[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30402-30403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-14150]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation


Soil and Water Conservation Assistance

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Program Funds for Soil and Water 
Conservation Assistance.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of funds for Soil and 
Water Conservation Assistance (SWCA) to implement Section 211(b), Title 
II, of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 Public Law 106-224. 
The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) administers the funds under the 
general supervision of a Vice President of the CCC who is the Chief of 
the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Section 211(b) 
authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to use the funds for soil, 
water, and related natural resources conservation purposes in areas 
that have not been designated as conservation priority areas under 
section 1230(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830(c)).

DATES: Funds will be available from June 6, 2001 to September 30, 2001, 
unless they are obligated sooner.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments to: Conservation Operations Division, 
Natural Resources Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 
20013-2890.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark W. Berkland, Director, or Gary 
Gross, SWCA Program Manager, Conservation Operations Division, Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 20013, 
(202) 720-1845, fax: 202-720-4265. Submit electronic comments to: 
[email protected] or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 211(b), Title II, of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act 
of 2000, (Pub. L. 106-224, June 22, 2000), 16 U.S.C. 3830 note, 
authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to use funds of CCC 
to provide financial assistance to farmers and ranchers to address 
threats to soil, water, and related natural resources, including 
grazing land, wetland, and wildlife habitat; comply with Federal and 
State environmental laws; and make beneficial, cost-effective changes 
to cropping systems, grazing management, manure, nutrient, pest, or 
irrigation management, land uses, or other measures needed to conserve 
and improve soil, water, and related natural resources. Assistance 
under this section may be made in the form of cost-share payments or 
incentive payments, as determined by the Secretary. A total of $20 
million is being made available for Section 211(b) in fiscal year 2001.
    Section 211(b) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to use the 
funds to provide assistance in areas that are not designated as 
conservation priority areas under section 1230(c) of the Food Security 
Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830(c)). These are areas that are outside of 
designated priority areas of the Conservation Reserve Program, 
Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and the Wetlands Reserve 
Program.
    The Chief of NRCS, on behalf of CCC, will determine the funds 
available to the States for financial and technical assistance.
    The NRCS State Conservationist, in consultation with the State 
Technical Committee (established under 16 U.S.C. 3861), will determine 
eligible practices using a locally led process. Eligible conservation 
practices will be those practices that meet the provisions of Section 
211(b), as previously outlined.
    There will be a continuous signup period, with ranking cutoff dates 
as determined by the State Conservationist in consultation with the 
State Technical Committee.
    The State Conservationist, in consultation with the State Technical 
Committee, will select applications based on State-developed ranking 
criteria and a ranking process, that takes into account local and state 
priorities. The State Conservationist may also delegate the selection 
of applications to a local designated conservationist who will work in 
consultation with the local USDA Work Group.

SWCA Requirements

    CCC will accept applications throughout the year. The State 
Conservationist, working with cooperating agencies and organizations, 
will distribute information on the availability of assistance and the 
State-specific goals. Information will be provided that explains the 
process to request assistance.
    Applicants must own or control the land for which assistance is 
being sought and agree to implement specific eligible conservation 
practices on the land. There will be a 5 to 10 year cost-share 
agreement period to install eligible practices. Cost-share practices 
need to be maintained for the life of the practice. The maximum payment 
to any one participant under SWCA is $50,000.
    The Federal share of cost-share payments will be 75 percent of the 
cost of an eligible practice(s) based on percent of actual cost, 
percent of actual cost with not-to-exceed limits, flat rates, or 
average costs as determined by the State Conservationist. Producers 
will be paid upon certification of completion of the approved 
practice(s). Producers may contribute to the application of a cost-
share practice through in-kind contributions. Eligible in-kind 
contributions include: personal labor; use of personal equipment; 
donated labor or materials; and use of on-hand or approved used 
materials that meet the requirements for the practice to be installed. 
In no instance shall the total financial contributions for an eligible 
practice from all public and private entity sources exceed 100 percent 
of the actual cost of the practice. Cost-share or incentive payments 
will not be made to a participant who has applied or initiated the 
application of a conservation practice prior to approval of the cost-
share agreement.
    Eligible participants must have control of the land for the life of 
the cost share agreement period. An exception may be made by the Chief 
of NRCS in the case of land allotted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
(BIA), tribal land, or other instances in which the Chief of NRCS 
determines that there is sufficient assurance of control; or the 
applicant is a tenant of the land involved in agricultural production 
and the applicant provides CCC with the written concurrence of the 
landowner in order to apply an eligible practice(s).
    Eligible land includes land used as agricultural land on which NRCS 
determines that assistance is needed to address threats to soil, water, 
and related natural resources, including grazing land, wetland, and 
wildlife habitat; comply with Federal and State environmental laws; and 
make beneficial, cost-effective changes to cropping systems, grazing 
management, manure, nutrient, pest, or irrigation management, land 
uses, or other measures needed to conserve and improve soil, water, and 
related natural resources. Additionally, land may only be considered 
for enrollment in SWCA if NRCS determines that the land is privately-
owned, or if publicly-owned, where the land is under private control 
for the length of the cost-share agreement and is included in the 
participant's operating unit. The conservation practices installed on 
public land must contribute to an improvement in the identified natural 
resource concern as well as benefit private land. The applicant must 
provide CCC with written authorization

