AGRICULTURE AND FOOD ACT OF 1981 TITLE XV-RESOURCE CONSERVATION 1 Subtitle A-Soil and Water Conservation POLICY SEC. 1501.1 Congress hereby reaffirms its policy to promote soil and water conservation, improve the quality of the Nation's waters, and preserve and protect natural resources through the use of effective conservation and pollution abatement programs. Subtitle B-Special Areas Conservation Program FINDINGS SEC. 1502.2 Congress finds that (1) studies by the Department of Agriculture indicate that billions of tons of soil are eroded annually from non-Federal lands in the United States, much of which represents soil eroded from cropland; (2) nearly one-half of the four hundred and thirteen million acres of cropland have soils with moderate, high, or very high risk of damage by sheet and rill erosion; (3) the severity of erosion-related problems varies widely from one geographic area to the next; (4) some of the most productive agricultural areas of the United States are also those having the most serious and chronic erosion-related problems; (5) solutions to such chronic erosion-related problems should be designed to address the local social, economic, environmental, and other conditions unique to the area involved to ensure that the goals and policies of the Federal Government are effectively integrated with the concerns of the local community; (6) certain range and pasturelands in the United States are producing less than their potential and therefore their productive capacity could be substantially improved by application of intensified range and pasture management practices; the protection of these lands is essential to controlling erosion, improving ecological conditions, enhancing widlife and riparian habitats, improving water quality and yield, and meeting the need to produce food and fiber in a manner that is more energy efficient; and 116 U.S.C. 3401. This title was adopted as title XV of the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981, Public Law 97-98, section 1501, 95 Stat. 1328. 2 16 U.S.C. 3411. (7) there is a need for (A) reducing seepage from on-farm and off-farm irrigation ditches and conveyance systems; (B) improving water conservation and utilization; and (C) installing measures to capture on-farm irrigation return flows. FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL AREAS CONSERVATION PROGRAM SEC. 1503. (a) The Secretary of Agriculture (hereafter in this subtitle referred to as the "Secretary") shall establish a program for the conservation of soil, water, and related resources in special areas designated pursuant to section 1504 (hereafter in this subtitle referred to as "designated special areas") by providing technical and financial assistance to owners and operators or groups of owners and operators of farm, ranch, and certain other lands at their request. Such assistance with respect to State, county, and other public land shall be limited to those lands that are an integral part of a private farm operating unit and under the control of the private landowner or operator. (b) To carry out the program established under this subtitle, the Secretary may enter into contracts with owners and operators of farm, ranch, or other land in a designated special area having such control over the land as the Secretary deems necessary. Contracts may be entered into with respect to land in a designated special area which is not farm or ranch land only if the erosion-related problems of such land are so severe as to make such contracts with respect to such land necessary for the effective protection of farm or ranch land in that designated special area. Contracts under this subtitle shall be designed to provide assistance to the owners or operators of such farm, ranch, or other land to make voluntary changes in their cropping systems which are needed to conserve or protect the soil, water, and related resources of such lands, and to carry out the soil and water conservation practices and measures needed under such changed systems and uses. (c) The basis for such contracts shall be a conservation plan approved by the Secretary and the soil and water conservation district in which the land on which the plan is to be carried out is situated. The Secretary shall provide to the landowner or operator, upon request, such technical assistance as may be needed to prepare and submit to the Secretary a conservation plan that (1) incorporates such soil and other conservation practices and measures as may be determined to be practicable to protect such land from erosion or water-related problems; (2) outlines a schedule for the implementation of changes in cropping systems or use of land or of water and of conservation practices and measures proposed to be carried out on the farm, ranch, or other land during the contract period; (3) is designed to take into account the local social, economic, and environmental conditions, which will help solve the particular erosion or water-related problems of the designated area; 3 16 U.S.C. 3412. (4) may allow for such varying levels of conservation application as are appropriate to address the problems and may be developed to cover all or part of a farm, ranch, or other land as determined to be necessary to solve the conservation problems; (5) may include practices and measures for enhancing fish and wildlife and recreation resources and for reducing or controlling agricultural-related pollution; and (6) identifies those conservation practices and measures, including planned grazing systems, needed to improve vegetative conditions, reduce erosion, and conserve water on range and pasturelands. (d) The landowner or operator, in any contract entered into under this subtitle, shall agree (1) to carry out the plan for the owner's or operator's farm, ranch, or other land substantially in accordance with the schedule outlined therein unless any requirement thereof is waived or modified by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (f); (2) to forfeit further payments under the contract and refund to the United States all payments received thereunder, including interest, upon violation by the owner or operator of the contract at any stage during the time the owner or operator has control of the land if the Secretary, after considering the recommendations of the soil and water conservation district board for the district in which the lands are located, determines that such violation is of such a nature as to warrant termination of the contract, or to make refunds, including interest, or accept such payment adjustments as the Secretary may deem appropriate if the Secretary determines that the violation by the owner or operator does not warrant termination of the contract; (3) not to adopt any practice or measure specified by the Secretary in the contract which would tend to defeat the purposes of the contract; and (4) upon transfer, during the contract period, of the rights or interests of the owner or operator in the farm, ranch, or other land on which the plan is to be carried out, to forfeit all rights to further payments under the contract and refund to the United States all payments received thereunder, including interest, unless the transferee of any such land agrees with the Secretary to assume all obligations of the contract. (e) In return for such agreement by the landowner or operator, the Secretary shall agree to share the cost of carrying out those conservation practices and measures set forth in the contract for which the Secretary determines that cost sharing is appropriate and in the public interest. The portion of the costs to be shared shall be that part which the Secretary determines is necessary and appropriate to effectuate the implementation, and, if applicable, the maintenance of the conservation practices and measures under the contract, including the cost of labor. In determining the share of costs to be borne by the Federal Government, the Secretary shall take into consideration the particular social, economic, and environmental conditions of the geographic area involved and the degree of conservation to be achieved. The Secretary shall deter provided to any single recipient. If adjustments from cultivated crops to permanent vegetative cover or changes in crop varieties are undertaken as a conservation practice or measure under the contract, cost-share assistance may be provided under such contract with regard to the income lost as a result of such adjustments. (f) The Secretary may terminate any contract with a landowner or operator by mutual agreement with the owner or operator if the Secretary determines that such termination would be in the public interest. The Secretary may agree to such modification of contracts previously entered into as the Secretary may determine to be desirable to carry out the purposes of the program or facilitate the practical administration thereof or to accomplish equitable treatment with respect to similar conservation or other programs administered by the Secretary. (g) The Secretary may also enter into contracts with landowners or operators for the purpose of maintaining any conservation practice or measure established under this subtitle or other conservation practice or measure which has been adequately established, and to provide necessary assistance to retain the practice or measure on the land. The provisions and administration of such contracts shall be in accordance with the requirements set forth in subsections (b) through (f) of this section. PROGRAM TO BE DIRECTED AT SPECIFIC PROBLEMS SEC. 1504. (a) The program established under this subtitle shall be directed toward identifying and correcting such erosion-related or water management-related problems as may exist within each designated special area. Assistance under this subtitle may be provided to any geographic area of the United States only if such area is first designated by the Secretary as having severe and chronic erosion-related or water management-related problems. (b) In designating a geographic area as a special area under this subtitle, the Secretary shall review national resources inventory data, river basin plans, special studies, and other resource information; consider tons of soil loss prevented, acres protected, and volume of water conserved; and evaluate the degree and type of interagency cooperation, the degree of local acceptance of the planned target activity, and the significant favorable and adverse impacts of the targeted activity. The Secretary shall prepare and publish a report setting forth an assessment of the problems, objectives, and priorities in such area, and a schedule for the implementation of the program under this subtitle. The report shall also indicate how the program with respect to such area takes into consideration ongoing programs of Federal, State, and local agencies, including soil conservation districts, relating to soil and water conservation, pollution abatement, or the improvement or protection of forest land. The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, assure that all Department of Agriculture conservation programs operating in a designated special area complement the conservation objectives outlined for such area. 4 16 U.S.C. 3413. CONTRACT LIMITATIONS SEC. 1505.5 Special areas may be designated pursuant to section 1504 of this subtitle at any time within the period beginning on the date of enactment of this subtitle and ending on September 30, 1991. Contracts authorized by subsections (b) and (g) of section 1503 of this subtitle may be entered into at any time within ten years after the designation of the special area to which they relate and may not exceed ten years in duration. The total dollar amount of such contracts that may be entered into in any one fiscal year shall not exceed such amounts as may be provided for in advance in appropriations Act. NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS AND APPROVAL OF DESIGNATIONS SEC. 1506. The Secretary shall submit a copy of each special area report developed and published pursuant to section 1504(b) of this subtitle to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives at least forty-five days prior to entering into any contract under section 1503 of this subtitle with respect to land in the designated special area. UTILIZATION OF SERVICES AND FACILITIES SEC. 1507. In carrying out the provisions of this subtitle, the Secretary may utilize the services of local, county, and State committees established under section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act and the technical services of the Department of Agriculture, soil and water conservation districts, and other State or local agencies. The Secretary may utilize the services and facilities of the Community Credit Corporation in carrying out this subtitle. 8 IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY SEC. 1508. The Secretary may expend funds directly or through grants for such research as is needed to assist in developing new or improving existing technologies for controlling erosion or water-related problems in designated special areas. AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS SEC. 1509.9 There are authorized to be appropriated annually, to be available until expended, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the program authorized by this subtitle. REPORT TO CONGRESS SEC. 1510.10 The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress by January 1, 1986, and at the end of each five-year interval thereaf 5 16 U.S.C. 3414. 6 16 U.S.C. 3415. 716 U.S.C. 3416. 8 16 U.S.C. 3417. 9 16 U.S.C. 3418. |