Conservation Consolidation and Regulatory Reform Act of 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Reestablishment of Soil Conservation Service

Title II: Consolidation of Conservation Financial Assistance

Programs of the Department of Agriculture

Subtitle A: Agricultural Conservation Assistance

Program

Subtitle B: Conforming Amendments

Title III: Water Quality Conservation Program for Livestock

Operations

Title IV: Highly Erodible Cropland Conservation

Title V: Environmental Conservation Acreage Reserve Program

Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions

Conservation Consolidation and Regulatory Reform Act of 1995 - Title I: Reestablishment of Soil Conservation Service - Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (Reorganization Act) to replace provisions regarding the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with provisions reestablishing the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) as an agency within the Consolidated Farm Service Agency (CFSA) of the Department of Agriculture (Department).

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the functions of SCS; and (2) special consultation requirements for certain functions, such as requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure that officials of county and area committees established under the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (SCDAA)(county committees) meet annually with officials of Soil and Water Conservation Districts or similar organizations established under State law to consider local conservation priorities and guidelines.

(Sec. 102) Revises the Reorganization Act to authorize the Secretary to use: (1) CFSA to provide financial assistance under the Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program and the Livestock Water Quality Conservation Program established under the Conservation Consolidation and Regulatory Reform Act of 1995; and (2) SCS to provide technical assistance under such programs.

(Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to transfer to SCS: (1) all of the records, property, and personnel of NRCS; and (2) the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds of NRCS.

Title II: Consolidation of Conservation Financial Assistance Programs of the Department of Agriculture - Subtitle A: Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program - Directs the Secretary to carry out an Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program to provide technical and financial assistance to the owners and operators (owners) of private agricultural lands who request such assistance to plan, develop, and implement structural practices applicable to such lands and intended to effectuate specified purposes such as erosion control, water conservation, water quality improvement in rural America, and wildlife habitat improvement.

Requires the Secretary to provide technical and financial assistance under the Program on the basis of a contract with an owner of agricultural lands. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) contract requirements; (2) approval of county committees; (3) contract terms; and (4) owner responsibilities.

(Sec. 203) Provides that, to be eligible to enter into a contract under the Program, an owner must prepare and submit to the Secretary for approval a plan of farming operations or land use practices which incorporates specified soil and water conservation practices and principles and outlines a schedule of proposed changes in cropping systems or land use to be carried out during the contract period.

Directs the Secretary, in considering a cost-share plan for approval, to consult with SCS and the local soil and water conservation district. Sets forth plan requirements.

(Sec. 204) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) criteria in determining the level of assistance to be provided under a contract under the Program; (2) a 50 percent maximum Federal cost-share requirement; (3) a $5,000 per person limit on financial assistance; (4) time for payment; and (5) treatment of payments.

(Sec. 205) Authorizes the Secretary to terminate a contract entered into with an owner under the Program if the owner agrees to such termination or violates the terms and conditions of the contract. Requires the owner, upon: (1) the violation of a term or condition of the contract, to refund any cost-sharing payment already received and forfeit any future payments under the contract; (2) the transfer of the right and interest of an owner in land subject to the contract, to refund all cost-sharing payments received unless the transferee of the right and interest agrees to assume all of the owner's obligations under the contract.

(Sec. 206) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1996 through 2002.

(Sec. 207) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) interim administration pending implementation of the Program; and (2) issuance of final regulations.

Subtitle B: Conforming Amendments - Repeals: (1) the Great Plains Conservation Program and the Agricultural Conservation Program under the SCDAA; (2) the Critical Lands Resource Conservation Program in the Great Plains area under the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 (FAA); (3) the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program under the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act; (4) the Rural Environmental Conservation Program under the Agricultural Act of 1970; (5) Water Quality Incentive Projects, the Control of Weeds and Pests Program, and the Tree Planting Initiative under the Food Security Act of 1985 (FSA); (6) the Integrated Farm Management Program Option under the Food, Agriculture, and Trade Act of 1990; (7) the Special Areas Conservation Program and Reservoir Sedimentation Program under the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981; (8) Small Watershed Easement Purchase Authority under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act; (9) Financial Assistance Programs under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978; and (10) the Water Bank Act.

Title III: Water Quality Conservation Program for Livestock Operations - Directs the Secretary, during FY 1996 through 2002, to carry out a Livestock Water Quality Conservation Program to provide technical and financial assistance to the owners of livestock operations who request such assistance to plan, develop, and implement structural practices in connection with such livestock operations intended to protect or improve water quality and enhance environmental protection.

