Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB8270 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	2
4	4	DSESSION H. R. 8270
5	5	To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modernize the conservation
6	6	reserve program, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	MAY7, 2024
9	9	Mr. F
10	10	INSTADintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
11	11	Committee on Agriculture
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modernize
14	14	the conservation reserve program, and for other purposes.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
18	18	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conservation Reserve 4
19	19	Program Modernization Act’’. 5
20	20	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
21	21	Subchapter B of chapter 1 of title XII of the Food 7
22	22	Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3831 et seq.) is amended 8
23	23	by inserting before section 1231 the following: 9
24	24	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
25	25	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
26	26	•HR 8270 IH
27	27	‘‘SEC. 1230. DEFINITIONS. 1
28	28	‘‘In this subchapter: 2
29	29	‘‘(1) C
30	30	ONSERVATION BUFFER .—The term ‘con-3
31	31	servation buffer’ means a practice that, once estab-4
32	32	lished, provides a benefit to water quality or another 5
33	33	resource concern, including— 6
34	34	‘‘(A) a grass sod waterway; 7
35	35	‘‘(B) a contour grass sod strip; 8
36	36	‘‘(C) a prairie strip; 9
37	37	‘‘(D) a filterstrip; 10
38	38	‘‘(E) a field border; 11
39	39	‘‘(F) a living snow fence; 12
40	40	‘‘(G) a riparian buffer; 13
41	41	‘‘(H) a shelterbelt or windbreak; 14
42	42	‘‘(I) a wetland or a wetland buffer (includ-15
43	43	ing a buffer for prairie potholes, a playa, or a 16
44	44	pocosin); 17
45	45	‘‘(J) a saturated buffer; 18
46	46	‘‘(K) a bioreactor; 19
47	47	‘‘(L) a wellhead protection area; and 20
48	48	‘‘(M) other similar practices, as determined 21
49	49	by the Secretary. 22
50	50	‘‘(2) E
51	51	LIGIBLE LAND.—The term ‘eligible land’ 23
52	52	means land that is authorized to be included in the 24
53	53	conservation reserve program under section 1231(b). 25
54	54	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
55	55	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
56	56	•HR 8270 IH
57	57	‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The term ‘eligible 1
58	58	partner’ means— 2
59	59	‘‘(A) a State; 3
60	60	‘‘(B) a political subdivision of a State; 4
61	61	‘‘(C) an Indian Tribe; or 5
62	62	‘‘(D) a nongovernmental organization. 6
63	63	‘‘(4) L
64	64	AND CAPABILITY CLASS.—The term ‘land 7
65	65	capability class’ means a soil classification assigned 8
66	66	using the land capability classification system in ef-9
67	67	fect on December 23, 1985.’’. 10
68	68	SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE LAND. 11
69	69	Section 1231(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 12
70	70	(16 U.S.C. 3831(b)) is amended to read as follows: 13
71	71	‘‘(b) E
72	72	LIGIBLELAND.—The Secretary may include in 14
73	73	the conservation reserve program the following: 15
74	74	‘‘(1) Cropland that— 16
75	75	‘‘(A)(i) on a field level, consists of not less 17
76	76	than 85 percent soils with a dryland cropland 18
77	77	land capability class of III through VII; or 19
78	78	‘‘(ii) cannot be farmed in accordance with 20
79	79	a plan that complies with the requirements of 21
80	80	subtitle B; and 22
81	81	‘‘(B) the Secretary determines had a crop-23
82	82	ping history or was considered to be planted for 24
83	83	not fewer than 4 of the 6 years preceding the 25
84	84	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
85	85	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
86	86	•HR 8270 IH
87	87	date of enactment of the Conservation Reserve 1
88	88	Program Modernization Act. 2
89	89	‘‘(2) Cropland (including prairie potholes, 3
90	90	playas, and pocosins within cropland), grasslands, 4
91	91	and marginal pasture land (including marginal 5
92	92	pastureland converted to wetland or established as 6
93	93	wildlife habitat) to be— 7
94	94	‘‘(A) devoted to conservation buffers; 8
95	95	‘‘(B) established to ecologically appropriate 9
96	96	vegetation, including trees, in or near riparian 10
97	97	areas, intermittent, seasonal, or perennial 11
98	98	streams, wetlands (including prairie potholes, 12
99	99	playas, and pocosins), or saline-impaired soils; 13
100	100	or 14
101	101	‘‘(C) devoted to similar water quality or 15
102	102	wildlife habitat practices. 16
103	103	‘‘(3) Grasslands that— 17
104	104	‘‘(A) contain forbs or shrubland (including 18
105	105	improved rangeland and pastureland) for which 19
106	106	grazing is the predominant use; 20
107	107	‘‘(B) are located in an area historically 21
108	108	dominated by grasslands; and 22
109	109	‘‘(C) could provide habitat for animal and 23
110	110	plant populations of significant ecological value 24
111	111	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
112	112	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
113	113	•HR 8270 IH
114	114	if the land is retained in its current use or re-1
115	115	stored to a natural condition. 2
116	116	‘‘(4) Land described in paragraph (1), (2), or 3
117	117	(3) that will address significant water quality, water 4
118	118	conservation, and wildlife habitat concerns, as pro-5
119	119	posed by an eligible partner and agreed to by the 6
120	120	Secretary for purposes of section 1231A. 7
121	121	‘‘(5) The portion of land in a field not enrolled 8
122	122	in the conservation reserve in a case in which— 9
123	123	‘‘(A) more than 50 percent of the land in 10
124	124	the field is enrolled as a buffer or filterstrip, or 11
