I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3809 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve conservation compliance, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 
Mr. BLUMENAUER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to improve 
conservation compliance, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sustainable Farmland 
for the Future Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 1201(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 
(16 U.S.C. 3801(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3)— 
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(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘highly erodible’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘the 
highly erodible’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’; 
(2) in paragraph (4)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 
(B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(B) are designed to, in a cost effective 
and technically practicable manner— 
‘‘(i) achieve a substantial improve-
ment in water quality; 
‘‘(ii) achieve a rate of soil erosion no 
greater than the soil loss tolerance level, as 
determined by the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service; 
‘‘(iii) prevent ephemeral gully erosion; 
and 
‘‘(iv) establish and maintain a min-
imum of 50 feet of perennial vegetation be-
tween covered cropland and intermittent or 
perennial waterways; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(C) are based on the most recent and 
technically accurate soil erosion prediction mod-
els to determine if soil erosion by wind and 
water exceed the Soil Loss Tolerance Level on 
covered cropland subject to subtitle B.’’; 
(3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘highly erod-
ible’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’; 
(4) by amending paragraph (7)(A)(ii) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(ii) before such action, such land was wet-
land.’’; 
(5) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘Any highly 
erodible land on which an agricultural commodity is 
produced after December 23, 1985, and that is not 
exempt under section 1212, shall be considered as 
part of the field in which the land was included on 
December 23, 1985, unless the owner and Secretary 
agree to modification of the boundaries of the field 
to carry out this title.’’; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(28) COVERED
CROPLAND.—The term ‘cov-
ered cropland’ means cropland, as defined in section 
718.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, that 
is planted to a row crop.’’. 
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SEC. 3. COVERED CROPLAND PROGRAM INELIGIBILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1211 of the Food Security 
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘a field on which highly erodible 
land’’ and all that follows through ‘‘shall be in-
eligible for’’ and inserting ‘‘covered cropland 
shall be ineligible for’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘or income’’ after 
‘‘any type of price’’; and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘, including a pay-
ment made under section 1116 or 1117 of 
the Agricultural Act of 2014’’ before the 
semicolon at the end; and 
(C) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking ‘‘ex-
cessive erosion of highly erodible land’’ and in-
serting ‘‘substantial erosion or degradation of 
water quality’’; and 
(2) in the heading of subsection (b), by striking 
‘‘HIGHLY ERODIBLE LAND’’ and inserting ‘‘COMPLI-
ANCE DETERMINATION’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subtitle B of title 
XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3811 
et seq.) is amended in the heading by striking ‘‘Highly 
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Erodible Land’’ and inserting ‘‘Covered Crop-
land’’. 
SEC. 4. EXEMPTIONS. 
Section 1212 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
U.S.C. 3812) is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY BASED
ON COMPLIANCE WITH 
CONSERVATION PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, as of January 1, 2023, 
or 2 years after the Natural Resources Conservation 
Service has completed a conservation plan for the 
farm, whichever is later, a person is actively apply-
ing the approved conservation plan, such person 
shall have until January 1, 2028, to comply with the 
plan without being subject to program ineligibility. 
‘‘(2) MINIMIZATION OF DOCUMENTATION.—In 
carrying out this subsection, the Secretary, Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, and local soil con-
servation districts shall minimize the quantity of 
documentation a person must submit to comply with 
this paragraph. 
‘‘(3) EXPIRATION.—On the expiration of a con-
tract entered into under subchapter B of chapter 1 
of subtitle D, the provisions of this subtitle shall 
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‘‘(2) make available annually an amount equal 
to 0.02 percent of the funding otherwise provided for 
programs specified in section 1211(a), not to exceed 
$350 million, to provide technical assistance, con-
duct status reviews and other tasks required to fully 
implement the provisions of this subtitle.’’. 
SEC. 6. WETLAND PROGRAM INELIGIBILITY. 
Section 1221 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
U.S.C. 3821) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘, includ-
ing payments made under section 1116 or 1117 of 
the Agricultural Act of 2014’’ before the period at 
the end; and 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by amending paragraph (2)(B) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(B) NEW CONVERSIONS.—In the case of 
a wetland that the Secretary determines was 
converted after the date of enactment of the 
Agricultural Act of 2014, the person shall be 
ineligible to receive crop insurance premium 
subsidies in subsequent reinsurance years un-
less the Secretary determines that an exemption 
pursuant to section 1222 applies.’’; 
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(B) in paragraph (3), by striking subpara-
graph (E); and 
(C) in paragraph (4), by inserting at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(D) 
FUNDING.—The 
Secretary 
shall 
make available annually an amount equal to 
0.01 percent of the funding otherwise made 
available for programs specified in 1221(b), not 
to exceed $200 million, to provide technical as-
sistance, conduct status reviews and carry out 
other tasks needed to fully implement the provi-
sions of this subtitle. 
‘‘(E) STATUS
REVIEWS.—The Secretary 
shall annually carry out a review of the status 
of compliance of the person with the conserva-
tion plan under which the conservation system 
is being applied on no less than 5 percent of the 
covered cropland subject to this subtitle.’’. 
SEC. 7. DELINEATION OF WETLANDS; EXEMPTIONS. 
Section 1222 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 
U.S.C. 3822) is amended in subsection (f)(2)— 
(1) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E); and 
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and 
(G) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively. 
Æ 
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