[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22098-22099]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-11069]



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Part V





Department of Agriculture





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Commodity Credit Corporation



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7 CFR Part 1410



Conservation Reserve Program--Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program; Final 
Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 66 , No. 85 / Wednesday, May 2, 2001 / Rules 
and Regulations  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation

7 CFR Part 1410

RIN 0560-AG38


Conservation Reserve Program--Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) 
regulations to implement provisions of Title XI of the Agriculture, 
Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2001 (the 2001 Act), that provide for enrollment, 
in the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and 
South Dakota, of certain wetlands and buffer acreage on a pilot basis 
into the CRP under the Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program.

DATES: This regulation is effective April 30, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Preston, Conservation and 
Environmental Programs Division, USDA/FSA/CEPD/STOP 0513, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20250-0513, Telephone (202) 
720-9563.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice and Comment

    Section 1105 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public 
Law 106-387) requires that the regulations necessary to implement these 
provisions be issued as soon as practicable. It also provides that the 
regulations be promulgated and administered without regard to the 
notice and comment provisions of 5 U.S.C. 553 or the Statement of 
Policy of the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) effective July 
24, 1971 (36 FR 13804) relating to notices of proposed rulemaking and 
public participation in rulemaking. These provisions are thus issued as 
final and are effective immediately.

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule is issued in conformance with Executive Order 12866 
and has been determined to be significant and, therefore, was reviewed 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    It has been determined that the Regulatory Flexibility Act is not 
applicable to this rule since the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is 
not required by 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other provision of law to publish a 
notice of proposed rulemaking with respect to the subject matter of 
this rule.

Environmental Evaluation

    It has been determined by an environmental evaluation that this 
action will have no significant impact on the quality of the human 
environment. Therefore, neither an environmental impact assessment nor 
an Environmental Impact Statement is needed.

Executive Order 12988

    This final rule has been reviewed in accordance with Executive 
Order 12988. This final rule is not retroactive and does not pre-empt 
State laws. Before any judicial action may be taken with respect to the 
provisions of the final rule, administrative remedies at 7 CFR parts 11 
and 780 must be exhausted.

Executive Order 12372

    This program is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 
12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and 
local officials. See the notice related to 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V, 
published at 48 FR 29115 (June 24, 1983).

Unfunded Mandates

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the 
effects of their regulatory actions that impose ``Federal mandates'' 
that may result in expenditures to State, local, or tribal governments, 
in the aggregate, or the private sector, of $100 million or more in any 
1 year. This rule contains no Federal mandates (under the regulatory 
provisions of Title II of the UMRA) for State, local, and tribal 
governments or the private sector. Therefore, this rule is not subject 
to the requirements of sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.

Federal Domestic Assistance Program

    The title and number of the Federal Domestic Assistance Program, as 
found in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, to which this rule 
applies, are: Conservation Reserve Program--10.069.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Section 1105 of Public Law 106-78 requires that the regulations 
implementing these provisions be promulgated and administered without 
regard to the Paperwork Reduction Act. This means that the normal 60-
day public comment period and OMB approval of the information 
collections required by this rule are not required.

Background

    The purpose of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is to cost-
effectively assist owners and operators in conserving and improving 
soil, water, and wildlife resources by converting highly erodible and 
other environmentally sensitive acreage normally devoted to the 
production of agricultural commodities to a long-term vegetative cover. 
CRP participants enter into contracts for 10 to 15 years in exchange 
for annual rental payments and cost-share assistance for installing 
certain conservation practices. In determining the amount of annual 
rental payments to be paid, CCC considers, among other things, the 
amount necessary to encourage owners or operators of eligible cropland 
to participate in the CRP. Offers are submitted in such a manner as the 
Secretary prescribes. The maximum rental payments CCC will pay reflect 
site-based soil productivity, prevailing local cash equivalent rental 
rates, and maintenance costs. Offers by producers who request rental 
payments greater than the amount CCC is willing to pay for their soil 
type are automatically rejected by CCC. Except for the continuous 
signup process, remaining offers are evaluated for possible acceptance 
based on a comparison of environmental benefits indicators with the 
rental payment cost. The continuous signup process does not include an 
evaluation based on environmental benefits indicators because only 
those practices designed to obtain high environmental benefits are 
eligible to be offered during the continuous signup. Acreage determined 
eligible and suitable to be devoted to continuous signup practices by 
the Secretary is automatically accepted into the CRP provided all other 
eligibility requirements are met.

