[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2088 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2088

To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cost-share payments 
 in support of on-farm water conservation projects to enhance regional 
                    water availability and quality.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2007

   Mr. Everett (for himself, Mr. Bonner, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. 
 Aderholt, and Mr. Marshall) introduced the following bill; which was 
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide cost-share payments 
 in support of on-farm water conservation projects to enhance regional 
                    water availability and quality.

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

SECTION 1. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WATER ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Availability of Cost-Share Payments.--The Secretary of 
Agriculture shall assist regional efforts to enhance regional water 
availability and quality for farm operations and other uses by 
providing cost-share payments to agricultural producers to carry out 
water conservation projects on farms involving the construction, 
improvement, or maintenance of irrigation ponds and the implementation 
of other measures that improve groundwater and surface water 
conservation, as determined by the Secretary, in the agricultural 
operations of producers.
    (b) Project Eligibility.--
            (1) Priority for irrigation cost-effectiveness.--If the 
        Secretary determines that two or more applications for cost-
        share assistance for projects are comparable in achieving the 
        conservation purposes of this section, the Secretary shall 
        assign a higher priority to those projects having the lowest 
        total cost to irrigate each acre of land involved in the 
        project.
            (2) Priority for control of surface-water runoff.--The 
        Secretary shall assign a higher priority to projects that would 
        capture surface-water runoff on farms through the construction, 
        improvement, or maintenance of irrigation ponds. However, the 
        Secretary may not preclude a project simply because the project 
        involves an irrigation pond filled from a different water 
        source.
            (3) Approval.--The actual site of a project for which cost-
        share assistance will be provided under this section is subject 
        to the approval of the Secretary, acting through the Natural 
        Resources Conservation Service.
    (c) Relation to Environmental Quality Incentives Program.--The 
Secretary shall administer the water enhancement program as part of the 
environmental quality incentives program. Subject to subsection (b)(1), 
all of the criteria of the environmental quality incentives program 
shall be used in evaluating applications for cost-share payments under 
this section, including the environmental benefits index criteria.
    (d) Limitations on Amount of Assistance.--
            (1) Federal share.--Payments made under this section to 
        carry out a water conservation project shall not exceed 50 
        percent of the cost of the project.
            (2) Maximum amount of assistance.--The limitation on 
        assistance contained in section 1240G of the Food Security Act 
        of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3839aa-7) shall apply to payments made under 
        this section, and any payments received by an individual or 
        entity under this section shall be considered to be payments 
        received under the environmental quality incentives program for 
        purposes of such section 1240G.
    (e) Condition on Receipt of Assistance.--As a condition on the 
receipt of assistance under this section, the producer shall agree to 
maintain the land to be served by the project in agricultural 
production during not less than the five-year period beginning on the 
date of the completion of the project.
    (f) Effect of Violation.--If the Secretary determines, on the 
record after an opportunity for a hearing, that a producer has failed 
to comply with the condition imposed by subsection (e) or such other 
terms and conditions as the Secretary may require in connection with 
the provision of assistance under this section, the producer shall 
repay to the Secretary an amount, to be determined by the Secretary, 
not to exceed the total amount of assistance provided for the project. 
The actual repayment amount shall be based on the severity and duration 
of the violation.
    (g) Participation in Other Conservation Programs.--The receipt of 
assistance under this section does not preclude participation by the 
recipient in other conservation programs of the Department of 
Agriculture.
    (h) Funding.--The Secretary shall use the funds of the Commodity 
Credit Corporation to carry out this section in the amount of 
$1,000,000,000 during the five-fiscal year period beginning on October 
1, 2007, and ending on September 30, 2012. Such funds are in addition 
to, and separate from, funds made available for the environmental 
quality incentives program.
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