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WASHINGTON, June 9, 2004—Agriculture
Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced the release of an interim final
rule to implement the Conservation Security Program (CSP), authorized
by the 2002 Farm Bill.
Sign-up for the CSP will be available to eligible farmers
and ranchers in 18 priority watersheds across the nation July 6 to July
30. CSP is a voluntary program that supports ongoing conservation stewardship
of agricultural working lands and enhances the condition of America’s
natural resources.
“Through the Conservation Security Program,
USDA will offer farmers and ranchers incentives and cost-share assistance
to help them meet their conservation goals,” Veneman said. “The
program recognizes producers who employ good stewardship and environmental
practices.”
The CSP interim final rule with request for public
comments will be published in the Federal Register soon. By issuing this
rule, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can conduct the
program sign-up and implementation this fiscal year. NRCS will consider
all comments received during a 90-day public comment period in developing
a final CSP rule.
Congress capped the fiscal year 2004 CSP budget at
$41.4 million. This allows NRCS to write 3,000 to 5,000 contracts. On
May 4, 2004, USDA established the watershed approach as a basis to determine
CSP participation and identified the 18 priority watersheds on May 19.
Selected watersheds for the 2004 CSP sign-up are: Raystown
(Pennsylvania); Saluda (South Carolina); Little (Georgia); St. Joseph
(Michigan / Indiana / Ohio); Auglaize (Indiana / Ohio); Blue Earth (Minnesota
/ Iowa); Lower Chippewa (Wisconsin); Kishwaukee (Illinois / Wisconsin);
Little River Ditches (Missouri / Arkansas); Lower Yellowstone (Montana
/ North Dakota); East Nishnabotna (Iowa); Lower Little Blue (Nebraska
/ Kansas); Lower Salt Fork Arkansas (Oklahoma / Kansas); Punta de Agua
(New Mexico / Texas); Hondo (Texas); Moses Coulee (Washington); Lemhi
(Idaho); Umatilla (Oregon). The program will be offered each year, on
a rotational basis, in as many watersheds as funding allows.
Most working agricultural land will be eligible for
CSP. Producers on cropland, orchards, vineyards, pasture and range may
apply for the program, regardless of size, type of operation or crops
produced.
According to the interim final rule, all CSP applications
that meet the sign-up criteria will be placed in an enrollment category
regardless of available funding. In addition to legal contract requirements,
the categories will consider the applicants’ current level of stewardship
(soil condition and trend and the existence of support practices and activities)
and will sort producers based on these factors. Categories also will examine
producers’ willingness to perform more conservation activities during
their CSP contract to provide additional environmental performance.
Payments can include four components: 1) an annual
stewardship component for the benchmark conservation treatment, 2) an
annual component for maintenance of existing conservation practices, 3)
a one-time new practice component for specific additional needed practices,
and 4) an enhancement component for exceptional conservation effort. For
most producers the enhancement component will be the largest component.
Payments will be received under three tiers of conservation contracts.
Payments for the three tiers are capped at $20,000, $35,000 and $45,000
annually and will last for five years for Tier I and 5-10 years for Tier
II and Tier III.
Additional information on CSP including
the interim final rule is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp.
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