[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4691 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4691

     To amend the farmland protection program of the Department of 
  Agriculture to facilitate a regional approach to the acquisition of 
  permanent conservation easements in the Chino Basin in the State of 
                              California.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2000

   Mr. Baca introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the farmland protection program of the Department of 
  Agriculture to facilitate a regional approach to the acquisition of 
  permanent conservation easements in the Chino Basin in the State of 
                              California.

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

SECTION 1. REGIONAL APPROACH TO FARMLAND PROTECTION IN CHINO BASIN, 
              CALIFORNIA.

    Section 388 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act 
of 1996 (Public Law 104-127; 16 U.S.C. 3830 note), as amended by the 
Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 2000 (H.R. 701), is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Demonstration of Regional Approach to Conservation 
Easements.--
            ``(1) Chino basin defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        `Chino Basin'' means the area within the counties of San 
        Bernardino and Riverside, California, bounded by Interstate 10 
        on the north, State Route 71 on the west, State Route 91 on the 
        south, and a line 2 miles east of Interstate 15 on the east, as 
        well as lands outside of the boundaries of the area but within 
        10 miles of the boundaries.
            ``(2) Demonstration program.--In implementing the farmland 
        protection program required by this Act, the Secretary of 
        Agriculture may carry out a conservation easement demonstration 
        program in the Chino Basin to provide matching grants under 
        subsection (a) on a regional basis to facilitate the 
        acquisition, in a coordinated manner, of permanent conservation 
        easements on multiple parcels within the Chino Basin to 
        preserve agricultural land while allowing for development 
        within the Chino Basin.
            ``(3) Regional conservation plan.--To be eligible for 
        grants under the demonstration program, one or more eligible 
        entities located in the Chino Basin shall adopt and submit to 
        the Secretary a regional conservation easement plan specifying 
        how the goals specified in paragraph (2) will be furthered in 
        the Chino Basin.''.
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