§ 3839aa–3 — Evaluation Of Applications

(a) The Secretary shall develop criteria for evaluating applications that will ensure that national, State, and local conservation priorities are effectively addressed. (b) In evaluating applications under this subpart, the Secretary shall prioritize applications— (1) based on their overall level of cost-effectiveness to ensure that the conservation practices and approaches proposed are the most efficient means of achieving the anticipated conservation benefits of the project; (2) based on how effectively and comprehensively the project addresses the designated resource concern or resource concerns; (3) that best fulfill the purposes of the program; and (4) that improve conservation practices or systems in place on the operation at the time the contract offer is accepted or that will complete a conservation system. (c) To the greatest extent practicable, the Secretary shall group applications of similar crop or livestock operations for evaluation purposes or otherwise evaluate applications relative to other applications for similar farming operations.