Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
White House Seeks $7.8 Billion Increase In Upcoming Farm Bill's Conservation Title
The Bush administration announced Jan. 31 that it will ask Congress to approve a $7.8 billion increase for conservation and environmental improvements to wildlife habitat and water and soil quality and $1.6 billion in "new" money for renewable energy research in the upcoming farm bill.
According to the Department of Agriculture, the $7.8 billion proposal would add to the $48.7 billion that was authorized and appropriated for the conservation title in the 2002 farm bill, which expires in September 2007 (Pub. L. No. 107-171).
The new farm bill authorizes funding for agricultural programs between fiscal years 2008 and 2017. Secretary Mike Johanns said the "foundation" of the administration's proposal was based on 52 forums conducted in 48 states.
In a preview of the administration's farm bill proposal dealing with conservation, Johanns said Jan. 23 that the bill's conservation title would indeed be strengthened on the basis of comments the agency received from farmers and ranchers at the forums (15 DEN A-1, 1/24/07 ).
As part of the increase in conservation and environmental funds,
USDA is proposing to seek $4.25 billion to create a "new" Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), which includes $1.75 billion for a regional water
enhancement program and $1 billion for conservation innovation grants.
It also is proposing an additional $500 million for the Conservation Security
Program (CSP); an additional $2.125 billion for the Wetlands Reserve Program to
increase total acreage enrollment to 3.5 million acres; and $50 million in new
money for promoting market-based conservation, such as trading water quality
credits.
EQIP provides incentive payments and cost-sharing for a variety of farm conservation practices, including manure management and erosion control, whereas CSP offers various payments and technical assistance to support ongoing stewardship of agricultural land through five- to 10-year contracts to promote conservation and the improvement of soil, water, air, energy, and plant and animal life on private and tribal agricultural lands. The Wetlands Reserve Program provides technical and financial support to help landowners with their wetland restoration efforts.
The EQIP, CSP, and wetlands programs are administered by USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service.
New EQIP Consolidates Existing Programs
USDA is proposing to consolidate existing programs--EQIP, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Agricultural Management Assistance Program, Forest Land Enhancement Program, Ground and Surface Water Conservation Program, and the Klamath Basin Program--under a newly designed EQIP. Because all these programs "provide financial assistance to customers through cost-share and incentives for working lands," the administration said consolidation would "streamline these activities, reduce redundancies, and produce more cost-effective environmental benefits."
USDA spokeswoman Beth Johnson said the new Regional Water Enhancement Program would focus on cooperative approaches to improve water quality and water conservation across large tracts of working agricultural lands.
The administration's proposal picks up on recommendations made by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies in a white paper issued in August 2006. In that paper, NACWA had broached the idea of Congress establishing a $500 million water quality program within the conservation title that would, for instance, reduce nutrient runoff, recharge groundwater, protect aquifers, and yield other environmental gains (162 DEN A-8, 8/22/06 ).
New Money for Renewable Energy
For the first time in the farm bill, USDA is proposing $1.6 billion to advance research, development, and production of renewable fuels, chiefly cellulosic ethanol, or ethanol derived from switchgrass and agricultural and municipal waste. The $1.6 billion includes $500 million in grants for developing renewable energy systems and improving energy efficiency and $210 million in loans for the same initiatives. It includes $650 million for a bioenergy and bioproducts research initiative and a program to promote conversion of forest wood to energy.
President Bush, in his State of the Union address Jan. 23, announced a goal of producing 35 billion gallons of ethanol by 2017 and pledged to promote research into cellulosic ethanol. Bush also indicated that he would be seeking the $1.6 billion for renewable energy research in his farm bill proposal (16 DEN A-10, 1/25/07 ).
The Izaak Walton League of America said it was pleased with the
conservation programs in the administration's proposal. Brad Redlin, the
league's agricultural programs director, said he was glad to see the inclusion
of the sodsaver proposal in the commodity title. Under the sodsaver proposal,
previously untilled grasslands that are converted to agricultural lands are
ineligible for payments under any conservation or commodity program.
"It saves money and serves as a disincentive for people to keep breaking out
fragile lands, such as what's left of the short grass prairies in the northern
Midwestern states," Redlin said.
Both Redlin and Ferd Hoefner, policy director for the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, supported the increase in acreage and funding for the Wetlands Reserve Program.
The Bush administration's farm bill fact sheet is available at http://www.usda.gov.
By Amena H. Saiyid