SEC. 203. PARTNERSHIPS AND COOPERATION.

Section 1243 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3843) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(f) PARTNERSHIPS AND COOPERATION-

`(1) IN GENERAL- In carrying out any program under subtitle D, the Secretary may use resources provided under that subtitle to enter into agreements, to be known as Farmland Stewardship Agreements, and as more fully described in Sec. 1239 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830--3839bb), with State and local agencies, Indian tribes, and nongovernmental organizations and to designate special stewardship projects, as recommended by the State Conservationist, after consultation with the State technical committee, to enhance technical and financial assistance provided to owners, operators, and producers to address environmental issues affected by agricultural production with respect to--

`(A) meeting the purposes of--

`(i) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) or comparable State or tribal laws in impaired or threatened watersheds;

`(ii) the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.) or comparable State or tribal laws in watersheds providing water for drinking water supplies;

`(iii) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) or comparable State laws; or

`(iv) other Federal, State, tribal, or local laws; or

`(B) watersheds of special significance, conservation priority areas described in section 1230(c), or other geographic areas of environmental sensitivity, such as wetland, including State, multi-State, or tribal projects-

`(i) to facilitate surface and ground water conservation;

`(ii) to protect water quality;

`(iii) to protect endangered or threatened species or habitat, such as conservation corridors;

`(iv) to improve methods of irrigation;

`(v) to convert acreage from irrigated production; or

`(vi) to reduce nutrient loads of watersheds.'

`(C) other areas and properties designated by the Secretary.

`(2) INCENTIVES- To realize the purposes of the special projects under paragraph (1), the Secretary may provide special incentives to owners, operators, and producers participating in the special projects to encourage partnerships, enrollments of exceptional environmental value, and sharing of technical and financial resources among owners, operators, and producers and among owners, operators, and producers and governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

`(3) FLEXIBILITY-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary may enter into stewardship agreements with States (including State agencies and units of local government), Indian tribes, and nongovernmental organizations to allow greater flexibility to adjust the application of eligibility criteria, approved practices, innovative conservation practices, and other elements of the programs under this title to better reflect unique local circumstances and purposes in a manner that is consistent with--

`(i) environmental enhancement and long-term sustainability of the natural resource base; and

`(ii) the purposes and requirements of this title.

`(B) PLAN- Each party to an stewardship agreement under subparagraph (A) shall submit to the Secretary, for approval by the Secretary, a special project area or priority area stewardship program plan for each program to be carried out by the party that includes--

`(i) a description of the requested resources and adjustments to program implementation (including a description of how those adjustments will accelerate the achievement of environmental benefits);

`(ii) an analysis of the contribution those adjustments will make to the effectiveness of programs in achieving the purposes of the special project area or priority area stewardship program;

`(iii) a timetable for reevaluating the need for or performance of the proposed adjustments;

`(iv) a description of non-Federal programs and resources that will contribute to achieving the purposes of the special project area or priority area stewardship program; and

`(v) a plan for regular monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of progress toward the purposes of the special project area or priority area stewardship program.

`(4) PURPOSES OF SPECIAL PROJECTS- The purposes of special stewardship projects carried out under this section shall be to encourage--

`(A) producers to cooperate in the installation and maintenance of conservation systems that affect multiple agricultural operations;

`(B) the sharing of information and technical and financial resources;

`(C) cumulative environmental benefits across operations of producers; and

`(D) the development and demonstration of innovative conservation methods.

`(5) FUNDING-

`(A) IN GENERAL- In addition to resources from programs under subtitle D, subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall use 5 percent of the funds made available for each fiscal year under section 1241(b) to carry out activities that are authorized under the environmental quality incentives program established under chapter 4 of subtitle D.

`(B) UNUSED FUNDING- Any funds made available for a fiscal year under subparagraph (A) that are not obligated by April 1 of the fiscal year may be used to carry out other activities under the environmental quality incentives program during the fiscal year in which the funding becomes available.'.

 

SEC. 205. REFORM AND ASSESSMENT OF CONSERVATION PROGRAMS.

(a) IN GENERAL-- Subtitle D of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3830--3839bb) is amended by inserting after chapter 1 the following:

`CHAPTER 2—FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM

`SEC. 1239. DEFINITIONS.

`In this chapter

            `(1) ELIGIBLE AGRICULTURAL LAND.— The term ‘eligible agricultural land’ means private land that is in primarily native or natural condition or is classified as cropland, pastureland, grazing land, timberland, or other land as specified by the Secretary that—

            `(A) contains wildlife habitat, wetlands, or other natural resources; or

            `(B) provides 1 or more benefits to the public as identified by the Secretary.

            `(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means the farmland stewardship program established by this chapter.

            `(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting—

            `(A) through the Natural Resources Conservation Service; and

            `(B) in cooperation with any applicable agricultural or other agencies of a State.

            `(4) SERVICE CONTRACT.—The term ‘service contract’ means a legally binding agreement between 2 parties under which—

            `(A) 1 party agrees to render 1 or more services in accordance with the terms of the contract; and

            `(B) the second party agrees to pay the first party for the each service rendered.

