EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 790
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR GREGORY (21).
3104S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 252.300, 252.303, 252.306, 252.309, 252.312, 252.315, 252.318, 252.321,
252.324, 252.327, 252.330, and 252.333, RSMo, relating to agroforestry.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 252.300, 252.303, 252.306, 252.309, 1
252.312, 252.315, 252.318, 252.321, 252.324, 252.327, 252.330, 2
and 252.333, RSMo, are repealed, to read as follows:3
[252.300. 1. Sections 252.300 to 252.333 1
shall be known and may be cited as "The Missouri 2
Economic Diversification and Afforestation Act 3
of 1990". 4
2. It is the intent of sections 252.300 to 5
252.333 to address environmental, economic, and 6
social programs with a long -term, integrated 7
strategy that will result in soil conservation, 8
improved water and air quality, enhanced 9
wildlife habitat, increased job opportunities, 10
and reduced social probl ems, to the benefit of 11
all citizens of the state of Missouri. ] 12
[252.303. The department may develop and 1
implement, in cooperation with the University of 2
Missouri college of agriculture, the University 3
of Missouri center for agrofore stry, the 4
University of Missouri extension service, the 5
Missouri department of natural resources, 6
private industry councils and the Missouri 7
department of agriculture, an agroforestry 8
program. The program shall be designed to 9
encourage the developme nt of a state program of 10
agroforestry, and shall encourage soil 11
conservation and diversifications of the state's 12 SB 790 2
agricultural base through the use of trees 13
planted in an agroforestry configuration to 14
accommodate alley cropping, forested -riparian 15
buffers, silvopasture and windbreaks. ] 16
[252.306. As used in sections 252.300 to 1
252.333, the following terms shall mean: 2
(1) "Alley cropping", planting rows of 3
trees at wide spacings and cropping the 4
alleyways; 5
(2) "Conservation reserve program", the 6
conservation reserve program authorized by the 7
Federal Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, 8
(Title XII, P.L. 99-198), or its successor 9
program; 10
(3) "Department", the Missouri department 11
of conservation; 12
(4) "Director", the director of the 13
Missouri department of conservation; 14
(5) "Eligible land", agricultural land 15
which is susceptible to soil erosion that has a 16
recent cropping history, marginal pastureland, 17
land surrounding livestock enclosures and 18
riparian zones; 19
(6) "Eligible practices", single or 20
multiple rows of trees, alone or combined with 21
other plants such as grass, conventional row 22
crops or horticulture crops, and animals located 23
at intervals of distance within or around 24
fields, around livestock enclosures, and along 25
streams and rivers, specifically designed to 26
provide production and environmental enhancement 27
benefits in accordance with the practices 28
identified in section 252.303; 29
(7) "Enhancement phase", the period of 30
time, not to exceed ten years, immediately 31
following the establishment phase, during which 32
payments are made by the state of Missouri to 33
landowners who use their eligible land for 34
agroforestry purposes as required by the 35
department; 36
(8) "Establishment phase", the period of 37
time during which eligible land is being 38
prepared for planting trees and developing 39 SB 790 3
agroforestry practices, as determined by the 40
director of the department; 41
(9) "Forested-riparian buffers", a 42
combination of trees and other vegetation 43
established parallel to streams and rivers; 44
(10) "Silvopasture", combining trees with 45
forage and livestock; 46
(11) "Windbreaks", planting single or 47
multiple rows of trees for protection and 48
enhanced production of crops and animals .] 49
[252.309. 1. The director may enter into 1
agreements with individual landowners to make 2
incentive payments during the enhancement phase 3
to landowners. Recipients of such payments 4
shall utilize the land for which such payment is 5
made for agroforestry purposes as required by 6
the director pursuant to sections 252.300 to 7
252.333. 8
2. The amount of state incentive payment 9
made to a landowner per acre of eligible land 10
shall be an amount which, when added to any cash 11
or in-kind net income produced by crops raised 12
on the land, is substantially equal to the 13
amount per acre previously paid or which would 14
have been paid to the landowner under the 15
