266 
‘‘(A) to producers participating in a 
project that addresses water quantity concerns 
and in an amount sufficient to encourage con-
version from irrigated to dryland farming; and 
‘‘(B) to producers participating in a 
project that addresses water quality concerns 
and in an amount sufficient to encourage adop-
tion of conservation practices and systems that 
improve nutrient management. 
‘‘(3) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—To assist in the im-
plementation of the program, the Secretary may 
waive the applicability of the limitation in section 
1001D(b)(2) of this Act for participating producers 
if the Secretary determines that the waiver is nec-
essary to fulfill the objectives of the program. 
‘‘SEC. 1271D. FUNDING. 
‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Secretary shall 
use $110,000,000 of the funds of the Commodity Credit 
Corporation for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018 
to carry out the program established under this subtitle. 
‘‘(b) DURATION
OF AVAILABILITY.—Funds made 
available under subsection (a) shall remain available until 
expended. 
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL FUNDING AND ACRES.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the funds 
made available under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall reserve 8 percent of the funds and acres made 
available for a covered program for each of fiscal 
years 2014 through 2018 in order to ensure addi-
tional resources are available to carry out this pro-
gram. 
‘‘(2) UNUSED FUNDS AND ACRES.—Any funds 
or acres reserved under paragraph (1) for a fiscal 
year from a covered program that are not obligated 
under this program by April 1 of that fiscal year 
shall be returned for use under the covered program. 
‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.—Of the funds and 
acres made available for the program under subsections 
(a) and (c), the Secretary shall allocate— 
‘‘(1) 25 percent of the funds and acres to 
projects based on a State competitive process admin-
istered by the State conservationist, with the advice 
of the State technical committee; 
‘‘(2) 40 percent of the funds and acres to 
projects based on a national competitive process to 
be established by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(3) 35 percent of the funds and acres to 
projects for the critical conservation areas des-
ignated in section 1271F. 
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‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 
None of the funds made available under the program may 
be used to pay for the administrative expenses of partners. 
‘‘SEC. 1271E. ADMINISTRATION. 
‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE.—In addition to the criteria used 
in evaluating applications as described in section 
1271B(d)(2), the Secretary shall make publicly available 
information on projects selected through the competitive 
process described in section 1271B(d)(1). 
‘‘(b) REPORTING.—Not later than December 31, 
2014, and for every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-
tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report on the status 
of projects funded under the program, including— 
‘‘(1) the number and types of partners and pro-
ducers participating in the partnership agreements 
selected; 
‘‘(2) the number of producers receiving assist-
ance; 
‘‘(3) total funding committed to projects, in-
cluding Federal and non-Federal resources; and 
‘‘(4) a description of how the funds under sec-
tion 1271C(b)(3) are being administered, includ-
ing— 
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‘‘(A) any oversight mechanisms that the 
Secretary has implemented; 
‘‘(B) the process through which the Sec-
retary is resolving appeals by program partici-
pants; and 
‘‘(C) the means by which the Secretary is 
tracking adherence to any applicable provisions 
for payment eligibility. 
‘‘SEC. 1271F. CRITICAL CONSERVATION AREAS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—When administering the funding 
described in section 1271D(d)(3), the Secretary shall se-
lect applications for partnership agreements and producer 
contracts within designated critical conservation areas. 
‘‘(b) CRITICAL
CONSERVATION
AREA
DESIGNA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall des-
ignate up to 6 geographical areas as critical con-
servation areas based on the degree to which an 
area— 
‘‘(A) includes multiple States with signifi-
cant agricultural production; 
‘‘(B) is covered by an existing regional, 
State, binational, or multistate agreement or 
plan that has established objectives, goals and 
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