`SEC. 1239A. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.

            `(a) ESTABLISHMENT. —

            `(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish within the Department a program to be known as the ‘farmland stewardship program’.

            `(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program shall be to–

            `(A) combine, couple or coordinate multiple programs from multiple agencies and levels of government on individual parcels of land, and on a regional basis, to–

            `(i) improve conservation delivery at the local level,

            `(ii) eliminate redundancy,

            `(iii) simplify application procedures,

            `(iv) leverage the investment of federal dollars,

            `(v) make more efficient use of limited technical assistance dollars,

            `(vi) provider greater incentives for participation from owners and operators,

            `(vii) foster partnerships and improve cooperation between agencies at all levels of government and nongovernmental organizations to increase access to technical and financial assistance for owners, operators, and producers; and

            `(viii) provide greater environmental benefits;

            `(B) more precisely tailor and more effectively target conservation programs administered by the Secretary, and other federal and state agencies and local units of government, to the unique conservation needs of, and opportunities presented by, individual parcels of eligible agricultural land;

            `(C) address shortcomings in existing program delivery as described in the General Accounting Office Report, GAO-02-295, ‘Agricultural Conservation - State Advisory Committees’ Views on How USDA Programs Could Better Address Environmental Concerns,’

            `(D) enable an owner or operator to participate in 1 or more of the conservation programs offered through agencies at all levels of government and the private sector and, where possible and feasible, comply with permit requirements and regulations, through a one-stop, one-application process; or, if that is not feasible, then an attempt shall be made to assemble as many programs, requirements and regulations into as few applications and agreements as possible;

            `(E) negotiate a mutually agreeable set of guidelines, practices, and procedures under which conservation practices will be provided by the owner or operator to protect, maintain, and, where possible, improve, the natural resources on the land covered by the agreement in return for annual payments to the owner or operator; and

            `(G) negotiate and develop agreements with private owners and operators to expand or maintain their participation in conservation activities and programs; to enable them to install or maintain best management practices (BMPs) and other recommended practices to improve the compatibility of agriculture, horticulture, silviculture, aquaculture and equine activities with the environment; and improve compliance with public health, safety and environmental regulations.           

            `(b) RELATION TO OTHER PROGRAMS. — Under the program, the Secretary may implement, or combine together, the features of—

            `(1) any program administered by the Secretary; or

            `(2) any program administered by another Federal agency or a State or local government, if implementation by the Secretary—

            `(A) is feasible; and

            `(B) is carried out with the consent of the applicable administering agency or government.

            `(c) FUNDING.—

            `(1) IN GENERAL.—The program and agreements shall be funded by the Secretary using—

            `(A) the funding authorities of the programs that are implemented through the use of Farmland Stewardship Agreements;

            `(B) technical assistance in accordance with Sec. 1243(d); and

            `(C) such other funds as are appropriated to carry out the Farmland Stewardship Program.

`SEC. 1239B. USE OF FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP AGREEMENTS.

            `(a) AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED .—The Secretary shall carry out the Farmland Stewardship Program by entering into service contracts as determined by the Secretary, to be known as farmland stewardship agreements, with the owners or operators of eligible agricultural land to perform practices and services that provide benefit to the public and maintain and protect the natural and agricultural resources on the land.

            `(b) LEGAL BASIS.—An agreement shall operate in all respects as a service contract. Any agency participating in the Farmland Stewardship Program that has the authority to enter into service contracts and to expend public funds under such contracts may enter into or participate in the funding of an agreement.

`SEC. 1239C. PARTNERSHIP APPROACH TO PROGRAM.

            `(a) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY EXERCISED THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS.— The Secretary may administer agreements under the Farmland Stewardship Program in partnership with other Federal, State, and local agencies whose programs are incorporated into the Program under section 1239A, and in partnership with state departments of agriculture or other designated state agencies.

            `(b) DESIGNATION AND USE OF CONTRACTING AGENCIES.—The Secretary may work through other governmental and nongovernmental entities to implement this program. [in concert with the Third Party Contracting provisions of H.R. 2646.]

            `(c) APPLICATION AND APPROVAL PROCESS.—As determined by the Secretary.

`SEC. 1239D. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FARMLAND STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.

            `(a) EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary shall use as many existing authorities and administrative procedures as possible to implement this program.’

            `(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit a report containing recommendations for the implementation of the Farmland Stewardship Program to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of the Senate. a report that describes the plan developed under subsection (a), including any recommendations for implementation of the plan.'

            (1) The report shall describe how existing programs may be modified, adjusted or made more flexible through the Farmland Stewardship Program to–

            (A) tailor these programs to local conditions and circumstances;

            (B) allow these programs to better address the unique needs, opportunities and challenges offered by individual parcels of land;

            (C) overcome administrative conditions, limitations, policies and requirements that previously may have limited the use of these programs on eligible agricultural lands;

(D) use limited technical assistance funds to implement multiple programs through the Farmland Stewardship Program, rather than implementing programs one at a time; and

            (E) address shortcomings in existing program delivery as described in the General Accounting Office Report, GAO-02-295, ‘Agricultural Conservation - State Advisory Committees’ Views on How USDA Programs Could Better Address Environmental Concerns.’

