FY2020 Appropriations for Agricultural Conservation
Released: 2020-01-21T00:00:00

T he Agriculture appropriations billâformally called the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Actâfunds all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), excluding the U.S. Forest Service. For FY2020, the House Appropriations Committee reported H.R. 3164 on June 6, 2019 (including H.Rept. 116-107 ). Funding for USDA was included in a five-bill minibus appropriations bill ( H.R. 3055 ) that passed the House on June 25, 2019. The Senate Appropriations Committee reported S. 2522 on September 19, 2019 (including S.Rept. 116-110 ). The full Senate did not act on this bill by October 1, 2019, so FY2020 began without a full-year appropriation. To avoid a lapse in funding, Congress and the President approved two consecutive continuing resolutions to fund federal agencies at the FY2019 level ( P.L. 116-59 and P.L. 116-69 , respectively). The Senate passed a four-bill minibus appropriations bill ( H.R. 3055 ) on October 31, 2019, setting up negotiations with the House for a final bill. On December 20, 2019, Congress passed and the President signed the FY2020 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act ( P.L. 116-94 ), which includes agriculture and related agencies under Division B.

This report provides a brief overview of the conservation-related provisions in the FY2020 Agriculture appropriations acts. For a general analysis of the FY2020 appropriations for agriculture, see CRS Report R45974, Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2020 Appropriations .

Conservation Appropriations

USDA administers a number of agricultural conservation programs that assist private landowners with natural resource concerns. These include working lands programs, land retirement and easement programs, watershed programs, technical assistance, and other programs. The two lead agricultural conservation agencies within USDA are the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which provides technical assistance and administers most conservation programs, and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which administers the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

Most conservation program funding is mandatory, obtained through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and authorized in omnibus farm bills (about $6.4 billion of CCC budget authority for conservation in FY2020). The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334 ) reauthorized most mandatory conservation programs through FY2023. Other conservation programsâmostly providing technical assistanceâoperate with discretionary funding provided in annual appropriations (about $1 billion annually).

The FY2020 appropriation included an increase from FY2019 levels for discretionary conservation programs. The Administration's FY2020 request proposed a decrease for discretionary conservation funding from the FY2019 enacted levels and reductions in funding for mandatory conservation programs. The FY2020 appropriation does not generally include these proposed reductions and would continue to redirect some conservation funding to the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center.

Discretionary Conservation Programs

Conservation Operations

NRCS administers all discretionary conservation programs. The largest program and the account that funds most NRCS activities is Conservation Operations (CO). The CO account primarily funds Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), which provides conservation planning and implementation assistance from field staff placed in almost all counties within the United States and its territories. Other components of CO include the Soil Survey, Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting, and Plant Materials Centers ( Figure 1 ).

Technical assistance for conservation is currently funded through both mandatory and discretionary sources, with CO being the primary account receiving discretionary funding from annual appropriations. The Trump Administration's FY2020 budget requested $755.0 million for CO, $64.5 million less than the amount enacted for FY2019, in part due to a proposed consolidation of mandatory and discretionary accounts to pay for conservation technical assistance. USDA has proposed consolidating funding through multiple Administrations, but Congress has never adopted this approach (see " Funding for Technical Assistance " section below). The FY2020 appropriation increases CO funding in FY2020 by $10.1 million from FY2019 and directs CO funding for a number of conservation programs ( Table 1 ). Report language further directs funding to selected activities ( Table 4 ).

Funding for Technical Assistance

NRCS is the current federal provider of technical assistance for agriculture conservation. NRCS provides technical assistance at the request of the landowner to conserve and improve natural resources. The assistance includes technical expertise combined with knowledge of local conditions and is provided through a network of federal staff located throughout the United States.

Much of the conservation technical assistance provided by NRCS is funded through the CTA program within CO. Funds are used to support salaries and expenses for NRCS staff, technology development, conservation system design, compliance reviews, grants to partners for additional technical assistance capacity, and resource assessment reports. Total funding for CO has fluctu ated in recent years. In some cases, such fluctuation is the result of an Administration's request. In other cases, funding changes reflect national budget dynamics that are not unique to CO (e.g., reductions caused by sequestration in FY2013, and funding increases through budget agreements in FY2014-FY2020). In inflation-adjusted dollars, CO has declined over the past 20 years (see Figure 2 ).

