118 S1509 IS: Conservation Reserve Program Reform Act of 2023
U.S. Senate
2023-05-10
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
II
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1509
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 10, 2023
Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
A BILL
To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend and reform the conservation reserve program, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Conservation Reserve Program Reform Act of 2023”.
2.

Conservation reserve
(a)

In general
Section 1231(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(a)) is amended by striking “2023” and inserting “2028”.
(b)

Eligible land
Section 1231(b)(1)(B) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(b)(1)(B)) is amended by striking “the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018” and inserting “the Conservation Reserve Program Reform Act of 2023”.
(c)

Enrollment
Section 1231(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(d)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1)—
(A)
in subparagraph (D), by striking “and” at the end;
(B)
in subparagraph (E), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(C)
by adding at the end the following:
“(F)
fiscal years 2024 through 2028, not more than 24,000,000 acres.”;
(2)
in paragraph (2)(A)—
(A)
in clause (i)—
(i)
by striking “2,000,000” and inserting “8,000,000”; and
(ii)
by striking “2023” and inserting “2028”; and
(B)
in clause (ii), by striking subclauses (I) through (III) and inserting the following:
“(I)
fiscal year 2024, 4,000,000 acres;
(II)
fiscal year 2025, 6,000,000 acres; and
(III)
fiscal years 2025 through 2028, 8,000,000 acres.”; and
(3)
in paragraph (6)—
(A)
in subparagraph (A)—
(i)
in clause (i)(III), by striking “and” at the end;
(ii)
in clause (ii), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(iii)
by adding at the end the following:
“(iii)
the farmable wetland program under section 1231B; and
(iv)
the CLEAR 30 and soil health and income protection programs under subsections (a) and (b), respectively, of section 1231C.”; and
(B)
in subparagraph (B)—
(i)
in clause (i)—
(I)
by striking “8,600,000” and inserting “11,000,000”; and
(II)
by striking “2023” and inserting “2028”; and
(ii)
in clause (ii), by striking subclauses (I) through (IV) and inserting the following:
“(I)
fiscal year 2024, 8,000,000 acres;
(II)
fiscal year 2025, 9,000,000 acres;
(III)
fiscal year 2026, 10,000,000 acres; and
(IV)
fiscal years 2027 and 2028, 11,000,000 acres.”.
(d)

Duration of contract
Section 1231(e) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831(e)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1), by striking “For the purpose” and inserting “Except as provided in paragraph (3), for the purpose”;
(2)
in paragraph (2), by striking “paragraph (1),” and inserting “paragraph (1) or (3), as applicable,”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
“(3)

Land Enrolled After October 1, 2023
With respect to a contract under this subchapter that is entered into on or after October 1, 2023, that enrolls land under paragraph (2) or (6) of subsection (d), the term of the contract shall be not less than 15, and not more than 30, years.”.
3.

Farmable wetland program
Section 1231B(a)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831b(a)(1)) is amended by striking “2023” and inserting “2028”.
4.

CLEAR 30 and SHIPP
(a)

CLEAR 30
Section 1231C(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831c(a)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “pilot”; and
(2)
in paragraph (7)—
(A)
in subparagraph (A), by striking “30 annual”; and
(B)
in subparagraph (C), by striking “annual”.
(b)

SHIPP
Section 1231C(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831c(b)) is amended—
(1)
in the subsection heading, by striking “pilot”;
(2)
by striking “pilot” each place it appears;
(3)
in paragraph (1)(A)(ii)—
(A)
by striking subclause (I); and
(B)
by redesignating subclauses (II) and (III) as subclauses (I) and (II), respectively; and
(4)
in paragraph (2)—
(A)
by striking the paragraph designation and heading and all that follows through “The Secretary” in subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
“(2)

Establishment
The Secretary”; and
(B)
by striking subparagraph (B).
(c)

Conforming amendment
Section 1231C of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831c) is amended by striking the section heading and inserting “CLEAR 30 and SHIPP.”.
5.

Resource conserving use
Section 1233(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3833(d)) is amended—
(1)
by striking paragraph (3); and
(2)
by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (3).
6.

Payments
(a)

Timing
Section 1234(a) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(a)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2), by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(2)
by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(3)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), by striking “The Secretary” and inserting the following:
“(1)

In general
The Secretary”; and
(4)
by adding at the end the following:
“(2)

Allocation of payments for 30-year contracts
Of the total amount of the payments under a contract enrolled under this subchapter for a term of 30 years, the Secretary shall provide—
(A)
not later than the end of the first year of the contract, 5/30 of that total amount; and
(B)
with respect to each of the sixth through thirtieth years of the contract, 1/30 of that total amount.”.
(b)

Cost-Sharing payments
Section 1234(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(b)) is amended by striking “50” each place it appears and inserting “75”.
(c)

Annual rental payments
Section 1234(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(d)) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (2)(B)(i)—
(A)
by striking “85” and inserting “75”; and
(B)
by striking “90” and inserting “110”; and
(2)
in paragraph (4)(E)—
(A)
in clause (i), by striking “85” and inserting “75”; and
(B)
in clause (ii), by striking “90” and inserting “110”.
7.

Modification of rental rate
Section 1235(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3835(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(3)

Modification of rental rate
With respect to a contract entered into under this subchapter for a term of 30 years pursuant to section 1231(e)(3)—
(A)
on or after the date that is 10 years after the date on which the contract is entered into, the owner or operator may submit to the Secretary a request for a modification of the rental rate under subparagraph (B); and
(B)
on receipt of a request under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall—
(i)
recalculate the annual rental payment amount for the contract based on the applicable rental rate published from the most recent annual survey conducted under section 1234(d)(4)(A); and
(ii)
modify the contract by applying the amount recalculated under clause (i) to each year remaining in the term of the contract.”.