“To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modernize the conservation reserve program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes definitions for Subchapter B of chapter 1 of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (i.e., the Conservation Reserve Program subchapter) as follows: (1) "conservation buffer," meaning a practice providing water quality or other resource benefits (e.g., grass sod waterway, contour grass sod strip, prairie strip, filterstrip, field border, living snow fence, riparian buffer, shelterbelt or windbreak, wetland or wetland buffer, saturated buffer, bioreactor, wellhead protection area, or similar practices as determined by the Secretary); (2) "eligible land," meaning land authorized for enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program under existing law; (3) "eligible partner," meaning a state, political subdivision of a state, Indian tribe, or nongovernmental organization; and (4) "land capability class," meaning a soil classification using the system in effect on December 23, 1985.
This section revises eligible land criteria for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), under which the Department of Agriculture enrolls contracts with landowners to retire environmentally sensitive farmland from production and establish conservation practices. The revisions replace the prior categories with the following: (1) cropland that, on a field level, consists of not less than 85 percent soils with a dryland cropland land capability class of III through VII (from highly erodible cropland), or cannot be farmed in accordance with conservation compliance plans, and had a cropping history or was considered planted for not fewer than 4 of the 6 years preceding enactment of the Conservation Reserve Program Modernization Act (from preceding December 20, 2018); (2) cropland (including prairie potholes, playas, and pocosins), grasslands, and marginal pastureland (including that converted to wetlands or wildlife habitat) devoted to conservation buffers; ecologically appropriate vegetation, including trees, in or near riparian areas, streams, wetlands (including prairie potholes, playas, and pocosins), or saline-impaired soils; or similar water quality or wildlife habitat practices (expanding from marginal pastureland only); (3) grasslands that contain forbs or shrubland (including improved rangeland and pastureland) for which grazing is the predominant use, are in areas historically dominated by grasslands, and could provide significant ecological habitat value if retained or restored (no change); (4) land described in (1), (2), or (3) proposed by an eligible partner and agreed to by the Secretary to address significant water quality, water conservation, or wildlife habitat concerns under section 1231A (from cropland, marginal pastureland, or grasslands devoted to specific water quality practices such as waterways, prairie strips, buffers, wetlands, or bioreactors); and (5) the unenrolled portion of a field where more than 50 percent of the field is enrolled as a buffer or filterstrip, or more than 75 percent as another conservation practice, and the Secretary determines the remainder infeasible to farm (replacing otherwise ineligible cropland posing soil, water, or air degradation threats and established as new waterways or strips).
This section revises cost-sharing and annual rental payments under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which provides payments to landowners for retiring environmentally sensitive cropland from production. Specifically, it (1) amends cost-sharing payments under section 1234(b)(1) to cover 50% of costs, as determined appropriate by the Secretary, for establishing permanent vegetation (including site preparation, cover, fertilizer, seeding, and planting); erosion control practices; fencing and water development for riparian areas and livestock exclusion; fencing and water development to transition to grazing under the grasslands option; mid-contract management; and other water quality measures (previously, 50% of costs for establishing water quality and conservation measures and practices); (2) establishes reduced annual rental payments for land reenrolled under section 1231(h) at not more than 85% of the relevant county average soil rental rate for the first reenrollment after enactment of the Conservation Reserve Program Modernization Act, decreasing by 10 percentage points for each subsequent reenrollment; and (3) sets maximum county average soil rental rates (before adjustments) at 85% of the estimated rate for dryland cropland land capability classes I or II under general enrollment or the conservation reserve enhancement program (CREP); 100% for class III under general enrollment or CREP and for continuous enrollment (regardless of class); and 115% for classes IV through VII under general enrollment or CREP.