The other side of agricultural conservation assistance is financial assistance. Financial assistance provides direct payments to landowners to implement certain conservation practices or to conserve and protect natural resources on private land. Most programs that provide financial assistance are authorized through omnibus farm bills and receive funding from mandatory sources, and thus do not require an annual appropriation.

In addition to technical assistance provided through CTA and CO, technical assistance is also part of farm bill conservation programs, which are funded through a program's mandatory authorization. Most technical assistance activities within mandatory programs support the delivery of some level of financial assistance as part of a contract or agreement. These activities could include providing designs, standards, and specifications needed to install approved conservation practices and activities.

Generally, technical assistance prior to a producer entering into a contract for financial assistance is considered to be part of CTA. It is not until after a producer signs a contract for financial assistance that technical assistance is funded from the individual mandatory program rather than CTA. Once the financial assistance contract is complete, most mandatory program funds are no longer available to support ongoing assistance in maintaining the conservation plans, practices, and activities implemented under the financial assistance program.

Since the mid-1990s, Congress and various Administrations have proposed changes to how technical assistance is funded. The Administration's FY2020 budget request proposed to transfer funding from mandatory conservation programs and discretionary appropriations to a consolidated account dedicated to technical assistance for farm bill conservation programs. This concept is not new. A similar proposal was included in the FY2018-FY2019 (Trump) and FY2014-FY2017 (Obama) presidential budget requests.

NRCS Staffing Levels

The CO account funds more than half of NRCS staff, with other, smaller discretionary programs and mandatory conservation programs accounting for the remainder. A decline in CO funding, therefore, correlates to a decline in the number of NRCS staff. Total, actual, permanent positions at NRCS that are funded by CO have generally declined through FY2018. This reduction in staff has been further magnified by a growing number of unfilled positions at the agency (see Figure 3 ).

The FPAC Business Center has also impacted NRCS staffing and funding levels (for more information on the Business Center, see the " Farm Production and Conservation Business Center " section). The FY2020 appropriation provides the Administration's requested level of $206.5 million in discretionary funding for the FPAC Business Center. This is $10 million less than Congress provided in FY2019. This appropriation is separate from the transfer of funds from the three FPAC agencies. In FY2019, Congress realigned funding and staff to the Business Center, including funding from NRCS discretionary accounts and $60.2 million from mandatory farm bill conservation program accounts. The FY2019 realignment of funds and staff included the transfer of approximately 882 staff years from NRCS to the Business Center (over 9% of effective NRCS staff years). The transfer of funding and functions are a part of the Business Center's goal of achieving efficiencies within the FPAC mission area. Given the decline in CO-funded technical assistance staff years, it is difficult to evaluate how the transfer of NRCS positions to the FPAC Business Center has impacted the agency's overall operations and ability to provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers. Also unclear is the extent to which the Business Center's realignment of staff may have contributed to the decrease in NRCS staffing levels and to the increase in total unfilled NRCS positions.

Watershed Programs

The FY2020 appropriation includes funding for watershed activities, including Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO)âa program that assists state and local organizations with planning and installing measures to prevent erosion, sedimentation, and flood damage. The appropriation increases WFPO funding to $175 million, $25 million more than the FY2019 level of $150 million. The FY2020 Administration request proposed that no funding be provided for the program.

Since FY2014, Congress has directed a portion of CO funds to select WFPO activities. The enacted appropriation includes similar directive language ($5.6 million; see Table 1 ), in addition to the $175 million for the program as a whole. This is less than the $11.2 million proposed in the Senate-passed bill. Neither the House-passed bill nor the Administration's request included such directive language.

The FY2020 appropriation also includes $10 million for the Watershed Rehabilitation Programââthe same as the FY2019 level. The Watershed Rehabilitation Program repairs aging dams previously built by USDA under WFPO. The Administration's request included no funding for FY2020.

The 2018 farm bill provides $50 million annually in permanent mandatory funding for WFPO and Watershed Rehabilitation activities. The mandatory funding is in addition to discretionary funding provided through annual appropriations.

