[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2779 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2779

   To amend the Food Security Act of 1985, to give producers greater 
  flexibility in enrolling certain marginal land in the conservation 
                    reserve, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 5, 1999

 Mr. Moran of Kansas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                    to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Food Security Act of 1985, to give producers greater 
  flexibility in enrolling certain marginal land in the conservation 
                    reserve, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ENROLLMENT OF LAND IN THE CONSERVATION RESERVE.

    (a) Maximum Enrollment.--Section 1231(d) of the Food Security Act 
of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)) is amended by striking ``36,400,000 acres'' 
and inserting ``40,000,000 acres''.
    (b) Inclusion of Lands Adjacent to Highly Erodible Croplands.--
Section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Inclusion of Lands Adjacent to Highly Erodible Croplands.--In 
the case of highly erodible croplands described in subsection (b)(1) 
that are eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve, the 
Secretary may permit the owner or operator of the lands to include a 
small quantity of additional acreage (not otherwise eligible for 
enrollment in the reserve) as part of the parcel to be enrolled if--
            ``(1) the additional land is located adjacent to the 
        eligible highly erodible croplands;
            ``(2) it is not economically viable to use the additional 
        land as cropland given the enrollment of the adjacent highly 
        erodible croplands; and
            ``(3) the resulting parcel does not exceed 30 acres.''.
    (c) Treatment of Contour Grass Strips.--Section 1234(c)(4) of the 
Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(c)(4)) is amended by 
inserting ``or contour grass strips (including grass strips established 
on terraces)'' after ``hardwood trees''.
    (d) Inclusion of Unirrigated Corners of Irrigated Fields.--Section 
1231(b)(4) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(b)(4)) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E); 
        and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new 
        subparagraph:
                    ``(D) if the croplands consist of the unirrigated 
                corners of fields that are irrigated using center pivot 
                irrigation systems; or''.
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