PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

§3839aa–24 Duties of the Secretary

Title 16 › Chapter 58— ERODIBLE LAND AND WETLAND CONSERVATION AND RESERVE PROGRAM › Subchapter IV— AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION PROGRAM › Part IV— Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Stewardship Program › Subpart b— conservation stewardship program › § 3839aa–24

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must run the conservation stewardship program so producers can enroll any time, with one ranking period in the first quarter of each fiscal year. The Secretary must pick at least 5 top resource problems to focus on in each watershed or region and set a science-based stewardship goal for each problem. Money for enrollments is given to States mostly by each State’s share of eligible land, and also by need, likely success, and fairness. The program pays producers each year for putting in new conservation actions and for keeping up ones already on the farm. Payment levels are set by the Secretary and, as much as possible, are based on costs, lost income, expected benefits, how well priority problems are addressed, current stewardship level, how well practices are applied across the whole farm, and other factors. Payments cannot be used for animal waste storage or treatment systems at animal feeding operations or for actions that cost the producer nothing. The Secretary should spread payments evenly over contract years and pay as soon as possible after October 1 for work done the prior year. Cover crop payments must be at least 125 percent of the normal annual payment. Producers who adopt or improve resource-conserving crop rotations or advanced grazing management and keep them for the contract term get extra payments of at least 150 percent of the normal annual payment. A one-time payment is available for making a comprehensive plan that meets the stewardship goals; that payment depends on how many priority problems and land uses the plan covers. No person or entity may get more than $200,000 total from the program for contracts entered in fiscal years 2019 through 2023 (tribes excluded). The Secretary must also make outreach and help available so specialty crop and organic farmers can join. The Secretary must allow producers to start organic certification while in a contract and must give funds in fiscal years 2019 through 2031 to States to support organic production and transition, based on numbers of operations and acres. The Secretary must write rules to make the payment limits fair and to run the program, coordinate procedures with the Environmental Quality Incentives Program when possible, manage the program to improve soil health, and send Congress a yearly report on payment rates and whether expensive activities’ rates can be lowered.

Title 16, §3839aa–24

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(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.

(c)(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).

(d)(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).

(e)(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.

(h)(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.

(2)(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.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (h)(1), is title XXI of Pub. L. 101–624, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 3935, which is classified generally to chapter 94 (§ 6501 et seq.) of Title 7, Agriculture. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 6501 of Title 7 and Tables. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 3838g of this title prior to renumbering by Pub. L. 115–334. Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 enacted identical sections. Pub. L. 110–234 was repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2022—Subsec. (h)(2)(A). Pub. L. 117–169 substituted “2031” for “2023”. 2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(1), substituted “allocate funding” for “allocate acres” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(2), (3), redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (c) read as follows: “During the period beginning on

February 7, 2014, and ending on

September 30, 2022, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable— “(1) enroll in the program an additional 10,000,000 acres for each fiscal year; and “(2) manage the program to achieve a national average rate of $18 per acre, which shall include the costs of all financial assistance, technical assistance, and any other expenses associated with enrollment or participation in the program.” Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(4), added par. (5). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(3), (5)(A), redesignated subsec. (e) as (d) and inserted “and advanced grazing management” after “crop rotations” in heading. Former subsec. (d) redesignated (c). Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(5)(D), inserted par. designation, heading, and introductory provisions, added subpars. (A) and (B), designated existing provisions of par. (1) as subpar. (C), and, in subpar. (C), substituted “The term” for “In this subsection, the term”, redesignated former subpars. (A) to (D) and (E) of par. (1) as cls. (i) to (iv) and (vi), respectively, realigned margins, and added cl. (v). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(5)(C), redesignated par. (4) as (1). Former par. (1) redesignated (2). Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(5)(C), (E), redesignated par. (1) as (2), substituted “agree to adopt or improve, manage, and maintain—” for “agree to adopt or improve resource-conserving crop rotations to achieve beneficial crop rotations as appropriate for the eligible land of the producers.”, and added subpars. (A) and (B). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(5)(B), struck out par. (2). Text read as follows: “The Secretary shall determine whether a resource-conserving crop rotation is a beneficial crop rotation eligible for additional payments under paragraph (1) based on whether the resource-conserving crop rotation is designed to provide natural resource conservation and production benefits.” Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(5)(F), substituted “paragraph (2)” for “paragraph (1)” and “agree to adopt or improve, manage, and maintain resource-conserving crop rotations or advanced grazing management for the term of the contract” for “agree to adopt and maintain beneficial resource-conserving crop rotations for the term of the contract”. Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(5)(G), added par. (4). Former par. (4) redesignated (1). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(6), added subsec. (e). Former subsec. (e) redesignated (d). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(7), substituted “2019 through 2023” for “2014 through 2018”. Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(8), substituted “Organic certification” for “Coordination with organic certification” in subsec. heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted par. heading, and added par. (2). Subsecs. (j) to (l). Pub. L. 115–334, § 2308(d)(9), added subsecs. (j) to (l). 2014—Pub. L. 113–79 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section related to duties of the Secretary.