            (2) The report shall include recommendations on how modifications, adaptations and substitutions of program criteria and implementation procedures can be made without changing the overall intent, purpose or restrictions associated with these programs.

(3) The report shall include recommendations on how the Secretary of Agriculture proposes to communicate and cooperate with the secretaries and administrators of other federal agencies, and the leaders of State agencies and units of local government, when the programs administered by other agencies and units of government are affected by this program.

            (4) The report shall also contain recommendations on how the Secretary proposes to improve program delivery through the Farmland Stewardship Program, by considering requests to—

            (A) establish different or automatic enrollment criteria than otherwise established by regulation or policy;

            (B) establish different compensation rates to the extent the parties to the agreement consider justified;

            (C) establish different conservation practice criteria if doing so will achieve greater conservation benefits;

            (D) provide more streamlined and integrated paperwork requirements; and

            (E) provide funds to monitor the effectiveness of the program for wildlife, the protection of natural resources, economic effectiveness and sustaining the agricultural economy.

            (5) Finally, the report shall contain recommendations on any additional legislative action that is needed to fully implement this program.  This shall include recommendations on–

                        (A) additional funding,

                        (B) approaches to facilitate state-level cooperation,

            (C) improvements in the distribution of technical assistance funds to ensure adequate program delivery at the local level;

            (D) establishment of a payment system to combine payments from multiple agencies and programs into a single annual payment to an owner, operator or producer;

            (E) establishment of an Agricultural Stewardship State Block Grant Program; and

            (F) establishment of a Farmland Stewardship Council to assist the Secretary in–

            (i) developing procedures and guidelines to facilitate partnerships with other levels of government and nonprofit organizations and assist contracting agencies in gathering data on existing programs from multiple agencies and levels of government and negotiating agreements;

            (ii) developing the means necessary to tailor programs to local conditions and circumstances and to better address the unique needs, opportunities and challenges offered by individual parcels of land;

            (iii) developing agreements that are highly flexible and can be used to respond to and fit in with the conservation needs and opportunities on any property in the U.S.;

            (iv) developing a methodology for determining a fair market price in each state for each service rendered by a private owner or operator under a Farmland Stewardship Agreement;

            (v) monitoring progress under the agreements; and

            (xiii) coordinating activities and cooperating with other federally established councils whose actions affect or have an impact upon agricultural producers.

(6) In addition, the Secretary shall develop a plan for—

(1) coordinating conservation programs administered by the Secretary that are targeted at agricultural land to--

(A) eliminate redundancy; and

(B) improve delivery;

(2) (A) to the maximum extent practicable--

(A) (i) designing forms that are applicable to all conservation programs administered by the Secretary;

(B) (ii) reducing and consolidating paperwork requirements for the programs;

(C) (iii) developing universal classification systems for all information obtained on the forms that can be used by other agencies of the Department of Agriculture;

(D) (iii) ensuring that the information and classification systems developed under this paragraph can be shared with other agencies of the Department through computer technologies used by agencies; and

(E) (iv) developing 1 format for a conservation plan that can be applied to all conservation programs targeted at agricultural land;

(3) (B) to the maximum extent practicable, improving the delivery of conservation programs to Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), including programs for the delivery of conservation programs to Indian tribes under plans carried out in conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior; and

(4) (C) improving the regional distribution of program funds and resources to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that--

(A) (i) the highest conservation priorities of the United States receive funding; and

(B) (ii) regional variations in conservation costs are taken into account.

            (7) Congress shall consider the recommendations made by the Secretary within 180 days of receipt of the Secretary’s report and shall determine what legislative action, if any, is necessitated by the Secretary’s recommendations.

[The following language was inserted above under Sec.1239D(b) REPORT.]

(b) REPORT- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that describes the plan developed under subsection (a), including any recommendations for implementation of the plan.

(c) (b) NATIONAL CONSERVATION PLAN-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a plan and estimated budget for implementing the appraisal of the soil, water, and related resources of the United States contained in the national conservation program under sections 5 and 6 of the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977 (16 U.S.C. 2004, 2005) as the primary vehicle for managing conservation on agricultural land in the United States.

(2) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION- Not later than April 30, 2005, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that--

(A) describes the status of the implementation of the plan described in paragraph (1);

(B) contains an evaluation of the scope, quality, and outcomes of the conservation practices carried out under the plan; and

(C) makes recommendations for achieving specific and quantifiable improvements for the purposes of programs covered by the plan.

(d) (c) CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARDS- The Secretary of Agriculture shall--

(1) revise standards and, if necessary, establish standards, for eligible conservation practices to include measurable goals for enhancing natural resources, including innovative practices;

(2) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, revise the National Handbook of Conservation Practices and field office technical guides of the Natural Resources Conservation Service; and

(3) not less frequently than once every 5 years, update the Handbook and technical guides.