125	125	more than 75 percent of the land in the field 12
126	126	is enrolled as a conservation practice other than 13
127	127	as a buffer or filterstrip; and 14
128	128	‘‘(B) the Secretary determines that the re-15
129	129	mainder of the field is infeasible to farm.’’. 16
130	130	SEC. 4. MULTIPLE ENROLLMENTS. 17
131	131	Section 1234(d)(2)(B) of the Food Security Act of 18
132	132	1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(d)(2)(B)) is amended to read as 19
133	133	follows: 20
134	134	‘‘(B) M
135	135	ULTIPLE ENROLLMENTS .— 21
136	136	‘‘(i) I
137	137	N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 22
138	138	subparagraph (A), if land subject to a con-23
139	139	tract entered into under this subchapter is 24
140	140	reenrolled pursuant to section 1231(g), the 25
141	141	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
142	142	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
143	143	•HR 8270 IH
144	144	annual rental payment shall be in an 1
145	145	amount that is not more than the applica-2
146	146	ble percentage of the relevant county aver-3
147	147	age soil rental rate for the year in which 4
148	148	the reenrollment occurs (as determined 5
149	149	under paragraph (4)(E)). 6
150	150	‘‘(ii) A
151	151	PPLICABLE PERCENTAGE .—For 7
152	152	purposes of clause (i), the applicable per-8
153	153	centage shall be— 9
154	154	‘‘(I) for the first reenrollment 10
155	155	that occurs after the date of enact-11
156	156	ment, 85 percent; and 12
157	157	‘‘(II) for each subsequent 13
158	158	re1enrollment, the percentage that is 14
159	159	10 percentage points less than the 15
160	160	percentage that was applicable to the 16
161	161	preceding reenrollment.’’. 17
162	162	SEC. 5. RENTAL RATES. 18
163	163	Section 1234(d)(4)(E) of the Food Security Act of 19
164	164	1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(d)(4)(E)) is amended to read as 20
165	165	follows: 21
166	166	‘‘(E) R
167	167	ENTAL RATE LIMITATION .—The 22
168	168	county average soil rental rate (before any ad-23
169	169	justments relating to specific practices, wellhead 24
170	170	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
171	171	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
172	172	•HR 8270 IH
173	173	protection, or soil productivity) shall not ex-1
174	174	ceed— 2
175	175	‘‘(i) for eligible land consisting of soils 3
176	176	with a dryland cropland land capability 4
177	177	class of I or II that is enrolled under the 5
178	178	general enrollment option or the conserva-6
179	179	tion reserve enhancement program, 85 per-7
180	180	cent of the estimated rental rate deter-8
181	181	mined under this paragraph; 9
182	182	‘‘(ii) for eligible land consisting of 10
183	183	soils with a dryland cropland land capa-11
184	184	bility class of III that is enrolled under the 12
185	185	general enrollment option or the conserva-13
186	186	tion reserve enhancement program, 100 14
187	187	percent of the estimated rental rate deter-15
188	188	mined under this paragraph; 16
189	189	‘‘(iii) for eligible land consisting of 17
190	190	soils with a dryland cropland land capa-18
191	191	bility class of IV through VII that is en-19
192	192	rolled under the general enrollment option 20
193	193	or the conservation reserve enhancement 21
194	194	program, 115 percent of the estimated 22
195	195	rental rate determined under this para-23
196	196	graph; and 24
197	197	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
198	198	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
199	199	•HR 8270 IH
200	200	‘‘(iv) for eligible land enrolled under 1
201	201	the continuous enrollment option, 100 per-2
202	202	cent of the estimated rental rate deter-3
203	203	mined under this paragraph, without re-4
204	204	gard to the land capability class of the 5
205	205	soil.’’. 6
206	206	SEC. 6. COST-SHARING PAYMENTS. 7
207	207	Section 1234(b)(1) of the Food Security Act of 1985 8
208	208	(16 U.S.C. 3834(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 9
209	209	‘‘(1) I
210	210	N GENERAL.—In making cost-sharing 10
211	211	payments to an owner or operator under a contract 11
212	212	entered into under this subchapter, the Secretary 12
213	213	shall pay 50 percent of the cost of, as the Secretary 13
214	214	determines appropriate and in the public interest— 14
215	215	‘‘(A) establishing permanent vegetation, in-15
216	216	cluding site preparation, cover, fertilizer, seed-16
217	217	ing, and planting; 17
218	218	‘‘(B) carrying out erosion control practices 18
219	219	necessary to stabilize the site for vegetation es-19
220	220	tablished under subparagraph (A); 20
221	221	‘‘(C) installing fencing to protect riparian 21
222	222	areas and buffers; 22
223	223	‘‘(D) carrying out water development prac-23
224	224	tices associated with excluding livestock from 24
225	225	protected riparian areas; 25
226	226	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
227	227	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
228	228	•HR 8270 IH
229	229	‘‘(E) installing fencing and carrying out 1
230	230	water development practices to facilitate transi-2
231	231	tion to livestock grazing on lands enrolled under 3
232	232	the grasslands enrollment option; 4
233	233	‘‘(F) conducting the necessary and appro-5
234	234	priate mid-contract management activities to 6
235	235	maintain the permanent cover and associated 7
236	236	benefits; and 8
237	237	‘‘(G) carrying out other water quality con-9
238	238	servation measures and practices.’’. 10
239	239	Æ
240	240	VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jun 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8270.IH H8270
241	241	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB