§ 3839aa–24 — Duties Of The Secretary

(a) To achieve the conservation goals of a contract under the conservation stewardship program, the Secretary shall— (1) make the program available to eligible producers on a continuous enrollment basis with 1 or more ranking periods, 1 of which shall occur in the first quarter of each fiscal year; (2) identify not less than 5 priority resource concerns in a particular watershed or other appropriate region or area within a State; and (3) establish a science-based stewardship threshold for each priority resource concern identified under paragraph (2). (b) The Secretary shall allocate funding to States for enrollment, based— (1) primarily on each State’s proportion of eligible land to the total acreage of eligible land in all States; and (2) also on consideration of— (A) the extent and magnitude of the conservation needs associated with agricultural production in each State; (B) the degree to which implementation of the program in the State is, or will be, effective in helping producers address those needs; and (C) other considerations to achieve equitable geographic distribution of funds, as determined by the Secretary. (1) The Secretary shall provide annual payments under the program to compensate the producer for— (A) installing and adopting additional conservation activities; and (B) improving, maintaining, and managing conservation activities in place at the agricultural operation of the producer at the time the contract offer is accepted by the Secretary. (2) The amount of the annual payment shall be determined by the Secretary and based, to the maximum extent practicable, on the following factors: (A) Costs incurred by the producer associated with planning, design, materials, installation, labor, management, maintenance, or training. (B) Income forgone by the producer. (C) Expected conservation benefits. (D) The extent to which priority resource concerns will be addressed through the installation and adoption of conservation activities on the agricultural operation. (E) The level of stewardship in place at the time of application and maintained over the term of the contract. (F) The degree to which the conservation activities will be integrated across the entire agricultural operation for all applicable priority resource concerns over the term of the contract. (G) Such other factors as are determined appropriate by the Secretary. (3) A payment to a producer under this subsection shall not be provided for— (A) the design, construction, or maintenance of animal waste storage or treatment facilities or associated waste transport or transfer devices for animal feeding operations; or (B) conservation activities for which there is no cost incurred or income forgone to the producer. (4) In making payments under this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable— (A) prorate conservation performance over the term of the contract so as to accommodate, to the extent practicable, producers earning equal annual payments in each fiscal year; and (B) make such payments as soon as practicable after October 1 of each fiscal year for activities carried out in the previous fiscal year. (5) The amount of a payment under this subsection for cover crop activities shall be not less than 125 percent of the annual payment amount determined by the Secretary under paragraph (2). (1) In this subsection: (A) The term “advanced grazing management” means the use of a combination of grazing practices (as determined by the Secretary), which may include management-intensive rotational grazing, that provide for— (i) improved soil health and carbon sequestration; (ii) drought resilience; (iii) wildlife habitat; (iv) wildfire mitigation; (v) control of invasive plants; and (vi) water quality improvement. (B) The term “management-intensive rotational grazing” means a strategic, adaptively managed multipasture grazing system in which animals are regularly and systematically moved to fresh pasture in a manner that— (i) maximizes the quantity and quality of forage growth; (ii) improves manure distribution and nutrient cycling; (iii) increases carbon sequestration from greater forage harvest; (iv) improves the quality and quantity of cover for wildlife; (v) provides permanent cover to protect the soil from erosion; and (vi) improves water quality. (C) The term “resource-conserving crop rotation” means a crop rotation that— (i) includes at least 1 resource-conserving crop (as defined by the Secretary); (ii) reduces erosion; (iii) improves soil fertility and tilth; (iv) interrupts pest cycles; (v) builds soil organic matter; and (vi) in applicable areas, reduces depletion of soil moisture or otherwise reduces the need for irrigation. (2) The Secretary shall provide additional payments to producers that, in participating in the program, agree to adopt or improve, manage, and maintain— (A) resource-conserving crop rotations; or (B) advanced grazing management. (3) To be eligible to receive a payment described in paragraph (2), a producer shall agree to adopt or improve, manage, and maintain resource-conserving crop rotations or advanced grazing management for the term of the contract. (4) An additional payment provided under paragraph (2) shall be not less than 150 percent of the annual payment amount determined by the Secretary under subsection (c)(2). (1) In this subsection, the term “comprehensive conservation plan” means a conservation plan that meets or exceeds the stewardship threshold for each priority resource concern identified by the Secretary under subsection (a)(2). (2) The Secretary shall provide a 1-time payment to a producer that develops a comprehensive conservation plan. (3) The Secretary shall determine the amount of payment under paragraph (2) based on— (A) the number of priority resource concerns addressed in the comprehensive conservation plan; and (B) the number of types of land uses included in the comprehensive conservation plan. (f) A person or legal entity may not receive, directly or indirectly, payments under the program that, in the aggregate, exceed $200,000 under all contracts entered into during fiscal years 2019 through 2023, excluding funding arrangements with Indian tribes, regardless of the number of contracts entered into under the program by the person or legal entity. (g) The Secretary shall ensure that outreach and technical assistance are available, and program specifications are appropriate to enable specialty crop and organic producers to participate in the program. (1) The Secretary shall establish a transparent means by which producers may initiate organic certification under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) while participating in a contract under the program. (A) Using funds made available for the program for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2031, the Secretary shall allocate funding to States to support organic production and transition to organic production through paragraph (1). (B) The Secretary shall determine the allocation to a State under subparagraph (A) based on— (i) the number of certified and transitioning organic operations within the State; and (ii) the number of acres of certified and transitioning organic production within the State. (i) The Secretary shall promulgate regulations that— (1) prescribe such other rules as the Secretary determines to be necessary to ensure a fair and reasonable application of the limitations established under subsection (f); and (2) otherwise enable the Secretary to carry out the program. (j) To the maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall provide for streamlined and coordinated procedures for the program and the environmental quality incentives program under subpart A, including applications, contracting, conservation planning, conservation practices, and related administrative procedures. (k) To the maximum extent feasible, the Secretary shall manage the program to enhance soil health. (l) Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the payment rates for conservation activities offered to producers under the program and an analysis of whether payment rates can be reduced for the most expensive conservation activities.