Pennsylvania

Chesapeake Bay

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

Overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 

are partners in implementing a voluntary 

Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

Program (CREP) to enroll up to 219,746 

acres of agricultural land in 43 counties. The 

Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Watershed 

CREP is intended to improve water quality 

and enhance wildlife habitat through the 

establishment of riparian buffers, native 

and other grasses, shallow water areas 

for wildlife, grassed waterways, and the 

restoration of wetlands.

The participating counties are Adams, 

Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, 

Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Chester, 

Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, 

Dauphin, Elk, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, 

Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lackawanna, 

Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, 

McKean, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, 

Perry, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, 

Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, 

Wyoming, and York. 

Background

CREP is part of the USDA Conservation 

Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a federally 

funded voluntary program that contracts 

with agricultural producers so that 

environmentally sensitive agricultural land 

is not farmed or ranched, but instead used 

for conservation benefits. CRP participants 

establish permanent, resource-conserving 

plant species, such as approved grasses or 

trees (known as “covers”) to control soil 

erosion, improve water quality, and develop 

wildlife habitat. In return, the Farm Service 

Agency (FSA) provides participants with 

rental payments and cost-share assistance.

With CREP, high-priority conservation 

goals are identified by the state, and then 

federal funds are supplemented with nonfederal funds to achieve those goals.

Through the Pennsylvania Chesapeake 

Bay Watershed CREP, federal and state 

resources are made available to program 

participants to voluntarily enroll in CRP 

for a minimum of 10-year (not to exceed 

15-year) contracts. Participants remove 

cropland and marginal pastureland from 

agricultural production and convert the 

land to grasses, trees, and other vegetation 

or restore wetlands. This will improve water 

quality, reduce soil erosion, reduce the 

amount of sediment, phosphorous, and 

other pollutants entering waterbodies, and 

improve wildlife habitat in the area.

Goals

The goals of the Pennsylvania Chesapeake 

Bay Watershed CREP are to:

• Reduce erosion

• Reduce the amount of sediment, 

nutrients, and other pollutants 

reaching the Chesapeake Bay 

and other waterbodies within the 

watershed

• Restore and enhance riparian habitat 

corridors next to streams, estuaries, 

and wetlands

• Restore and enhance grassland 

habitats for declining grasslanddependent wildlife

• Improve water quality to facilitate the 

health of fish and wildlife populations

For More Info

CREP is one option under CRP 

that farmers and ranchers may 

select to enhance their land. 

Eligible producers may also 

enroll land in CRP through 

the general, continuous, or 

grassland signups; however, 

CREP may provide additional 

benefits not available through 

those signup types such as 

higher incentive payments and 

longer contract lengths that 

increase the total amount of 

rental payments received.

For more information on this 

project, contact your local 

service center and USDA 

Farm Service Agency office: 

farmers.gov/service-locator.

Pennsylvania State Office

Farm Service Agency

359 East Park Drive, Ste 1

Harrisburg, PA 17111

(717) 237-2113

(855) 778-8909 fax

This fact sheet is provided 

for informational purposes 

only; other restrictions or 

requirements may apply. 

APRIL 2022 fsa.usda.gov
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. fsa.usda.gov

CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM 2

Conservation 

Practices

Specific CRP conservation practices 

are available to be enrolled as follows.

• On highly erodible land (HEL) 

which meets minimum erodibility 

criteria as determined by FSA:

◊ CP1, Establishment of 

Permanent Introduced 

Grasses and Legumes

◊ CP2, Establishment of 

Permanent Native Grasses 

◊ CP4D, Permanent Wildlife 

Habitat, Non-Easement

◊ CP12, Wildlife Food Plot

• With the goal of riparian 

protection and other special 

conservation practices meeting 

specific enrollment criteria as 

determined by FSA:

◊ CP8A, Grass Waterways

◊ CP9, Shallow Water Areas for 

Wildlife

◊ CP15A, Establishment of 

Permanent Vegetative Cover 

(Contour Grass Strips) 

◊ CP21, Filter Strips

◊ CP22, Riparian Buffer

◊ CP23, Wetland Restoration

◊ CP29, Marginal Pastureland 

Wildlife Habitat Buffer 

◊ CP30, Marginal Pastureland 

Wetland Buffer

◊ CP33, Habitat Buffers for 

Upland Birds

Who is Eligible?