Requires the Secretary (subject to specified requirements) to provide assistance under the Program on the basis of a contract between the Secretary and an owner of a livestock operation. Prohibits the Secretary from entering into a contract with an operator who is not also owner of the livestock operation unless the actual owner concurs in the contract. Requires the owner, to be eligible to enter into a contract, to have an approved water quality plan.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) types of assistance; (2) application and term of the contract; (3) the contracting process, including approval of the county committee and directing the Secretary to administer a competitive offer system for owners of livestock operations proposing to receive cost-sharing payments in exchange for the implementation of structural practices; and (4) owner responsibilities.

(Sec. 303) Limits the Federal share of cost-sharing payments under a contract under the Program to implement one or more structural practices to 50 percent of the total cost of the practice or practices, as determined by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to further reduce the Federal share on account of payments received by the owner from a State or local government for the same structural practice.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the effect of other payments; (2) technical assistance; (3) non-Federal assistance; (4) limits on payments; and (5) treatment of payments.

(Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary: (1) to provide assistance under the Program to owners of livestock operations in a region, watershed, or conservation priority area based on the significance of the water quality needs and the structural practices that best address the needs; (2) in providing assistance under the Program, to accord a higher priority to assistance and payments that maximize environmental benefits per dollar expended; and (3) to accord a higher priority to owners of livestock operations located within watersheds, regions, or conservation priority areas in which State or local governments provide financial or technical assistance for the same conservation or environmental purposes and to structural practices for lands on which livestock production has been determined to contribute to or create the potential for failure to meet applicable water quality standards or other environmental objectives of a Federal or State law.

(Sec. 305) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) required water quality plans; and (2) modification and termination of contracts.

(Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to: (1) allocate $380 million of Commodity Credit Corporation funds for the seven-fiscal year period beginning on October 1, 1995, to carry out the Program (and, if for any fiscal year the Secretary has incurred total contractual obligations to make payments under the Program that would exceed such sum, to prorate all payments owed under the Program for that fiscal year); and (2) issue regulations to implement the Program.

Title IV: Highly Erodible Cropland Conservation - Amends the FSA to define: (1) "conservation plan" to mean the document that applies to highly erodible cropland, that implements the conservation system applicable to such highly erodible cropland and contains the decisions of the person regarding location, land use, tillage systems, and conservation treatment measures and schedule, and that is approved by the local soil conservation district in consultation with the county committees and the Secretary or by the Secretary; and (2) "conservation system" to mean a combination of one or more conservation measures or management practices that are based upon local resource conditions, available conservation technology, and the standards and guidelines contained in the SCS field office technical guides and that are designed to achieve, in a cost effective and technically practicable manner, a substantial reduction in soil erosion or a substantial improvement in soil conditions on a field or group of fields containing highly erodible cropland when compared to the level of erosion or soil conditions that existed before the application of the conservation measures and management practices.

Revises the definition of "field" to mean a part of a farm which is separated from the balance of the farm by permanent boundaries such as fences, roads, permanent waterways, or other similar features. Specifies that at the option of the owner or operator of the farm, croplines may also be used to delineate a field if farming practices make it probable that such croplines are not subject to change.

Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register the universal soil loss equation and wind erosion equation used by the Department as of a specified date. Prohibits the Secretary from changing such equations thereafter except following certain notice and comment requirements.

(Sec. 402) Amends the FSA to direct the Secretary to ensure that the standards and guidelines contained in SCS field office technical guides applicable to the development and use of conservation measures and management practices as part of a conservation system permit a person to use a conservation system that: (1) is technically and economically feasible based on local resource conditions and available conservation technology and cost-effective; and (2) does not cause undue economic hardship on the person applying the conservation system under the person's conservation plan.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) measurement of erosion reduction; (2) residue measurement; (3) certification of compliance; (4) technical assistance; and (5) encouragement of on-farm research.

Amends the Reorganization Act to authorize the CFSA, in the case of a technical determination of the SCS regarding use of a conservation system under the FSA, to overrule the determination if strict application causes undue economic hardship on the person using the conservation system.

Amends the FSA to direct the Secretary to permit persons to secure technical assistance from sources other than the SCS in the preparation and application of a conservation compliance plan or similar plan required as a condition for assistance from the Department. Requires that if the Secretary rejects a technical determination made by a source other than the SCS, the basis of the Secretary's determination must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.

(Sec. 403) Amends the FSA to require the Secretary to establish expedited procedures for the consideration and granting of temporary variances from conservation plans.

(Sec. 404) Revises FSA provisions to provide for: (1) a one-year grace period in which to resume conservation compliance where a person has acted in good faith and without intent to violate the FSA; and (2) special penalties regarding highly erodible cropland that was not in production prior to December 23, 1985.

(Sec. 405) Limits program ineligibility for failure to actively apply or comply with a conservation plan to those benefits that relate to agricultural commodities produced on the field that is the basis for such ineligibility determination. Permits the Secretary, in the case of egregious and repetitive violations, to expand such ineligibility to include benefits with respect to agricultural commodities produced on fields other than the field that is the basis for the ineligibility determination, as deemed appropriate by the Secretary.

