‘‘CHAPTER 6—COOPERATIVE CONSERVA-
TION PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE 
‘‘SEC. 1240W. COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP 
INITIATIVE. 
‘‘(a) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall enter into 
agreements for not shorter than three-year or longer than 
five-year terms with eligible entities specified in subsection 
(c) to preferentially enroll producers in one or more of the 
programs specified in subsection (b) to carry out special 
projects and initiatives through which multiple producers 
and other interested persons cooperate to improve water 
quality or address other specific resources of concern re-
lated to agricultural production on a local, State, or re-
gional scale. 
‘‘(b) COVERED PROGRAMS.—The conservation pro-
grams referred to in subsection (a) are the following: 
‘‘(1) Farmland protection program. 
‘‘(2) Grassland reserve program. 
‘‘(3) Environmental quality incentives program. 
‘‘(4) Ground and surface water conservation 
program. 
‘‘(5) Wildlife habitat incentive program. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PARTNERS.—Agreements may be en-
tered into under this section with any of the following (or 
a combination thereof): 
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‘‘(1) States and agencies of States. 
‘‘(2) Political subdivisions of States, including 
State-sponsored conservation districts. 
‘‘(3) Indian tribes. 
‘‘(4) Nongovernmental organizations and asso-
ciations, including conservation organizations and 
producer associations and cooperatives. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) COMPETITIVE
PROCESS.—The Secretary 
shall establish a competitive process for considering 
applications for agreements under this section con-
sistent with the evaluation criteria listed in sub-
section (e). 
‘‘(2) 
PROGRAM
ALLOCATION.—Applications 
shall include— 
‘‘(A) specification of the amount of fund-
ing or acres of one or more covered programs 
specified in subsection (b) proposed to be allo-
cated to carry out the special project or initia-
tive; and 
‘‘(B) a schedule for utilization of funding 
or acres over the life of the proposed project or 
initiative. 
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‘‘(e) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—In evaluating applica-
tions for agreements under this section the Secretary shall 
consider the extent to which— 
‘‘(1) preferential enrollment in the covered pro-
grams specified in the application will effectively ad-
dress the environmental objectives established for 
the special project or initiative; and 
‘‘(2) the special project or initiative covered by 
the application— 
‘‘(A) enjoys broad local and regional sup-
port from producers and other interested per-
sons, including governmental and nongovern-
mental organizations with appropriate expertise 
on the issues the project or initiative seeks to 
address; 
‘‘(B) includes clear environmental objec-
tives and a high likelihood of success; 
‘‘(C) includes a well defined project or ini-
tiative plan that identifies sensitive areas re-
quiring treatment and prioritizes conservation 
systems, practices, and activities needed to 
achieve environmental objectives; 
‘‘(D) promises adequate and coordinated 
participation to achieve the objectives of the 
project or initiative; 
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