federal conservation reserve program. 16
3. If an application made pursuant to 17
section 252.315 is approved by the director, the 18
director shall develop a schedule of annual 19
payments to be made by the state. 20
4. The state shall not make any payment to 21
a landowner to maintain the use of eligible land 22
during the enhancement ph ase for agroforestry 23
purposes after ten years have elapsed since the 24
first such incentive payment is made. ] 25
[252.312. The state payments provided for 1
in sections 252.309, 252.330, and 252.333 may be 2
made from funds available to the department of 3
conservation, soil conservation funds made 4
available by the department of natural resources 5
from the tax imposed by Sections 47(a), 47(b) 6
and 47(c) of Article IV of the Constitution of 7
Missouri, funds appropriated by the general 8 SB 790 4
assembly for that purpose, grants, bequests or 9
gifts, or any combination thereof. ] 10
[252.315. 1. To participate in the 1
program, the landowner shall make application to 2
the director in writing. The written 3
application shall show the number of acres to be 4
placed in the program and that the land which is 5
to be placed in the agroforestry program meets 6
the eligibility requirements of this section. 7
The application shall also contain a detailed 8
plan of the landowner's proposal to meet the 9
requirements of sections 252.300 to 252.333, 10
including the type and number of trees to be 11
planted, established, or managed, the type of 12
compatible grass, other crops and such other 13
information as may be deemed necessary. The 14
number of trees required to satisfy eligibility 15
may vary with agroforestry practice, but in each 16
case shall be a sufficient number to guarantee 17
the success of the practice and shall be 18
consistent with standards established for each 19
practice. 20
2. The director shall review each 21
application. In reviewing the application the 22
director shall determine the type or types of 23
soil located in the area of the land proposed to 24
be included in the agroforestry program and 25
shall apply the land capability classification 26
system to determine the potential or limitations 27
of the land for inclusion in the program. 28
Before the director acts upon the application, 29
an on-site inspection shall be made by a 30
representative of the department of conservation 31
or its approved agent. The inspecting 32
representative shall attest to the efficacy of 33
the agroforestry plan to be used, the number of 34
acres to be placed under agroforestry 35
management, the species and number of trees to 36
be planted, established, or managed, and other 37
crop components of the proposed program. After 38
the report of the on -site inspector and the 39
review by the director, the director shall 40
determine the landowner's eligibility to 41 SB 790 5
participate in the agroforestry program and 42
shall determine the amount of cost sharing, 43
including in-kind and labor components, for the 44
landowner. If the director fails to approve an 45
application, the aggrieved landowner may request 46
a hearing before the conservation commission or 47
its authorized representative within thirty days 48
of notice to the landowner of the failure of the 49
conservation department to approve the 50
application, or the landowner may proceed under 51
the provisions of section 536.150 as if the act 52
of the conservation department was one not 53
subject to administrative review. If an action 54
is brought pursuant to section 536.150, venue 55
shall be in Cole County. ] 56
[252.318. 1. All land participating in 1
the agroforestry program shall be inspected 2
annually by a representative of the director, to 3
ensure that the land continues to comply with 4
the requirements of sections 252.300 to 252.333 5
and that practice specifications are being 6
maintained in accordance with applicable rules 7
and regulations. 8
2. If the annual inspection determines 9
that the land is no longer in compliance with 10
the provisions of sections 252.300 to 252.333 or 11
with the rules and regulations promulgated 12
pursuant to the provisions of sections 252.300 13
to 252.333, the director shall notify the 14
landowner of that fact and shall detail the 15
specifics in which the land fails to meet the 16
requirements. The landowner may respond to the 17
notice within thirty days of receipt, either by 18
contesting the inspection report or by providing 19
the director with a proposal to correct the 20
problems which form the basis of the notice. If 21