Substantive Changes

    Section 1102 of the 2001 Act amended section 1231 of the Food 
Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831), which provides statutory 
authority for the CRP, to provide a Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program for 
the enrollment, in the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, 
North Dakota, and South Dakota, of certain wetlands and buffer acreage 
on a pilot basis into the CRP. Accordingly, as specified in the new 
statute, the

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substantive CRP regulations are changed by this notice to create a new 
section, 7 CFR 1410.12, that provides that eligible owners and 
operators in the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North 
Dakota, and South Dakota may enroll certain wetland and buffer acreage 
into a new Farmable Wetland Pilot Program. Enrollment under this pilot 
may not exceed 500,000 acres for all States, and 150,000 acres in any 
one State. The maximum enrollment for both the wetland and buffer 
acreage, of an owner or operator, must not exceed 40 acres per tract. 
Wetlands also must not exceed 5 acres in size to be eligible for 
enrollment. Acreage enrolled must be cropland that has a cropping 
history in at least 3 of the most recent 10 years. These limitations 
are statutory. General CRP criteria that currently requires cropland to 
be physically and legally capable of being cropped will apply to this 
pilot program as will other requirements not inconsistent with the new 
law.
    Acreage offered under this pilot program will be offered using the 
CRP's continuous signup procedures. Incentives that apply to certain 
continuous signup practices will be authorized for acreage enrolled 
under the Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program. Although the signup will be 
continuous, acreage enrolled through the Farmable Wetlands Pilot 
Program will not accrue to diminish previous continuous signup acreage 
goals. However, the 25 percent cropland limitation that applies to the 
amount of a county's cropland that may be enrolled in the CRP will 
apply to pilot enrollments.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1410

    Administrative practices and procedures, agriculture, conservation 
plan, grazing lands, and natural resources.

    Accordingly, 7 CFR part 1410 is amended as follows:

PART 1410--CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1410 continues to reads as 
follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 714b and 714c; 16 U.S.C. 3801-3847.


    2. A new section, Sec. 1410.12, is added to read as follows:


Sec. 1410.12  Farmable Wetlands Pilot Program.

* * * * *
    (a) In addition to other allowable enrollments, land may be 
enrolled in this program through the Farmable Wetlands Pilot provided 
for in this section, except that:
    (b)(1) This pilot program is authorized only in the States of Iowa, 
Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota;
    (2) As determined by the Deputy Administrator, owners and operators 
in each of the States in paragraph (b)(1) of this section may enroll 
cropland that has been annually planted or considered planted to an 
agricultural commodity in 3 of the 10 most recent crop years, that:
    (i) Is a wetland, including a converted wetland, as determined by 
NRCS or other technical authority, that does not exceed the size 
limitations of this section; and
    (ii) Subject to other provisions of this section, is buffer acreage 
that provides protection for and is contiguous to the wetlands.
    (3) An owner or operator may not enroll in this pilot program any 
wetland, or land in a flood plain, that:
    (i) Is located adjacent to a perennial riverine system wetland as 
identified on the final national wetland inventory map of the 
Department of the Interior; or
    (ii) Is located adjacent to a perennial stream identified on a 1-
24,000 scale map of the United States Geological Service, when the area 
is not delineated on a final national wetland inventory map.
    (4) Enrollment in the CRP under this pilot program must not exceed:
    (i) 500,000 acres in all eligible States; and
    (ii) 150,000 acres in any one State.
    (5) The maximum size of any wetland described in paragraph 
(b)(2)(i) of this section shall be five contiguous acres.
    (6) The maximum size of any buffer acreage described in paragraph 
(b)(2)(ii) of this section shall be the greater of:
    (i) Three times the size of the wetland described in paragraph 
(b)(2)(i) of this section, or
    (ii) 150 feet on either side of the wetland.
    (7) The maximum total acreage enrolled in the CRP under this 
section, including any wetland and buffer acreage described in 
paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section, in a tract, as determined by the 
Deputy Administrator, of an owner or operator, is 40 acres.
    (8) All participants subject to a CRP contract under this section 
must agree to restore the hydrology of the wetland described in 
paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section to the maximum extent possible, as 
determined by the Deputy Administrator, in accordance with the FOTG.
    (9) Offers for contracts under this section shall be submitted 
under continuous signup provisions as authorized in Sec. 1410.30 of 
this part.
    (10) Except as otherwise determined by the Deputy Administrator, 
all other requirements of this part shall apply to enrollments under 
this section and the Deputy Administrator by contract or otherwise may 
add such other requirements or conditions as are deemed needed or 
appropriate. Such additional limitations as apply include but are not 
limited to payment limitations and limitations on the amount of acreage 
that can be enrolled in any one county.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on April 27, 2001.
James R. Little,
Acting Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 01-11069 Filed 4-30-01; 4:49pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P