II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2874 

To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 with respect to land stewardship, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2018 

Ms. SMITH 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 with respect to 

land stewardship, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Our In5 vestment in Land Stewardship Act’’ or the ‘‘SOIL Stew6 ardship Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMMON PROVISIONS AND PROGRAM COORDINA2 TION. 

3 Subchapter A of chapter 2 of subtitle D of title XII 

4 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3838 et seq.) 

5 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘Subchapter A—Common Provisions and 

7 Program Coordination 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1238. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this chapter and chapter 4: 

10 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL OPERATION.—The term 

11 ‘agricultural operation’ means all eligible land, re12 gardless of whether the eligible land is contiguous, 

13 that is— 

14 ‘‘(A) under the effective control of a pro15 ducer at the time the producer enters into a 

16 contract under the applicable program; and 

17 ‘‘(B) operated with equipment, labor, man18 agement, and production or cultivation prac19 tices that are substantially separate from other 

20 agricultural operations, as determined by the 

21 Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION PLAN.— 

23 The term ‘comprehensive conservation plan’ means a 

24 plan that— 

25 ‘‘(A) identifies and inventories resources of 

26 concern; 


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1 ‘‘(B) establishes benchmark data and stew2 ardship objectives; 

3 ‘‘(C) formulates and evaluates alternative 

4 approaches to meeting stewardship objectives 

5 for all resources of concern; 

6 ‘‘(D) selects among the alternatives under 

7 subparagraph (C) and describes the particular 

8 conservation systems, practices, activities, and 

9 management measures to be implemented, 

10 maintained, or improved that will enable the 

11 producer to meet stewardship objectives for all 

12 resources of concern; 

13 ‘‘(E) contains a schedule for the planning, 

14 installation, maintenance, improvement, and 

15 management of the selected conservation sys16 tems, practices, activities, and management 

17 measures; and 

18 ‘‘(F) contains a description and schedule 

19 for on-farm activities to assess and evaluate the 

20 conservation systems, practices, activities, and 

21 management measures described in the plan. 

22 ‘‘(3) CONSERVATION ACTIVITY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘conserva24 tion activity’ means a conservation practice, en25 hancement, bundle, or plan. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘conserva2 tion activity’ includes— 

3 ‘‘(i) structural measures, vegetative 

4 measures, and land management measures, 

5 as determined by the Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(ii) planning needed to address a pri7 ority resource concern; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) development of a comprehensive 

9 conservation plan. 

10 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE LAND.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

12 land’ means— 

13 ‘‘(i) private or Tribal land on which 

14 agricultural commodities, livestock, or for15 est-related products are produced; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) land associated with the land de17 scribed in clause (i) on which priority re18 source concerns could be addressed 

19 through a contract under the applicable 

20 program. 

21 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible 

22 land’ includes— 

23 ‘‘(i) cropland; 

24 ‘‘(ii) grassland; 

25 ‘‘(iii) rangeland; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) pasture land; 

2 ‘‘(v) nonindustrial private forest land; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(vi) other land in agricultural areas 

5 (including cropped woodland, marshes, and 

6 agricultural land used or capable of being 

7 used for the production of livestock), on 

8 which priority resource concerns relating to 

9 agricultural production could be addressed 

10 through a contract under the program, as 

11 determined by the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY RESOURCE CONCERN.—The 

13 term ‘priority resource concern’ means a natural re14 source concern or problem, as determined by the 

15 Secretary, that— 

16 ‘‘(A) is identified at the national, State, or 

17 local level as a priority for a particular area of 

18 a State; 

19 ‘‘(B) represents a significant concern in a 

20 State or region; and 

21 ‘‘(C) is likely to be addressed successfully 

22 through the implementation of conservation ac23 tivities under the applicable program. 

24 ‘‘(6) STEWARDSHIP THRESHOLD.—The term 

25 ‘stewardship threshold’ means the level of manageVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 May 29, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2874.IS S2874

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1 ment required, as determined by the Secretary, to 

2 conserve and improve the quality and condition of a 

3 priority resource concern using— 

4 ‘‘(A) the resource management system 

5 quality criteria; 

6 ‘‘(B) predictive tools; 

7 ‘‘(C) data from past and current program 

8 enrollments; and 

9 ‘‘(D) other similar means to measure con10 servation and improvement of the priority re11 source concern. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 1238A. COMMON PROVISIONS AND PROGRAM CO13 ORDINATION. 