[[Page 30403]]

from the government landowner to apply the conservation practices. Land 
that is federally recognized Tribal, BIA allotted, or Indian trust land 
may be considered for enrollment in SWCA.
    Applicants must submit an application (CCC--1200 form) to CCC to be 
considered for participation in SWCA. Any producer who has eligible 
land may obtain and submit an application for participation in SWCA at 
an USDA service center. Producers who are members of a joint operation 
shall file a single application for the joint operation. A NRCS 
conservationist will work with the applicant to collect the information 
necessary to evaluate the application using the ranking criteria.

Conservation Plan Requirement

    A conservation plan is required for the area to be included in the 
SWCA cost-share agreement and becomes the basis for developing the cost 
share agreement. The conservation plan must be acceptable to NRCS; be 
approved by the local conservation district; be signed by the 
participant, designated conservationist, and the conservation district; 
and clearly identify the conservation practices that will be cost 
shared with SWCA funds and the non-cost-shared practices needed in the 
conservation plan.

Cost-Share Agreement Requirements

    Participants will enter into a cost-share agreement to implement 
eligible conservation practices. A SWCA cost share agreement will 
cover, as a minimum, the eligible land that influences, or is 
influenced by, the conservation practices being installed, and be for a 
duration of 5 to 10 years.
    Cost-share agreements will incorporate all provisions as required 
by law or statute, including requirements to not conduct any practices 
on the farm or ranch unit of concern that would tend to defeat the 
purposes of the cost-share agreement; refund to CCC any SWCA payments 
received, with interest, and forfeit any future payments under SWCA on 
the violation of a term or condition of the cost-share agreement; 
refund all SWCA payments received on the transfer of the right and 
interest of the producer in land subject to the cost-share agreement, 
unless the transferee of the right and interest agrees to assume all 
obligations of the cost-share agreement; and supply information as 
required by CCC to determine compliance with the cost-share agreement 
and requirements of SWCA. The participant and NRCS must certify that a 
conservation practice is completed in accordance with the cost-share 
agreement before CCC will approve any cost-share payments.
    With respect to land under a SWCA cost-share agreement which is 
inherited during the cost share agreement period, the $50,000 
limitation per participant will not apply to the extent that the 
payments from any cost-share agreements on the inherited land cause an 
heir, who was party to a SWCA cost-share agreement on other lands prior 
to the inheritance, to exceed the limit.
    With regard to cost-share agreements on tribal land, Indian trust 
land, or BIA allotted land, payments exceeding the $50,000 limitation 
may be made to the tribal venture if an official of the BIA or tribal 
official certifies in writing that no one participant directly or 
indirectly will receive more than the limitation.

Conservation Practice Operation and Maintenance

    The cost-share agreement will provide for the operation and 
maintenance of the conservation practices applied under the cost-share 
agreement. The participant will operate and maintain the conservation 
practices for their intended purposes as agreed-to as part of the cost-
share agreement, and form CCC--1245, Practice Approval and Payment 
Application.

Additional Requirements and Information

    Additional requirements and information pertaining to SWCA cost-
share agreements, administrative requirements, and other matters can be 
found on form CCC-1200, Conservation Program Contract, and the appendix 
to form CCC-1200, both of which are available at local USDA service 
centers.

Civil Rights

    NRCS and CCC have collected civil rights data on farmers/ranchers 
participating in conservation programs. Based on past participation, it 
is estimated that the funding being made available with this notice 
will not negatively or disproportionately affect minorities, women, or 
persons with disabilities who are program beneficiaries or applicants 
for program benefits in NRCS or CCC assisted programs.

Environmental Evaluation

    This assistance, administered by NRCS, will be funded at a level 
for 2001 as determined by the Secretary. Depending on the level of 
funding, and based on the participation in existing soil and water 
conservation programs, it is estimated that this assistance could 
result in approximately 1000 cost-share agreements. On each farm or 
ranch, during the conservation planning process, the environmental 
effects of any proposed actions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 
That evaluation is used to determine whether further environmental 
analysis is required. Accordingly, neither an Environmental Assessment 
nor an Environmental Impact Statement has been prepared for this 
notice.

    Signed in Washington, D.C., on, May 23, 2001.
Thomas A. Weber,
Deputy Chief for Programs, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 01-14150 Filed 6-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P