State or 

22 local entity under this section shall remain available for 

23 a period of time that the Secretary considers to be reason24 able (but not less than 18 months) to allow the qualified 

25 State or local entity to finalize the purchase of permanent 


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1 conservation easements in accordance with the grant 

2 agreement.’’. 

Æ 


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