14 ‘‘(a) COMMON PROVISIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) STREAMLINING AND COORDINATION.—To 

16 the maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall 

17 provide for streamlined and coordinated procedures 

18 for the conservation stewardship program estab19 lished under subchapter B and the environmental 

20 quality incentives program established under chapter 

21 4 (referred to in this section as the ‘programs’), in22 cluding applications, contracting, conservation plan23 ning, conservation practices, and related administra24 tive procedures. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SOIL HEALTH.—To the maximum extent 

2 feasible, the Secretary shall manage the programs to 

3 enhance soil health and build soil carbon. 

4 ‘‘(3) WILDLIFE HABITAT.—To the maximum 

5 extent feasible, the Secretary shall allocate not less 

6 than 10 percent of funding for the programs to sup7 port conservation activities benefitting wildlife habi8 tat. 

9 ‘‘(4) ORGANIC SYSTEMS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

11 provide for a funding allocation for each of the 

12 programs to support organic production and 

13 transition to organic production. 

14 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

15 the funding allocation under subparagraph (A), 

16 the Secretary shall take into consideration cer17 tified organic acres and transitioning organic 

18 acres of each State and the State trend line for 

19 certified organic acres and transitioning organic 

20 acres. 

21 ‘‘(5) BALANCE.—To the maximum extent fea22 sible, the Secretary shall provide balanced treatment 

23 for crop and livestock production systems in the allo24 cation of contracts for the programs. 


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1 ‘‘(6) ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT.—The Secretary 

2 shall promulgate regulations that require partici3 pants in the programs to be actively engaged in 

4 farming or ranching. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall 

6 coordinate management of the programs in a manner to 

7 facilitate the opportunity for a participant enrolled in the 

8 environmental quality incentives program under chapter 

9 4 but not yet qualified to enroll in the conservation stew10 ardship program under subchapter B to subsequently en11 roll in the conservation stewardship program once the par12 ticipant has met the stewardship threshold for not fewer 

13 than 2 priority resource concerns.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM DEFINI15 TIONS. 

16 Section 1238D of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

17 U.S.C. 3838d) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1238D. DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

20 ‘‘(1) CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PLAN.— 

21 The term ‘conservation stewardship plan’ means a 

22 plan that— 

23 ‘‘(A) identifies and inventories priority re24 source concerns; 


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1 ‘‘(B) establishes benchmark data and con2 servation objectives; 

3 ‘‘(C) describes conservation activities to be 

4 implemented, managed, or improved; and 

5 ‘‘(D) includes a schedule and evaluation 

6 plan for the planning and installation of new 

7 conservation activities and the active manage8 ment of new and existing conservation activi9 ties. 

10 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

11 the conservation stewardship program established by 

12 this subchapter.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM. 

14 Section 1238E of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

15 U.S.C. 3838e) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

17 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘2023’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (b)(2), in the matter pre20 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the Agricul21 tural Act of 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘the SOIL Stew22 ardship Act’’. 

23 SEC. 5. STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTS. 

24 Section 1238F of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

25 U.S.C. 3838f) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (1) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) RANKING OF APPLICATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating contract 

5 offers submitted under subsection (a), the Sec6 retary shall rank applications based on— 

7 ‘‘(i) the level of natural resource and 

8 environmental benefits resulting from ex9 isting conservation treatment on all appli10 cable priority resource concerns at the time 

11 of application; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the degree to which the proposed 

13 conservation activities effectively increase 

14 natural resource and environmental bene15 fits. 

16 ‘‘(B) TIE BREAKER.—In the event of a tie 

17 in ranking scores between 2 or more applica18 tions under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

19 shall rank applications based on the extent to 

20 which the actual and anticipated conservation 

21 natural resource and environmental benefits 

22 from the contract are provided at the least cost 

23 relative to other similarly beneficial contract of24 fers.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (d)(4), by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(C) NEW ACREAGE.—If, after entering 

4 into a contract, a producer adds new acreage to 

5 the agricultural operation, the producer may 

6 elect to add the acreage to the stewardship con7 tract during the term of the current steward8 ship contract, if the Secretary determines the 

9 additional acreage and conservation treatment 

10 of those acres increases the natural resource 

11 and environmental benefits of the contract.’’; 

12 and 

13 (3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(e) CONTRACT RENEWAL.—At the end of each 5- 

16 year contract period, the Secretary may allow the producer 

17 to renew the contract for additional 5-year periods if the 

18 producer— 

19 ‘‘(1) demonstrates compliance with the terms of 

20 the previous contract; 

