II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2978 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the conservation reserve 

enhancement program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2018 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. CARDIN) 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 modify the 

conservation reserve enhancement program, and for other 

purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conservation Reserve 

5 Enhancement Program Improvement Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

9 Program established by the Secretary of Agriculture 


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1 under subchapter B of chapter 1 of subtitle D of 

2 title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

3 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) (referred to in this Act as the 

4 ‘‘Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program’’) has 

5 been successfully used across the United States to 

6 protect and restore environmentally sensitive land7 scapes; 

8 (2) the Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

9 Program targets regionally or nationally significant 

10 resource concerns identified by local, State, or Tribal 

11 governments, including wildlife habitat, water qual12 ity, water conservation and recharge, soil conserva13 tion and health, air quality, at-risk species habitat, 

14 rare and declining habitat, and drinking water and 

15 source water protection; 

16 (3) Conservation Reserve Enhancement Pro17 gram agreements provide meaningful partnership be18 tween the Department of Agriculture and non-Fed19 eral partners, such as State or Tribal governments, 

20 and nongovernmental organizations, such as farm, 

21 conservation, and environmental organizations; 

22 (4) Conservation Reserve Enhancement Pro23 gram agreements tailor conservation practices and 

24 incentives under the conservation reserve program 

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1 title D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 

2 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) to specific geographic tar3 get areas to address regionally or nationally signifi4 cant resource concerns; 

5 (5) the Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

6 Program and other voluntary conservation efforts 

7 have helped farmers and ranchers voluntarily imple8 ment conservation practices aimed at improving 

9 water quality, which may help avoid the need for 

10 regulatory requirements aimed at improving water 

11 quality; 

12 (6) the Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

13 Program is critical to meeting State and Federal re14 source protection goals, such as— 

15 (A) State nutrient reduction strategies to 

16 address hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico; 

17 (B) compliance with State watershed im18 plementation plans to restore Chesapeake Bay 

19 water quality; 

20 (C) voluntary local or regional efforts to 

21 protect candidate species habitat to prevent the 

22 need to list as endangered species sage-grouse, 

23 lesser prairie-chickens, or other species under 

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

25 1531 et seq.); 


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1 (D) State water conservation plans, com2 pacts, or other vehicles to protect and recharge 

3 overtaxed surface water or groundwater sup4 plies, including the Ogallala Aquifer and the 

5 Rio Grande River; and 

6 (E) numerous local and State watershed 

7 management plans and total maximum daily 

8 loads, including the protection of water quality 

9 in the Great Lakes and the tributaries of the 

10 Great Lakes; 

11 (7) a renewed commitment and willingness to 

12 play a leadership role is needed from Federal, State, 

13 and local partners to increase enrollment in the Con14 servation Reserve Enhancement Program; 

15 (8) nongovernmental entities have significant 

16 experience in implementing conservation practices 

17 and are well positioned to help increase the adoption 

18 of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program con19 servation practices in agricultural landscapes, de20 pending on the areas of expertise and relationships 

21 of the nongovernmental entities; 

22 (9) the Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

23 Program has worked best where strong partnerships 

24 are involved; and 


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1 (10) flexibility and decisionmaking at the local 

2 level can facilitate increased landowner participation 

3 in voluntary conservation practices and environ4 mental benefits consistent with the purposes of the 

5 Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. 

6 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to modify the Conservation 

8 Reserve Enhancement Program to facilitate increased en9 rollment in, and increased environmental benefits from, 

10 the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. 

11 SEC. 4. MODIFICATIONS TO CONSERVATION RESERVE EN12 HANCEMENT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter B of chapter 1 of sub14 title D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 is 

15 amended by inserting after section 1231 (16 U.S.C. 3831) 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1231A. CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT 

18 PROGRAM. 

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE LAND.—The term ‘eligible land’ 

21 means land that is eligible to be included in the pro22 gram established under this subchapter. 

23 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT.—The term ‘management’ 

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1 tice on eligible land, to regularly maintain or en2 hance the vegetative cover established by the con3 servation practice— 

4 ‘‘(A) throughout the term of a contract en5 tered into under this subchapter; and 

6 ‘‘(B) consistent with the conservation plan 

7 that covers the eligible land. 

8 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means a 

9 conservation reserve enhancement program carried 

10 out under an agreement under subsection (b)(1). 

11 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 

13 into an agreement with a State or an Indian tribe 

14 to carry out a conservation reserve enhancement 

15 program— 

16 ‘‘(A) to assist in enrolling eligible land in 

17 the program established under this subchapter; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) that the Secretary determines will ad20 vance the purposes of this subchapter. 

21 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An agreement entered into 

22 under paragraph (1) shall describe— 

23 ‘‘(A) one or more specific State or nation24 ally significant conservation concerns to be ad25 dressed by the agreement; 


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1 ‘‘(B) quantifiable environmental goals for 

2 addressing the concerns under subparagraph 

3 (A); 

4 ‘‘(C) a suitable acreage goal for enrollment 

5 of eligible land under the agreement; 

6 ‘‘(D) the location of eligible land to be en7 rolled under the agreement; 

8 ‘‘(E) the payments to be offered by the 

9 Secretary and State or Indian tribe, as applica10 ble, to an owner or operator; and 

11 ‘‘(F) an appropriate list of conservation re12 serve program conservation practice standards, 

13 including any modifications to the practice 

14 standards, that are appropriate to meeting the 

15 State and nationally significant conservation 

16 concerns described under subparagraph (A), as 

17 determined by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) EFFECT ON EXISTING AGREEMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), an agreement under this subsection 

21 shall not affect, modify, or interfere with exist22 ing agreements under this subchapter. 

