16 U.S.C. § 3834
Section 3834 · Payments
Current version, with additions and removals from the May 13, 2002 version.
The Secretary shall provide payment for obligations incurred by the Secretary under a contract entered into under this subpart—
The Secretary shall provide payment for obligations incurred by the Secretary under a contract entered into under this subpart—
(1) with respect to any cost-sharing payment obligation incurred by the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the obligation is incurred; and
(1) with respect to any cost-sharing payment obligation incurred by the Secretary, as soon as practicable after the obligation is incurred; and
(2) with respect to any annual rental payment obligation incurred by the Secretary—
(2) with respect to any annual rental payment obligation incurred by the Secretary—
(A) as soon as practicable after October 1 of each calendar year; or
(A) as soon as practicable after October 1 of each calendar year; or
(B) at the option of the Secretary, at any time prior to such date during the year that the obligation is incurred.
(B) at the option of the Secretary, at any time prior to such date during the year that the obligation is incurred.
(1) In general
(1) In general
In making cost sharing payments to an owner or operator under a contract entered into under this subpart, the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of the cost of establishing water quality and conservation measures and practices required under each contract for which the Secretary determines that cost sharing is appropriate and in the public interest.
In making cost sharing payments to an owner or operator under a contract entered into under this subpart, the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of the cost of establishing water quality and conservation measures and practices required under each contract for which the Secretary determines that cost sharing is appropriate and in the public interest.
(A) In general
(3) Hardwood trees, windbreaks, shelterbelts, and wildlife corridors
(A) Applicability
This paragraph applies to—
(i) land devoted to the production of hardwood trees, windbreaks, shelterbelts, or wildlife corridors under a contract entered into under this subpart after November 28, 1990; and
(ii) land converted to such production under section 3835a of this title.
(B) Payments
In making cost share payments to an owner or operator of land described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of the reasonable and necessary costs, as determined by the Secretary, incurred by the owner or operator for maintaining trees or shrubs, including the cost of replanting (if the trees or shrubs were lost due to conditions beyond the control of the owner or operator), during not less than the 2-year, and not more than the 4-year, period beginning on the date of the planting of the trees or shrubs, as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(4) Hardwood tree planting
The Secretary may permit owners or operators that contract to devote at least 10 acres of land to the production of hardwood trees under this subpart to extend the planting of the trees over a 3-year period if at least 1/3 of the trees are planted in each of the first 2 years.
(B) Mid-contract management grazing
The Secretary may not make any cost sharing payment to an owner or operator under this subpart pursuant to section 3832(a)(5) of this title.
(C) Seed cost
In the case of seed costs related to the establishment of cover, cost sharing payments under this subpart shall not exceed 50 percent of the actual cost of the seed mixture, as determined by the Secretary.
(4) Practice incentives for continuous practices
In addition to the cost sharing payment described in this subsection, the Secretary shall make an incentive payment to an owner or operator of land enrolled under section 3831(d)(6) of this title in an amount not to exceed 50 percent of the actual cost of establishing all measures and practices described in paragraph (1), including seed costs related to the establishment of cover, as determined by the Secretary.
(1) In general
Using funds made available under section 3841(a)(1)(A) of this title, the Secretary may make incentive payments to an owner or operator of eligible land in an amount sufficient to encourage proper thinning and other practices to improve the condition of resources, promote forest management, or enhance wildlife habitat on the land.
(2) Limitation
A payment described in paragraph (1) may not exceed 100 percent of the total cost of thinning and other practices conducted by the owner or operator.
(1) In general
(1) In general
(A) the amount necessary to encourage owners or operators of highly erodible cropland or other eligible lands to participate in the program established by this subpart;
(B) the impact on the local farmland rental market; and
(C) such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
The amounts payable to owners or operators in the form of rental payments under contracts entered into under this subpart may be determined through—
(A) In general
(B) such other means as the Secretary determines are appropriate.
(B) Multiple enrollments
(i) In general
Subject to clause (ii), if land subject to a contract entered into under this subpart is reenrolled under section 3831(h)(1) of this title or has been previously enrolled in the conservation reserve, the annual rental payment shall be in an amount that is not more than 85 percent in the case of general enrollment contacts, or 90 percent in the case of continuous enrollment contracts, of the applicable estimated average county rental rate published pursuant to paragraph (4) for the year in which the reenrollment occurs.
(ii) Conservation reserve enhancement program
The reduction in annual rental payments under clause (i) may be waived as part of the negotiation between the Secretary and an eligible partner to enter into a conservation reserve enhancement program agreement under section 3831a of this title.
(C) Grasslands
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in the case of eligible land described in section 3831(b)(3) of this title, the Secretary shall make annual payments in an amount that is not more than 75 percent of the grazing value of the land covered by the contract.
(D) Continuous sign-up incentives
The Secretary shall make an incentive payment to the owner or operator of land enrolled under section 3831(d)(6) of this title at the time of initial enrollment in an amount equal to 32.5 percent of the amount of the first annual rental payment under subparagraph (A).
(3) Acceptance of contract offers
(3) Acceptance of contract offers
In determining the acceptability of contract offers, the Secretary may—
(A) Evaluation of offers
(4) Hardwood tree acreage
In the case of acreage enrolled in the conservation reserve established under this subpart that is to be devoted to hardwood trees, the Secretary may consider bids for contracts under this subsection on a continuous basis.
The Secretary may establish different criteria for determining the acceptability of contract offers in various States and regions of the United States based on the extent to which water quality or wildlife habitat may be improved or erosion may be abated.
(C) Local preference
In determining the acceptability of contract offers for new enrollments, the Secretary shall accept, to the maximum extent practicable, an offer from an owner or operator that is a resident of the county in which the land is located or of a contiguous county if, as determined by the Secretary, the land would provide at least equivalent conservation benefits to land under competing offers.