21 ‘‘(2) agrees to adopt new or improved conserva22 tion activities across the entire agricultural oper23 ation, demonstrating continual improvement, as de24 termined by the Secretary; and 

25 ‘‘(3) agrees, by the end of the contract period— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to plan, install, maintain, and actively 

2 manage such conservation activities as will 

3 allow the producer to meet or exceed the stew4 ardship threshold of not fewer than 2 additional 

5 priority resource concerns; or 

6 ‘‘(B) to adopt or improve such conserva7 tion activities as the Secretary determines to be 

8 necessary to achieve higher levels of perform9 ance with respect to not fewer than 2 existing 

10 priority resource concerns specified by the Sec11 retary in the initial contract.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY. 

13 Section 1238G of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

14 U.S.C. 3838g) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘not less 

16 than 5’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘$18’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘$23’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘including supplemental 

21 payments under subsection (e), payments for 

22 cover crop activities under subsection (d), and 

23 payments for comprehensive conservation plan24 ning under subsection (f),’’ after ‘‘financial as25 sistance,’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (d)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre3 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, to the 

4 maximum extent practicable,’’; 

5 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

6 (4) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; 

7 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(3) PAYMENTS FOR COVER CROP ACTIVI10 TIES.—Any annual payment provided by the Sec11 retary under this subchapter that is for a cover crop 

12 activity, as determined by the Secretary, shall be in 

13 an amount that is not less than 125 percent of the 

14 amount that would have been paid under paragraph 

15 (2). 

16 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM PAYMENT.—A payment to a pro17 ducer under this subsection shall not be less than 

18 $1,500 per year.’’; and 

19 (D) in paragraph (6) (as so redesignated), 

20 by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(A) calculate and provide payments for 

23 existing activities, additional activities, and sup24 plemental payments, as described under sub25 section (e); and’’; 


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1 (4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENTS FOR RESOURCE4 CONSERVING CROP ROTATIONS AND MANAGED INTEN5 SIVE ROTATIONAL GRAZING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) MANAGED INTENSIVE ROTATIONAL

8 GRAZING.—The term ‘managed intensive rota9 tional grazing’ means a grazing system in which 

10 animals are regularly and systematically moved 

11 to fresh pasture in such a way as— 

12 ‘‘(i) to maximize the quantity and 

13 quality of forage growth; 

14 ‘‘(ii) to improve manure distribution 

15 and nutrient cycling; 

16 ‘‘(iii) to increase carbon sequestration 

17 from greater forage harvest; 

18 ‘‘(iv) to improve the quality and quan19 tity of cover for wildlife; 

20 ‘‘(v) to provide permanent cover to 

21 protect the soil from erosion; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) to improve water quality. 

23 ‘‘(B) RESOURCE-CONSERVING CROP ROTA24 TION.—The term ‘resource-conserving crop ro25 tation’ means a crop rotation that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) includes not fewer than 1 re2 source-conserving crop (as defined by the 

3 Secretary); 

4 ‘‘(ii) reduces erosion; 

5 ‘‘(iii) improves soil fertility and tilt; 

6 ‘‘(iv) interrupts pest cycles; 

7 ‘‘(v) builds soil carbon; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) in applicable areas, reduces de9 pletion of soil moisture or otherwise re10 duces the need for irrigation. 

11 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF PAYMENTS.—The Sec12 retary shall provide additional payments to pro13 ducers that, in participating in the program, agree 

14 to adopt, manage, and maintain, or improve, man15 age, and maintain— 

16 ‘‘(A) resource-conserving crop rotations; or 

17 ‘‘(B) managed intensive rotational grazing. 

18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

19 payment under paragraph (2), a producer shall 

20 agree to adopt, manage, and maintain or improve, 

21 maintain, and manage, resource-conserving crop ro22 tations, or managed intensive rotational grazing for 

23 the term of the contract. 


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1 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM PAYMENT.—Supplemental pay2 ments under this subsection shall not be less than 

3 $20 per acre.’’; 

4 (5) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), (h), 

5 and (i) as subsections (g), (h), (i), and (j), respec6 tively; 

7 (6) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(f) PAYMENT FOR COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION

10 PLANNING.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a producer 

12 who develops and implements a comprehensive con13 servation plan to address all priority resource con14 cerns in a manner that meets or exceeds the stew15 ardship thresholds, a payment for planning shall be 

16 not less than $1,000 and not more than $3,000 per 

17 year. 

18 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT.—A payment under paragraph 

19 (1) shall be set on a sliding scale, determined by the 

20 following factors: 

21 ‘‘(A) The number of resource concerns ad22 dressed in the comprehensive conservation plan. 

23 ‘‘(B) The number of eligible land use types 

24 included in the operation.’’; 

25 (7) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘, including joint oper2 ations,’’ after ‘‘legal entity’’ the first place it 

3 appears; 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘in the aggregate’’ and in5 serting ‘‘when combined with payments for 

6 management practices under the environmental 

7 quality incentives program established under 

8 chapter 4’’; and 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘2018’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘2023’’; 

11 (8) by striking subsection (i) (as so redesig12 nated) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) ORGANIC CERTIFICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall es15 tablish a coordinated, user-friendly, and transparent 

16 means by which producers may initiate or maintain 

17 organic certification under the Organic Foods Pro18 duction Act of 1900 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) while 

19 participating in a contract under the program. 

20 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION.—The Secretary shall estab21 lish suites of organic transition conservation activi22 ties to be available through the program.’’; and 

23 (9) in subsection (j) (as so redesignated)— 

24 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

25 (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 


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1 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 

2 so redesignated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) require participants in the program to be 

4 actively engaged in farming or ranching;’’; and 

5 (C) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), 

6 by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub7 section (g)’’. 

8 SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM 

9 PURPOSES. 

10 Section 1240(4) of the Food Security Act of 1985 

11 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘livestock, 

12 pest or irrigation management’’ and inserting ‘‘crops and 

13 livestock, pest management, or irrigation management’’. 

14 SEC. 8. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM 

15 DEFINITIONS. 

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

17 U.S.C. 3839aa–1) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1240A. DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘In this chapter: 

20 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE.—The term ‘de21 velopment practice’ means the construction or instal22 lation of a structure, facility, or equipment, or an23 other related activity that is consistent with the pur24 poses of the program, as determined by the Sec25 retary. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ means fi2 nancial assistance provided to a producer for per3 forming practices, including compensation for— 

4 ‘‘(A) incurred costs associated with plan5 ning, design, materials, equipment, installation, 

6 labor, management, maintenance, or training; 

7 ‘‘(B) income forgone by the producer; and 

8 ‘‘(C) expected conservation benefit. 

9 ‘‘(3) PRACTICE.—The term ‘practice’ means 1 

10 or more conservation activities that are consistent 

11 with the purposes of the program, as determined by 

12 the Secretary, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) improvements to eligible land of the 

14 producer, including— 

15 ‘‘(i) land management practices; 

16 ‘‘(ii) vegetative practices; 

17 ‘‘(iii) forest management; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) other practices that the Sec19 retary determines would further the pur20 poses of the program; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the development of plans appropriate 

22 for the eligible land of the producer, includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(i) comprehensive nutrient manage25 ment planning; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) comprehensive conservation plan2 ning; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) other plans that the Secretary 

4 determines would further the purposes of 

5 the program. 

6 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

7 the environmental quality incentives program estab8 lished by this chapter.’’. 

9 SEC. 9. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION. 

10 Section 1240B of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 

11 U.S.C. 3839aa–2) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2019’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘2023’’; 

14 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘10 years’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘5 years’’; 

16 (3) in subsection (d)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking subpara18 graph (A) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(A)(i) for practices that are not develop20 ment practices, 75 percent of the costs associ21 ated with planning, design, materials, equip22 ment, installation, labor, management, mainte23 nance, or training; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) for development practices, except as 

25 provided in subsection (h)(3), 50 percent of the 


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1 costs associated with planning, design, mate2 rials, installation, management, maintenance, or 

3 training;’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

5 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

6 clause (i) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(i)(I) for practices that are not de8 velopment practices, to not more than 90 

9 percent of the costs associated with plan10 ning, design, materials, equipment, instal11 lation, labor, management, maintenance, or 

12 training; or 

13 ‘‘(II) for development practices, to not 

14 more than 75 percent of the costs associ15 ated with the planning, design, materials, 

16 equipment, installation, labor management, 

17 maintenance, or training;’’; and 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by strik19 ing ‘‘may be provided’’ and inserting ‘‘shall 

20 be provided’’; 

21 (4) in subsection (h)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘water 

23 conservation or irrigation practice’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘water-conserving irrigation practice’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing payments to a 

4 producer for a development practice that is a water 

5 conservation or irrigation practice, the Secretary 

6 shall give priority to applications in which— 

7 ‘‘(A) consistent with the law of the State 

8 in which the eligible land of the producer is lo9 cated, the producer agrees to reduce water use 

10 in the operations of the producer; or 

11 ‘‘(B) the producer agrees not to use any 

12 associated water savings to bring new land, 

13 other than incidental land needed for efficient 

14 operations, under irrigated production, unless 

15 the producer is participating in a watershed16 wide project that will effectively conserve water, 

17 as determined by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT RATE.—Applications given pri19 ority under paragraph (2) shall be subject to the 

20 payment rate described in subsection (d)(2)(A)(i).’’; 

21 and 

22 (5) in subsection (i)— 

23 (A) by striking paragraph (2) and insert24 ing the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—As a condi2 tion for receiving payments under this subsection, a 

3 producer shall agree to develop and implement con4 servation practices for certified organic production 

5 that are consistent with the regulations promulgated 

6 under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 

7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) and the purposes of this chap8 ter.’’; 

9 (B) by striking paragraph (3); and 

10 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 

11 (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively. 

12 SEC. 10. LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS. 

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

14 U.S.C. 3839aa–7) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1240G. LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS. 

16 ‘‘(a) TOTAL PAYMENTS.—A person or legal entity 

17 may not receive, directly or indirectly, payments under 

18 this chapter and chapter 2 that, in the aggregate, exceed 

19 $450,000 for all contracts entered into under this chapter 

20 and chapter 2 by the person or legal entity during the 

21 period of fiscal years 2019 through 2023, regardless of 

22 the number of contracts entered into under this chapter 

23 by the person or legal entity. 

24 ‘‘(b) MANAGEMENT PAYMENTS.—A person or legal 

25 entity may not receive, directly or indirectly, payments 


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1 under the management component of this chapter and 

2 chapter 2 that, in aggregate, exceed $200,000 for all con3 tracts entered into under the management component of 

4 this chapter and chapter 2 by the person or legal entity 

5 during the period of fiscal years 2019 through 2023, re6 gardless of the number of contracts entered into under 

7 this chapter by the person or legal entity.’’. 

8 SEC. 11. COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION. 

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

10 U.S.C. 3841) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ‘‘prac12 ticable—’’ and all that follows through the period at 

13 the end of subparagraph (E) and inserting ‘‘prac14 ticable, $1,750,000,000 for each fiscal year through 

15 fiscal year 2023, including not less than 

16 $500,000,000 for each fiscal year for management 

17 activities that assist producers in protecting sources 

18 of drinking water.’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (h)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (i) in the matter preceding subpara22 graph (A), by striking ‘‘2009 through 

23 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘2019 through 

24 2023’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘5 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘15 percent’’; 

3 and 

4 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 ‘‘5 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘15 percent’’; 

6 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 

7 and (4), as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), re8 spectively; 

9 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(2) WILDLIFE.—Of the funds made available 

12 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 to carry 

13 out the environmental quality incentives program 

14 and the acres made available for each of those fiscal 

15 years to carry out the conservation stewardship pro16 gram, the Secretary shall use not less than 10 per17 cent for conservation activities that support the res18 toration, development, protection, and improvement 

19 of wildlife habitat on eligible land, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) upland wildlife habitat; 

21 ‘‘(B) wetland wildlife habitat; 

22 ‘‘(C) habitat for threatened and endan23 gered species; 

24 ‘‘(D) fish habitat; 


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1 ‘‘(E) wildlife habitat on pivot corners and 

2 other irregular areas of a field; and 

3 ‘‘(F) other types of wildlife habitat, as de4 termined by the Secretary. 

5 ‘‘(3) ORGANIC.—Of the funds made available 

6 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 to carry 

7 out the environmental quality incentives program 

8 and the acres made available for each of those fiscal 

9 years to carry out the conservation stewardship pro10 gram, the Secretary shall allocate funding to the 

11 States to support organic production and the transi12 tion to organic production, to be determined by each 

13 State’s— 

14 ‘‘(A) certified and transitioning organic op15 erations; 

16 ‘‘(B) organic acreage; and 

17 ‘‘(C) 2016 organic and transitioning par18 ticipation in the environmental quality incen19 tives program.’’; 

20 (D) in paragraph (4) (as so redesignated), 

21 by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)’’; and 

23 (E) in paragraph (5) (as so redesignated), 

24 by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)’’; and 


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27 

•S 2874 IS

1 (3) in subsection (i)(2), by striking ‘‘pursuant 

2 to section 1240G(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘by the Sec3 retary’’. 

Æ 


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