Mandatory Conservation Programs

Mandatory conservation programs are generally authorized in omnibus farm bills and receive funding from the CCC and thus do not require an annual appropriation. The 2018 farm bill reauthorized mandatory funding for many of the agricultural conservation programs through FY2023. Because most of these programs are classified as mandatory, nonexempt spending, they are reduced annually by sequestration.

The President's FY2020 budget requested a reduction of $40 million annually to the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and the elimination of the Conservation Stewardship Program. Both programs were reauthorized to receive mandatory funding in the 2018 farm bill through FY20203. The FY2020 appropriation does not reduce these or other mandatory farm bill conservation programs.

Farm Production and Conservation Business Center

The Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area was created in 2017 as part of a larger departmental reorganization. FPAC includes NRCS, FSA, the Risk Management Agency (RMA), and a new FPAC Business Center. The FPAC Business Center is responsible for financial management, budgeting, human resources, information technology, acquisitions/procurement, strategic planning, and other customer-oriented operations of three agenciesâNRCS, FSA, and RMA. Congress reduced funding for NRCS, FSA, and RMA in FY2019 to realign funding and staff to the FPAC Business Center.

The FY2020 appropriation includes the Administration's requested level of $206.5 million for the Business Center. This is $9.8 million less than the enacted FY2019 appropriation (see Table 2 ). According to the Administration's FY2020 request, the proposed reduction is the result of "realizing efficiency improvements." The proposed reduction for FY2020 to the FPAC Business Center's appropriation could affect the implementation of conservation programs if efficiencies are not realized.

The explanatory statement of the FY2020 appropriation directs USDA to produce a report to the Appropriations Committees within 60 days of enactment on the center's efficiency gains, the metrics by which such gains are measured, and its hiring acceleration and reorganization plans. Similar language was included in the Senate committee report ( S.Rept. 116-110 ), which also cited concerns related to the Business Center's delays in filling critical vacancies, potentially resulting in delayed deployment of conservation and commodity programs. The Senate committee report expressed concern that additional functions and staff positions affiliated with NRCS state offices are being moved to the FPAC Business Center.

The FY2020 appropriation directs a transfer of funds to the FPAC Business Center from other accounts, including mandatory conservation programs and farm loan accounts. This transfer could result in NRCS effectively receiving less in total funding if the amount shifted would have been used for NRCS administrative or technical assistance had the Business Center not been created. In total, the direct appropriation and transfer of funds would provide the FPAC Business Center with $282.8 million in FY2020 (see Table 2 ).

Policy-Related Provisions

In addition to setting budgetary amounts, the Agriculture appropriations bill may also include policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out an appropriation. These provisions may have the force of law if they are included in the text of an appropriations act, but their effect is generally limited to the current fiscal year (see Table 3 ). Policy-related provisions generally do not amend the U.S. Code or have long-standing effects.

For example, the WFPO program has historically been called the "small watershed program," because no project may exceed 250,000 acres, and no structure may exceed 12,500 acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity or 25,000 acre-feet of total capacity. The FY2020 enacted appropriation includes a policy provision that waives the 250,000-acre project limit when the project's primary purpose is something other than flood prevention. This provision does not amend the WFPO authorization and therefore is effective only for the funds provided during the current appropriation year.

Table 3 compares some of the policy provisions in the Farm Production and Conservation Programs (Title II) and General Provisions (Title VII) titles of the FY2019 and FY2020 Agriculture appropriations bills related to conservation. Many of these provisions were also included in past years' appropriations acts. The table is divided by agency and account according to their location within the FY2019 and FY2020 acts.

The explanatory statement that accompanies the final appropriationsâand the House and Senate report language that accompanies the committee-reported billsâmay also provide policy instructions. These documents do not have the force of law but often explain congressional intent, which Congress expects the agencies to follow (see Table 4 ). The committee reports and explanatory statement may need to be read together to capture all of the congressional intent for a given fiscal year.

Many of these provisions have been included in past years' appropriations acts. Some provisions in report language and bill text address conservation programs that are not authorized or funded within the annual appropriations (i.e., mandatory spending for farm-bill-authorized programs). Table 4 is divided by the administering agency and by account according to the location of each provision within the two reports.