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Tailoring existing programs to
accommodate local conditions & needs:
If most, but not all, of the limitations, conditions, policies and
requirements of a conservation program that is implemented in whole, or in
part, through the Farmland Stewardship Program are met with respect to a
parcel of eligible agricultural lands, and the purposes to be achieved by
the agreement to be entered into for such lands are consistent with the
purposes of the conservation program, then the Secretary may grant
adjustments to any
remaining limitations, conditions, policies or requirements of the
conservation program that would otherwise prohibit or limit the agreement.
The Secretary may also grant requests to–
1. establish
different or automatic enrollment criteria than otherwise established by
regulation or policy;
2. establish
different compensation rates to the extent the parties to the agreement
consider justified;
3. establish
different conservation practice criteria if doing so will achieve greater
conservation benefits;
4. provide
more streamlined and integrated paperwork requirements;
5. provide
for the transfer of conservation program funds to States with accounts that
have been expressly established to collect and consolidate payments from
different programs so that a single annual payment can be made to an owner
or operator; and
6. provide
funds to monitor the effectiveness of the
Program for wildlife, the protection of natural resources, economic
effectiveness and sustaining the agricultural economy.
For an adjustment to be
considered, a contracting agency or designated state agency must:
1. Submit
a request for an adjustment to the Secretary or Administrator who has
responsibility for the program for which an adjustment is being
requested. Requests for adjustments in programs administered by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture shall be submitted to the Secretary of
Agriculture, while requests for adjustments in programs
administered by the U.S. Department of Interior shall be submitted to the
Secretary of Interior and requests for adjustments in programs
administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shall be submitted
to the Administrator of that Agency, and so forth.
2. The
request shall––
a. explain
why the property qualifies for participation in the program;
b. explain
why it is necessary or desirable to grant an adjustment to one or
more program limitations, conditions, policies or requirements;
c. if
possible, suggest alternative methods or approaches to satisfying these
limitations, conditions, policies or requirements that are appropriate
for the property in question;
d.
request that the Secretary or Administrator grant the adjustment, based on the documentation submitted.
3. The
Secretary or Administrator may request additional documentation, or may
suggest alternative methods of overcoming program limitations or obstacles
on the property in question, prior to deciding whether or not to grant a
request for an adjustment.
4.
Adjustments may be granted by a Secretary or Administrator to allow
additional flexibility in tailoring conservation programs to the specific
needs, opportunities and challenges offered by individual parcels of land,
and to remove administrative and regulatory obstacles that previously may
have limited the use of these programs on eligible agricultural lands, or
would prevent these programs from being combined together through a
Stewardship Agreement. Adjustments may be granted only if the purposes to be
achieved by the program after the adjustment is granted remain consistent
with the purposes for which the program was established.
5. The
Secretaries and Administrators who receive requests for adjustments under this chapter shall respond to these requests within sixty
(60) days of receipt. Decisions on whether to grant a request shall be
rendered within one hundred eighty (180) days of receipt.
6. If a request for an adjustment is
declined, such finding shall have no impact upon the ability of a designated
state agency or local contracting agency to include the affected program or
other programs in a Stewardship Agreement.
In this case, the contracting agency or landowner/operator may choose
to include a program in which a request for an adjustment is declined, if the
program still can be utilized as it exists with no changes in the
Stewardship Agreement, or to leave the program out and to proceed with the
Stewardship Agreement by assembling other programs.
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