the landowner contests the findings of the 22
annual inspection, the aggrieved landowner may 23
request a hearing before the conservation 24
commission or its authorized representative or 25
the landowner may proceed under the p rovisions 26
of section 536.150, as if the act of the 27
conservation department was one not subject to 28 SB 790 6
administrative review. If an action is brought 29
pursuant to section 536.150, venue shall be in 30
Cole County. If the landowner provides the 31
director with a proposal to correct the problems 32
which form the basis of the notice, the director 33
shall review the proposal and, if the director 34
finds such proposal acceptable, shall allow the 35
landowner to implement the proposal to correct 36
the alleged problems and shall not suspend the 37
annual payment to the landowner under the 38
provisions of sections 252.300 to 252.333. If 39
the landowner is unable or unwilling to correct 40
the alleged problems in a manner acceptable to 41
the director, the landowner shall not receiv e 42
the subsequent payments due under the provisions 43
of sections 252.300 to 252.333. ] 44
[252.321. The University of Missouri 1
center for agroforestry and extension service, 2
in consultation with the director, shall 3
establish agroforestry demonstration areas, and 4
develop and deliver the educational components 5
of sections 252.300 to 252.333. ] 6
[252.324. 1. The director may promulgate 1
rules and regulations necessary to carry out the 2
provisions of sections 252.300 to 2 52.333. 3
Before promulgating any such rule, the director 4
shall seek the advice and comments of the 5
University of Missouri college of agriculture, 6
the University of Missouri center for 7
agroforestry, the University of Missouri 8
extension service, the Mi ssouri department of 9
natural resources, private industry councils, 10
the Missouri department of economic development 11
and the Missouri department of agriculture. The 12
director may seek advice and comments before 13
promulgating rules and regulations from th e 14
United States Department of Agriculture and any 15
other entities deemed advisable by the 16
director. No rule or portion of a rule 17
promulgated under the authority of this chapter 18
shall become effective unless it has been 19
promulgated pursuant to the pro visions of 20
chapter 536. 21 SB 790 7
2. The Missouri department of conservation 22
may contract with the division of soil and water 23
conservation of the Missouri department of 24
natural resources for any administrative 25
functions required under the provisions of 26
sections 252.300 to 252.333. ] 27
[252.327. 1. The department of 1
conservation and the department of economic 2
development and the University of Missouri 3
college of agriculture shall, by each of the 4
dates specified in subsection 2 of this section, 5
jointly produce a report on the agroforestry 6
program which: 7
(1) Provides a status report on the 8
afforestation aspects of the agroforestry 9
program by presenting a forecast of anticipated 10
economic developments from the afforestation in 11
the state as a result of the agroforestry 12
program; 13
(2) Suggests public or private sector 14
initiatives that will potentially serve to 15
maximize the economic benefits for related new 16
development and expansion of existing businesses 17
resulting from the agroforestry program; 18
(3) Suggests methods to promote the 19
development of wood and other forestry related 20
products; 21
(4) Suggests public or private sector 22
initiatives or methods which will result in 23
significant increases in job opportunitie s and 24
employment. 25
2. The report shall be submitted to the 26
governor and to the general assembly by January 27
thirty-first of each of the following years: 28
1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021, and 2026. ] 29
[252.330. During the establishment phase, 1
the director may pay for the planting of trees 2
on eligible land which is used for agroforestry 3
pursuant to sections 252.300 to 252.333. Such 4
payment shall be limited to expenses which are 5
determined to be reasonable and necessary by th e 6
director, but shall not exceed seventy -five 7
percent of the cost of establishment. ] 8 SB 790 8
[252.333. The director may make incentive 1
payments for agroforestry purposes of land 2
enrolled in this program. The duration of such 3
payments shall not exceed ten years. The 4
director may also expend funds to plant trees on 5
such land. Such expenditures may include both 6
planting and associated practices as determined 7
by the director.] 8