“To provide for the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the Chesapeake Bay States Partnership Initiative to assist agricultural producers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed—defined to include the Chesapeake Bay and portions of Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia—in implementing conservation activities through targeted enrollment opportunities and funding under applicable programs in subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985. The initiative supports activities to improve water quality and quantity, restore and preserve soil, air, and related resources, and enhance agricultural resilience to climate change, including erosion control; sediment and nutrient reduction in groundwater and surface water; and habitat conservation, restoration, or enhancement on land retained in current use or restored to its natural condition. In providing assistance, the Secretary of Agriculture must give special consideration to applications from effective nutrient-reduction river basins or for activities reducing nitrogen and sediment, improving livestock and waste management, or conserving wetlands; use existing plans, models, and assessments; provide funding expeditiously consistent with state restoration strategies; and coordinate with federal, state, and local programs, including identifying buffer management opportunities on expiring Conservation Reserve Program contracts. Additionally, this section requires the Secretary and the EPA Administrator to establish the Task Force on Crediting Chesapeake Bay Conservation Investments to develop an action plan improving analysis, reporting, and quantification of nutrient reductions from conservation activities while ensuring responsiveness to states and producers, scientific integrity of Chesapeake Bay Program tools, and producer privacy protection.
This section reauthorizes the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)—under which the Secretary of Agriculture enrolls eligible farmland in contracts to conserve soil, water, and wildlife resources—through FY2028 (from FY2023) and expands eligible land to include cropland, marginal pastureland, grasslands, and other rural land devoted to riparian buffers that improve water quality in furtherance of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) goals. The section further (1) allows CREP agreement signatories to update existing agreements, without renegotiation or matching funds requirements, to include new incentives available since January 1, 2018 (e.g., riparian forest buffer management payments); (2) directs the Secretary to streamline CREP agreement amendments for time-sensitive priorities (e.g., Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load) and prioritize simple updates; (3) requires a minimum incentive payment of 40% of actual costs for CRP contracts updated under these CREP provisions; and (4) increases the maximum annual CRP payment per person from $50,000 to $100,000. Finally, this section amends the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to require consideration of CRP and CREP participation (e.g., riparian buffers) when prioritizing and evaluating applications for grazing practices that efficiently address resource concerns through holistic grazing systems.
This section establishes a Chesapeake Bay watershed turnkey pilot program under which the Secretary provides establishment and management of eligible practices—forested riparian buffers and associated activities (e.g., stream crossings, fencing, alternate water systems, herbicide applications)—on eligible land enrolled through a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). (As background, CREP is a federal-state partnership under the Conservation Reserve Program that enrolls environmentally sensitive cropland in riparian buffers and other practices to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into water bodies such as the Chesapeake Bay.) The Secretary may use technical service providers for these activities at no cost or additional paperwork burden to voluntary owners and operators, who must provide land access but forgo cost-share, practice incentive, or management payments under CRP for such practices; the Secretary must submit a report on the program's status to the agriculture committees of Congress within one year of enactment.
This section revises the Food and Agricultural Sciences Education grants and fellowship program (7 U.S.C. 3152) to (1) add definitions for institution of higher education, junior or community college, postsecondary vocational institution, secondary school, and work-based learning; (2) expand eligibility to junior or community colleges and postsecondary vocational institutions; (3) include paid work-based learning in teaching programs and teaching enhancement projects addressing needs in food and agricultural sciences or rural, community, or business development; (4) authorize $60 million annually for FY2026 through FY2031; and (5) make conforming amendments and cross-reference updates. It expands the experienced services program—which utilizes individuals age 55 or older who are not USDA or state agriculture department employees to provide technical, professional, and administrative services supporting USDA conservation programs and the research, education, and economics mission area—to assist cooperative initiatives improving higher education teaching programs, including paid work-based learning, at land-grant colleges and universities (including the University of the District of Columbia), minority-serving colleges and universities, and other eligible colleges, junior or community colleges, and postsecondary vocational institutions (16 U.S.C. 3851(a)(2)). It further modifies the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant program to include paid work-based learning in eligible teaching activities and expand eligibility to junior or community colleges and postsecondary vocational institutions (7 U.S.C. 3157(b)).
This section establishes direct hire authority for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), allowing the Secretary to appoint qualified candidates directly—without regard to subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code (other than sections 3303 and 3328)—to positions providing technical assistance under NRCS-administered conservation programs. Qualified candidates, as determined by the Secretary, must meet Office of Personnel Management standards and possess expertise in delivering such assistance. (As background, NRCS technical assistance supports conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Stewardship Program by developing site-specific plans for agricultural, forestry, and related lands.)
This section (1) removes the exemption for domestic, wild-caught blue catfish (*Ictalurus furcatus*) and flathead catfish (*Pylodictis olivaris*) invasive to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem from Food Safety and Inspection Service oversight under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601(w)(2)) and from USDA grading under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1622(n)(1)); (2) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to execute, not later than 90 days after enactment, a memorandum of understanding with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to transfer primary regulatory oversight—including domestic and import inspection—of such catfish from USDA to the Commissioner under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, and Public Health Service Act; and (3) directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Commissioner and not later than 180 days after enactment, to issue final regulations implementing these changes without duplicating inspection activities. (As background, such catfish are invasive species in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem; the amendments subject them to oversight under meat inspection and grading authorities before the specified transfer to FDA seafood regulation.)