CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (DRAFT SUPPLEMENT TO THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT OF JANUARY 2003). [Part 2 of 2]

• Published in: EPA number: 100038, Draft Supplemental EIS--542 pages, Appendices--CD-ROM, February 4, 2010
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 04.02.2010
• Subjects: Conservation; Electric Power; Erosion Control; Farm Management; Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Compliance; Farmlands; Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Compliance; Forests; Grazing; Land Management; NONE; Range Management; Ranges; Regulations; Sediment Control; Socioeconomic Assessments; Soil Conservation; Water Quality; Wetlands; Wildlife Habitat

PURPOSE: Changes to 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. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 reauthorizes the CRP through September 30, 2012 and stipulates a number of changes to the program. This supplemental EIS, which tiers from the final programmatic EIS of January 2003, analyzes two action alternatives and a No Action alternative, which would continue the current program, for each of nine provisions of the proposed program changes. The majority of scoping comments were in support of CRP and maintaining the level of total allowable acres within the program. The proposed changes include creation of new conservation incentives, acreage changes under general and continuous signup, inclusion of alfalfa grown in rotation as a commodity crop, contract management requirements, new managed harvest and routine grazing provisions, including grazing for invasive vegetation species, rental payment rates, incentives for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and providing benefits to pollinator species. The installation of wind turbines, windmills, or other wind-powered generation equipment would be allowed on CRP acreage as authorized on a case-by-case basis. Total enrollment authority would remain at 39.2 million acres through 2009 and would be reduced to 32 million acres for fiscal years 2010 through 2012. POSITIVE IMPACTS: Program modifications, including a new pollinator habitat conservation practice, and initiatives targeted at water resource protection, highly erodible land, and regional restoration of critical wildlife habitat would help preserve and protect soils, forested areas, other vegetated areas, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Under the action alternatives, prescribed grazing for the control of invasive species would generate substantial benefits. NEGATIVE IMPACTS: Permitting haying and grazing in response to drought or other emergency situations could adversely affect riparian areas and wetlands. Implementation of targeted initiatives would not include a monetary cap and required offsets could reduce other program services. LEGAL MANDATES: Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 and Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. PRIOR REFERENCES: For the abstract of the draft and final EISs, see 03-0036D, Volume 27, Number 1 and 03-0179F, Volume 27, Number 2, respectively.