A producer must have owned 

or operated the land for at least 

12 months prior to submitting the 

offer, consistent with National CRP 

policy.

Enrollment and 

Eligibility

Enrollment in CRP through the 

Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay 

Watershed CREP is on a continuous 

basis. To be eligible, land must be 

located within the project area. 

Cropland must meet cropping history 

criteria according to current FSA 

National CRP Directives and be 

physically and legally capable of being 

planted (no planting restrictions due to 

an easement or other legally binding 

instrument) in a normal manner to an 

agricultural commodity.

Eligible land being enrolled as highly 

erodible land (HEL) enrolled in CP1, 

CP2, CP12, and CP4D must have a 

weighted average Erodibility Index 

(EI) of 12 or greater with the following 

exceptions:

• If at least 51 percent of the eligible 

land is within 180 feet of a stream 

or other permanent water body, 

no minimum EI is required

• If at least 51 percent of the 

eligible land is between 180 

and 1000 feet from a stream or 

other permanent water body, 

a minimum EI of 8 or greater is 

required

Eligible land being enrolled as practice 

CP8A, CP9, CP15A, CP21, CP22, 

CP23, CP29, CP30, and CP33 must 

meet practice requirements provided 

in FSA National CRP Directives and in 

accordance to the CREP agreement.

Certain marginal pastureland is also

eligible for enrollment provided it is 

suitable for use as an eligible riparian 

buffer, wildlife habitat buffer, or 

wetland buffer conservation.

Payments

Under the Pennsylvania Chesapeake 

Bay Watershed CREP, eligible 

participants may receive the following 

payments.

• A one-time signing incentive 

payment (SIP) is paid in 

accordance with FSA National 

CRP Directives as follows:

◊ $100 per acre for CP8A, 

CP21, CP22, CP29, CP30, and 

CP33

◊ $150 per acre for CP23

• A one-time practice incentive 

payment (PIP) equal to up to 40 

percent of eligible reimbursable 

costs incurred for installation of 

CP8A, CP9, CP15A, CP21, CP22, 

CP23, CP29, CP30, and CP33 

practices

• An annual rental payment 

consisting of:

◊ A base rental rate, determined 

by the three predominant soils 

of the eligible land offered

◊ A CREP incentive payment as 

follows:

• For HEL practices CP1, 

CP2, CP4D, and CP12, 

the incentive payment is 

based on the EI between 

75 and 225 percent, 

depending on the 

calculated edibility index 

of the land offered

• For practices CP8A, CP9,

CP15A, CP21, CP22, 

CP23, CP29, CP30, and 

CP33, the incentive 

payment is 150 percent.

◊ A maintenance payment for 

practices CP21, CP22, CP29, 

and CP30 in accordance with 

FSA National CRP Directives.

• A cost-share payment of up to 

50 percent of the eligible cost to 

install the approved practice.

In addition, the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania provides eligible 

participants a cost-share payment of 

up to 50 percent of the practice 

installation cost, subject to limits, for

eligible practices.

Enrollment Options

CREP is another option under CRP 

that farmers and ranchers may 

select to enhance their land. Eligible 

producers may still enroll land in 

CRP through general or continuous 

signup; however, the Pennsylvania 

Chesapeake Bay Watershed CREP 

provides additional benefits not 

available through general and/

or continuous signup. Under the 

Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay 

Watershed CREP, producers receive 

higher incentive payments and longer 

contract lengths that increase the total 

amount of rental payments received.