(4) Rental rates
(A) Annual estimates
The Secretary (acting through the National Agricultural Statistics Service) shall annually conduct a survey of per acre estimates of county average market dryland and irrigated cash rental rates for cropland and pastureland in all counties or equivalent subdivisions within each State that have 20,000 acres or more of cropland and pastureland, and shall publish the estimates derived from the survey not later than September 15 of each year.
(B) Public availability of estimates
The estimates derived from the survey conducted under subparagraph (A) and the average current and previous soil rental rates for each county shall be maintained on a website of the Department of Agriculture for use by the general public.
(C) Use
The Secretary shall consider the estimates derived from the survey conducted under subparagraph (A) relating to dryland cash rental rates as a factor in determining rental rates under this section in a manner determined appropriate by the Secretary.
(D) Submission of additional information by State FSA offices and CREP partners
Except as otherwise provided in this section, payments under this subpart—
The Secretary shall provide an opportunity for State Committees of the Farm Service Agency or eligible partners (as defined in section 3831a(a) of this title) in conservation reserve enhancement programs under section 3831a of this title to propose an alternative soil rental rate prior to finalizing new rates, on the condition that documentation described in clause (ii) is provided to support the proposed alternative.
(ii) Acceptable documentation
Documentation referred to in clause (i) includes—
(I) an average of cash rents from a random sample of lease agreements;
(II) cash rent estimates from a published survey;
(III) neighboring county estimate comparisons from the National Agricultural Statistics Service;
(IV) an average of cash rents from Farm Service Agency farm business plans;
(V) models that estimate cash rents, such as models that use returns to estimate crop production or land value data; or
(VI) other documentation, as determined by the Secretary.
(iii) Notification
Not less than 14 days prior to the announcement of new or revised soil rental rates, the Secretary shall offer a briefing to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, including information on and the rationale for the alternative rates proposed under clause (i) that were accepted or rejected.
(E) Rental rate limitation
Notwithstanding forest management incentive payments described in subsection (c), the county average soil rental rate (before any adjustments relating to specific practices, wellhead protection, or soil productivity) shall not exceed—
(i) 85 percent of the estimated rental rate determined under this paragraph for general enrollment; or
(ii) 90 percent of the estimated rental rate determined under this paragraph for continuous enrollment.
(1) In general
(2) Advance payment
(2) Method of providing in-kind payments
If the payment to an owner or operator is made with in-kind commodities, the payment shall be made by the Commodity Credit Corporation—
(A) by delivery of the commodity involved to the owner or operator at a warehouse or other similar facility located in the county in which the highly erodible cropland is located or at such other location as is agreed to by the Secretary and the owner or operator;
(B) by the transfer of negotiable warehouse receipts; or
(C) by such other method, including the sale of the commodity in commercial markets, as is determined by the Secretary to be appropriate to enable the owner or operator to receive efficient and expeditious possession of the commodity.
(3) Cash payments
(A) Commodity Credit Corporation stocks
If stocks of a commodity acquired by the Commodity Credit Corporation are not readily available to make full payment in kind to the owner or operator, the Secretary may substitute full or partial payment in cash for payment in kind.
(B) Special conservation reserve enhancement program
Payments to an owner or operator under a special conservation reserve enhancement program described in subsection (f)(4) of this section shall be in the form of cash only.
If an owner or operator that is entitled to a payment under a contract entered into under this subpart dies, becomes incompetent, is otherwise unable to receive the payment, or is succeeded by another person that renders or completes the required performance, the Secretary shall make the payment, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary and without regard to any other provision of law, in such manner as the Secretary determines is fair and reasonable in light of all of the circumstances.
If an owner or operator that is entitled to a payment under a contract entered into under this subpart dies, becomes incompetent, is otherwise unable to receive the payment, or is succeeded by another person that renders or completes the required performance, the Secretary shall make the payment, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary and without regard to any other provision of law, in such manner as the Secretary determines is fair and reasonable in light of all of the circumstances.
(1) In general
(1) In general
(2) Regulations
(A) In general
The Secretary shall promulgate regulations—
(i) defining the term “person” as used in this subsection; and
(ii) providing such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines necessary to ensure a fair and reasonable application of the limitation established by this subsection.
(B) Corporations and stockholders
The regulations promulgated by the Secretary on December 18, 1970, under section 1307 of title 7, shall be used to determine whether corporations and their stockholders may be considered as separate persons under this subsection.
(3) Other payments
Rental payments received by an owner or operator shall be in addition to, and not affect, the total amount of payments that the owner or operator is otherwise eligible to receive under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
(4) Special conservation reserve enhancement program
(A) In general
The provisions of this subsection that limit payments to any person, and section 1305(d) of the Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 1987 (7 U.S.C. 1308 note; Public Law 100–203), shall not be applicable to payments received by a State, political subdivision, or agency thereof in connection with agreements entered into under a special conservation reserve enhancement program carried out by that entity that has been approved by the Secretary.
(B) Agreements
The Secretary may enter into such agreements for payments to States (including political subdivisions and agencies of States) that the Secretary determines will advance the purposes of this subpart.
(2) Wellhead protection
Paragraph (1) and section 1308–3a(b) of title 7 shall not apply to rental payments received by a rural water district or association for land that is enrolled under this subpart for the purpose of protecting a wellhead.
In addition to any payment under this subpart, an owner or operator may receive cost share assistance, rental payments, or tax benefits from a State or subdivision thereof for enrolling land in the conservation reserve program.
In addition to any payment under this subpart, an owner or operator may receive cost share assistance, rental payments, or tax benefits from a State or subdivision thereof for enrolling land in the conservation reserve program.