Specifies that no person shall be ineligible for such program benefits as a result of the failure of such person to actively apply or comply with the person's conservation plan with respect to acreage that is not eligible for that type of benefits.

(Sec. 406) Revises FSA exemption provisions with respect to conservation reserve lands to provide that a person who owns or operates highly erodible land that was the subject of a contract under that Act shall only be required to apply a conservation plan established under such Act and the person shall not be required to meet a higher conservation standard than that applied to other highly erodible cropland located within the same area.

(Sec. 407) Requires Department employees who observe possible compliance deficiencies or other potential violations of a conservation plan or Act provision while providing on-site technical assistance to provide to the responsible persons, within 45 days, information regarding those actions needed to comply. Directs such employees to provide such information in lieu of reporting the observations as compliance violations and to attempt to correct such deficiencies as soon as practicable (and if corrective action is not fully implemented within one year, a review of the status of compliance of the person with the conservation plan may then be conducted).

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) notice of possible violations; (2) investigation of notifications; and (3) notification requirements regarding the subject of the complaint.

(Sec. 408) Authorizes the Secretary, at the request of a county committee, to establish a producer advisory committee in such county or area for the purpose of consulting with such county committee, conservation district board, SCS field office, and State conservationist in the development of reasonable and practical solutions to resource management goals and the establishment of conservation systems, measures, and practices that meet specified criteria. Requires the members of the producer advisory committee to be appointed by the Secretary from nominees submitted by the county committee making the request.

Title V: Environmental Conservation Acreage Reserve Program - Revises FSA provisions to require the owner of land, to be eligible to place such land into a wetland reserve, to enter into a contract with the Secretary to implement a wetland conservation plan for the restoration and protection of the functional wetland values of the land placed in the reserve.

Specifies that the wetland conservation plan for land placed into the wetland reserve shall provide for the efficient and effective restoration of the functional values of wetlands and shall permit: (1) repairs, improvements, and inspections on such land that are necessary to maintain existing public drainage systems if such land is subsequently restored to the condition required by the terms of the contract; and (2) the landowner to control public access on such land while identifying access routes to be used for wetland restoration activities, management, and monitoring.

Prohibits: (1) the alteration of wildlife habitat and other natural features of such land, unless specifically permitted by the plan; (2) the spraying of such land with chemicals or the mowing of such land, except where such spraying or mowing is permitted by the plan or is necessary to comply with Federal or State noxious weed control laws or an emergency pest treatment program; (3) any activities to be carried out on such participating landowner's or successor's land that is immediately adjacent to, and functionally related to, the land that is placed in the wetland reserve if such activities will alter, degrade, or otherwise diminish the functional value of the eligible land; and (4) the adoption of any other practice that would tend to defeat the purposes of the Act.

Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the development of a wetland conservation plan; (2) the duties of owners and operators; (3) compatible uses; (4) the period of a contract; (5) payments under the contract; and (6) violations.

Modifies FSA provisions to require the Secretary, in making cost share payments, to pay the owner 50 percent of the cost of carrying out the conservation and wetland measures and practices for which the assistance is provided.

(Sec. 502) Repeals: (1) a wetlands reserve program requirement that the Secretary of Agriculture consult with the Secretary of the Interior at the local level and specified other consultation requirements; and (2) the environmental easement program.

Revises the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture, during calendar years 1996 through 2000, to extend up to ten years contracts entered into before November 28, 1990, under the FSA's conservation reserve program, at the option of the owner or operator on land that the Secretary has determined under a specified study should remain in conserving uses.

(Sec. 504) Sets forth provisions regarding the effect of this title on existing easements.

Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to provide that provisions regarding the National Forest System shall not be: (1) construed to supersede, abrogate, or otherwise impair any right or authority of a State (impair any right) to allocate quantities of water; or (2) implemented, enforced, or construed to allow any U.S. officer or agency to utilize its authorities to impose any requirement not imposed by the State which would impair any right to the use of water resources allocated under State law, interstate water compact, or Supreme Court decree or held by the United States for use by a State, its political subdivisions, or its citizens.

Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to make analogous changes with respect to the authorities of the Bureau of Land Management vis-a-vis land use planning. Prohibits any Federal agency from requiring as a condition of, or in connection with, the granting, issuance, or renewal of a right-of-way a restriction on the operation, use, repair, or replacement of an existing water supply facility located on or above National Forest lands or the exercise and use of existing water rights if such condition would: (1) reduce the quantity of water which would otherwise be made available for use by the owner of such facility or water rights; or (2) cause an increase in the cost of the water supply provided from such facility.

Repeals provisions of: (1) the FSA regarding State technical committees; (2) the Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974 regarding management of undesirable plants on Federal lands; (3) the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 regarding a composting research and extension program and administration of environmental programs; and (4) the Farms for the Future Act of 1990.