ning manual of the Natural Resources Conservation Serv-
ice. 
(b) LOCATIONS.—The pilot program shall be under-
taken in the following locations: 
(1) The Chesapeake Bay watershed. 
(2) The Great Lakes Basin. 
(3) The Connecticut River watershed. 
(4) The Highlands Region, as defined in section 
3 of the Highlands Conservation Act (Public Law 
108–421; 118 Stat. 2375). 
(5) The Upper Mississippi River Basin. 
(c) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance to 
producers shall be provided by the Secretary directly or 
through third-party providers certified by the Secretary, 
and shall be provided without charge to the producer. The 
results of the comprehensive conservation planning shall 
be provided to the producer to enable informed choices on 
the type of financial assistance available through conserva-
tion programs administered by the Secretary that would 
most effectively address the resource needs of the farmer’s 
operation consistent with the environmental goals for the 
area in which the operation is located. 
(d) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use funds of the 
Commodity Credit Corporation to carry out the pilot pro-
gram in the amount of $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 
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years 2008 through 2013. The funds shall be equally di-
vided, to the maximum extent practicable, between each 
of the four pilot program locations. 
(e) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT.—The Secretary shall 
conduct an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot pro-
gram and publish a report, to be available to the public, 
of the results of the assessment. An assessment and report 
shall be undertaken in the second year and the fifth year 
of the pilot program. 
SEC. 118. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE UNDER DEPARTMENT 
OF 
AGRICULTURE 
CONSERVATION 
PRO-
GRAMS. 
(a) USE
OF THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS.—Section 
1242 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842) 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (2) 
and inserting the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) at the option of the producer, through an 
approved third party, if available.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-
ing the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(1) SYSTEM
FOR
EVALUATION
OF
PRO-
VIDERS.—The Secretary shall establish, by regula-
tion, a system for approving individuals and entities 
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to provide technical assistance to carry out programs 
under this chapter, including criteria for the evalua-
tion of providers or potential providers of technical 
assistance.’’; 
(B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert-
ing the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) COMPETITIVE
BIDDING.—The Secretary 
may accept bids from approved third parties to pro-
vide technical assistance to producers eligible for 
that assistance.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘may re-
quest’’ and inserting ‘‘shall request, to the max-
imum extent practicable,’’. 
(b) COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION EDUCATIONAL AS-
SISTANCE PROGRAM.—Such section is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION EDUCATIONAL 
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a 
cooperative conservation educational assistance program 
through which a student at an institution of higher edu-
cation, in a field of study such as agronomy, conservation 
biology, engineering, and other subject relevant to the pro-
vision of technical assistance under this section, may re-
ceive educational assistance in exchange for a commitment 
of service to the Natural Resources Conservation Service 
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or other agency within the Department of Agriculture in-
volved in providing such assistance. Establishment of the 
program shall be carried out by rulemaking, and the final 
rule shall be issued not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this subsection.’’. 
TITLE II—ENERGY 
SEC. 201. DEFINITION OF BIOMASS. 
Section 9001(3)(B)(i) of the Farm Security and 
Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101(3)(B)(i)) 
is amended by inserting ‘‘and crop waste’’ after ‘‘agricul-
tural crops’’. 
SEC. 202. SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF BIOREFIN-
ERIES. 
(a) ASSISTANCE METHODS.—Subsection (c) of sec-
tion 9003 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 
of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103) to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall award grants 
and make loans and loan guarantees to eligible entities 
to assist in covering the cost of development and construc-
tion of biorefineries or for the construction or deployment 
of methane digesters used to capture the methane gas 
from livestock manure for use as a fuel source for biofuel 
production to carry out projects to demonstrate the com-
mercial viability of 1 or more processes for converting bio-
mass to fuels or chemicals.’’. 
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(b) ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS.—Subsection (e)(2) of 
such section is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i); 
(2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 
and 
(3) by inserting after clause (i) the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(ii) shall select projects based upon 
the extent to which the projects meet envi-
ronmental goals for feed stocks and refin-
eries, including goals related to reductions 
in greenhouse gas emissions and improve-
ment in water quality and wildlife habitat, 
developed by the Secretary in consultation 
with the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec-
retary of Energy, and the National Acad-
emy of Sciences; and’’. 
(c) COST SHARING.—Subsection (f) of such section 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(f) COST SHARING AND INTEREST RATES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The combined amount of a 
grant and loan made or guaranteed under this sec-
tion shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of the 
project. 
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