CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM. [Part 3 of 3]

• Published in: EPA number: 030003, Final EIS--247 pages, Appendices--1,266 pages, CD-ROM, January 3, 2003
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 03.01.2003
• Subjects: Conservation; Electric Power; Erosion Control; Farm Management; Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Compliance; Farmlands; Forests; Grazing; Land Management; Range Management; Ranges; Regulations; Sediment Control; Socioeconomic Assessments; Soil Conservation; Water Quality; Wetlands; Wildlife Habitat

PURPOSE: The reauthorization and expansion of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are proposed. The CRP is a voluntary program for agricultural landowners who receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to establish long-term, resource-conserving covers on eligible farmland. The CCC administers the CRP through the Farm Service Agency with program support provided by a number of technical service providers. Participants in the CRP enroll in CRP contracts for 10 to 15 years. The CRP is the federal government's single largest environmental improvement program. Through voluntary partnerships between individuals and the government, CRP provides incentives and assistance to farmers and ranchers for establishing valuable conservation practices that have beneficial effects on resources both on and off the farm. CRP encourages farmers to plant permanent covers of grass and trees on land that is subject to erosion to prevent erosion, improve water quality, provide food and habitat for wildlife, and protect ground and surface water quality by reducing water runoff and sedimentation. Four alternatives, including a No Action Alternative, are considered in this final programmatic EIS. The proposed action would increase acreage enrollment in the CRP to 39.2 million acres; expand the farmable wetlands program nationwide; change the cropping history requirements to be four out of six years; provide a one-year extension for lands planted to hardwood trees; make the Farmable Wetland Pilot Program available nationwide with an aggregate acreage cap of 1.0 million acres; allow producers to enroll entire fields through the continuous CRP as buffers in cases in which more than 50 percent of the field was eligible for enrollment and the remainder of the field in infeasible to farm; allow landowners to continue with existing ground cover where practicable and consistent with wildlife reserve benefits of the CRP; and provide for managing haying (including biomass), grazing, and construction of wind turbines on CRP lands. POSITIVE IMPACTS: The reauthorized program, as modified, would help preserve and protect soils, forested areas, other vegetated areas, and water quality, and the associated wildlife habitat, in the affected areas. Floodplain and wetland improvements under the CRP would be expanded to an additional 2.8 million acres. Grasslands throughout the country would benefit as more acreage was enrolled in the CRP. Due to increased acreage returned to natural conditions, recreational opportunities would likely be increased significantly. NEGATIVE IMPACTS: Permitting haying and grazing in response to drought or other emergency situations could adversely affect riparian areas and wetlands. Natural vegetation could suffer due to managed haying, grazing, and harvesting and placement of wind turbines. LEGAL MANDATES: Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. PRIOR REFERENCES: For the abstract of the draft EIS, see 03-0036D, Volume 27, Number 1.