§1302 Conservation Agreements to Effectuate Water Bank Program; Duration and Renewal; Adjustment of Payment Rate for Renewal Period; “wetlands” Defined; Duration of Ownership or Control of Land as Determining Eligibility for Agreements; Protection of and Compensation for Tenants and Sharecroppers; Participation by Owner or Operator in Other Federal or State Programs

Summary

The Secretary can make 10‑year agreements with landowners and operators in important waterfowl nesting and breeding areas to conserve water on specific farms, ranches, or wetlands listed in a conservation plan made with the local Soil and Water Conservation District. Agreements last ten years and can be renewed for more ten‑year periods. Starting in 1980, the Secretary must review payment rates at the start of the fifth year of any ten‑year period and before any renewal, and must also reexamine rates for any agreement that has been in effect five years or more, updating payments based on current land and crop values as provided in section 1304. “Wetlands” means inland fresh types like those numbered 1–7 in Circular 39 (or matching successor types), man‑made inland fresh areas that fit that description, and other wetland types the Secretary names. New agreements generally cannot cover land if ownership or control changed in the two years before the agreement starts, unless the land was inherited by will or succession after an owner’s death, or was acquired before July 1, 1971 under conditions the Secretary approves. A person who operated the land for at least two years before the agreement and who controls it during the agreement does not have to own it. Land taken by eminent domain can be replaced in the program. The Secretary must protect tenants’ and sharecroppers’ interests and make sure they get a fair share of payments. Joining this program does not stop participation in other Federal or State wetland programs.