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Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§590g Additional policies and purposes of chapter

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 3B— - SOIL CONSERVATION › § 590g

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires seven main goals: protect and improve soil, water, and related resources; encourage sensible and efficient land use; reduce wasteful or unscientific farming; cut soil erosion that harms rivers, harbors, navigation, and flood control; restore a historical farm income purchasing-power ratio that existed during August 1909–July 1914, inclusive; prevent farm-related pollution; and promote energy and water savings through dryland farming. The powers given by this and nearby sections must help voluntary actions to reach those goals. Those powers must not be used to discourage producing enough food and fiber for normal U.S. consumption as the Secretary of Agriculture decides using records from 1920 to 1929, inclusive, considering population, export changes, consumption trends, and available substitutes. Efforts must also aim to keep a steady supply of farm products at prices fair to both producers and consumers.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §590g

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It is hereby declared to be the policy of this chapter also to secure, and the purposes of this chapter shall also include, (1) preservation and improvement of soil and water quality and related resources; (2) promotion of the economic use and conservation of land; (3) diminution of exploitation and wasteful and unscientific use of national soil resources; (4) the protection of rivers and harbors against the results of soil erosion in aid of maintaining the navigability of waters and water courses and in aid of flood control; (5) reestablishment, at as rapid a rate as the Secretary of Agriculture determines to be practicable and in the general public interest, of the ratio between the purchasing power of the net income per person on farms and that of the income per person not on farms that prevailed during the five-year period August 1909–July 1914, inclusive, as determined from statistics available in the United States Department of Agriculture, and the maintenance of such ratio; (6) prevention and abatement of agricultural-related pollution,11 So in original. The comma probably should be a semicolon. and (7) the promotion of energy and water conservation through dry land farming. The powers conferred under this section and section 590h, 590i, and 590j to 590n of this title shall be used to assist voluntary action calculated to effectuate the purposes specified in this section. Such powers shall not be used to discourage the production of supplies of foods and fibers sufficient to maintain normal domestic human consumption as determined by the Secretary from the records of domestic human consumption in the years 1920 to 1929, inclusive, taking into consideration increased population, quantities of any commodity that were forced into domestic consumption by decline in exports during such period, current trends in domestic consumption and exports of particular commodities, and the quantities of substitutes available for domestic consumption within any general class of food commodities. In carrying out the purposes of this section due regard shall be given to the maintenance of a continuous and stable supply of agricultural commodities adequate to meet consumer demand at prices fair to both producers and consumers.
(b)

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical

Amendments

to this section. The

Amendments

by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 110–246, § 2802(a)(2), substituted “soil and water quality and related resources” for “soil fertility”. 1985—Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 99–198 added cl. (7). 1972—Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 92–419 added cl. (6). 1962—Subsecs. (b) to (g). Pub. L. 87–703 repealed subsecs. (b) to (g) which provided for State plans as follows: subsec. (b), cooperation with States by making grants; subsec. (c), State plans; subsec. (d), conditions of plans; subsec. (e), approval of plans; subsec. (f), allocation of funds; and subsec. (g), apportionment of funds. 1937—Subsec. (g). Act June 28, 1937, substituted “any such apportionment of funds available for carrying out State plans during any year prior to 1942 may be made at any time prior to or during the year to which such plans relate” for “apportionments of funds available for carrying out the purposes specified in this section for the year 1936 may be made at any time during 1936, and apportionments for 1937 may be made at any time during 1937”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2008 AmendmentAmendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 8701 of Title 7, Agriculture.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

Functions respecting lands under jurisdiction of Department of the Interior, see

Transfer of Functions

note set out under section 590a of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 590g

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73