23 ‘‘(B) MODIFICATION OF EXISTING AGREE24 MENTS.—To implement this section, the sig25 natories to an agreement under this subsection 


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1 may mutually agree to a modification of an 

2 agreement entered into before the date of enact3 ment of this section under the Conservation Re4 serve Enhancement Program established by the 

5 Secretary under this subchapter. 

6 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Any matching 

8 requirement under a program shall be satisfied by 

9 cash funding or in-kind contributions. 

10 ‘‘(2) MARGINAL PASTURELAND COST-SHARE

11 PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure that cost12 share payments to an owner or operator to install 

13 stream fencing, crossings, and alternative water de14 velopment on marginal pastureland under a program 

15 reflect the fair market value of the cost of installa16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(3) COST-SHARE AND PRACTICE INCENTIVE

18 PAYMENTS.—On request of an owner or operator, 

19 the Secretary shall provide cost-share and practice 

20 incentive payments when a major conservation prac21 tice component is completed under a program, as de22 termined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(4) FORESTED RIPARIAN BUFFER MAINTE24 NANCE PAYMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

2 agreement under subsection (b)(1) that includes 

3 forested riparian buffers as an eligible conserva4 tion practice, the Secretary shall make cost5 share payments to encourage the regular man6 agement of the forested riparian buffer 

7 throughout the term of the agreement, con8 sistent with the conservation plan that covers 

9 the eligible land. 

10 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The amount of pay11 ments received by an owner or operator under 

12 subparagraph (A) shall not be greater than 100 

13 percent of the normal and customary projected 

14 management cost, as determined by the Sec15 retary, in consultation with the applicable State 

16 technical committee established under section 

17 1261(a). 

18 ‘‘(d) FORESTED RIPARIAN BUFFER PRACTICE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) FOOD-PRODUCING WOODY PLANTS.—In 

20 the case of an agreement under subsection (b)(1) 

21 that includes forested riparian buffers as an eligible 

22 conservation practice, the Secretary shall allow an 

23 owner or operator— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to plant food-producing woody plants 

2 in the forested riparian buffers, on the condi3 tions that— 

4 ‘‘(i) the plants shall contribute to the 

5 conservation of soil, water quality, and 

6 wildlife habitat; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the planting shall be consistent 

8 with— 

9 ‘‘(I) recommendations of the ap10 plicable State technical committee es11 tablished under section 1261(a); and 

12 ‘‘(II) technical guide standards of 

13 the applicable field office of the Nat14 ural Resources Conservation Service; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) to harvest from plants described in 

17 subparagraph (A), on the conditions that— 

18 ‘‘(i) the harvesting shall not damage 

19 the conserving cover or otherwise have a 

20 negative impact on the conservation con21 cerns targeted by the program; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) only native plant species appro23 priate to the region shall be used within 35 

24 feet of the watercourse. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—For the pur2 pose of enrolling forested riparian buffers in a pro3 gram, the Administrator of the Farm Service Agen4 cy, in consultation with the Chief of the Forest Serv5 ice— 

6 ‘‘(A) shall provide funds for technical as7 sistance directly to a State forestry agency; and 

8 ‘‘(B) is encouraged to partner with a non9 governmental organization— 

10 ‘‘(i) to make recommendations for 

11 conservation practices under the program; 

12 ‘‘(ii) to provide technical assistance 

13 necessary to carry out the conservation 

14 practices recommended under clause (i); 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(iii) to implement riparian buffers 

17 by— 

18 ‘‘(I) pooling and submitting ap19 plications on behalf of owners and op20 erators in a specific watershed; and 

21 ‘‘(II) carrying out management 

22 activities for the duration of the pro23 gram. 

24 ‘‘(e) ACREAGE ENROLLMENT GOAL.—To the max25 imum extent practicable, the Secretary shall enroll not less 


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1 than 3,000,000 acres of eligible land under this sub2 chapter by September 30, 2023. 

3 ‘‘(f) STATUS REPORT.—Not later than 120 days 

4 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub5 mit to Congress a report that describes, with respect to 

6 each agreement entered into under subsection (b)(1)— 

7 ‘‘(1) the status of the agreement; 

8 ‘‘(2) the purposes and objectives of the agree9 ment; 

10 ‘‘(3) the Federal commitments made under the 

11 agreement; and 

12 ‘‘(4) the progress made in fulfilling those com13 mitments.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

15 (1) Section 1234(g) of the Food Security Act of 

16 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(g)) is amended— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘PAYMENT’’ in the sub18 section heading and all that follows through 

19 ‘‘The total’’ in paragraph (1) and inserting 

20 ‘‘PAYMENTS.—The total’’; and 

21 (B) by striking paragraph (2). 

22 (2) Section 1240R(c)(3) of the Food Security 

23 Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839bb–5(c)(3)) is amended 

24 by striking ‘‘a special conservation reserve enhance25 ment program described in section 1234(f)(4)’’ and 


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1 inserting ‘‘the Conservation Reserve Enhancement 

2 Program under section 1231A’’. 

3 (3) Section 1244(f)(3) of the Food Security Act 

4 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3844(f)(3)) is amended by strik5 ing ‘‘subsection (d)(2)(A)(ii) or (g)(2) of section 

6 1234’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1231A or 

7 1234(d)(2)(A)(ii)’’. 

Æ 


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