TheWeekInCongress.com
Week Ending December 10, 2004
S.2856 A bill to limit the transfer of certain Commodity Credit Corporation funds between conservation programs for technical assistance for the programs
BRIEF
The bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 making technical assistance funding available for food producers and landowners participating in some agricultural conservation programs.
The bill essentially makes good on intended allocation of conservation program funds established in the 2002 Farm Bill by overriding US Dept of Agriculture decisions to the contrary. The funds mostly pay for the salaries of Federal employees assistance to the producers and landowners that participate in the conservation programs.
Sponsor: Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent (Oct. 11, 2004); Passed House by voice vote (Dec. 6, 2004); Signed by President Bush as Public Law 108-498 (Dec. 23, 2004)
Cost to the taxpayers: ‘CBO estimates that relative to current law (as reflected in our March 2004 baseline estimates), enacting S. 2856 would increase direct spending by $1.3 billion over the 2005-2014 period.’ ## All Rights Reserved. No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.
MORE INFORMATION
The bill’s purpose is interpreted by supporter Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) “Despite historic funding conservation levels in the 2002 farm bill, family farmers and ranchers offering to restore wetlands, or offering to change the way they farm to improve air and water quality continue to be rejected when they seek USDA conservation assistance. Producers are being turned away due to the Department of Agriculture's decision to divert over $200 million from working lands conservation programs to pay for the cost of administering the Conservation Reserve Program, and the Wetlands Reserve Program, over the last 2 years. In particular, USDA diverted significant funds from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Farmland and Ranchland Protection Program, the Grasslands Reserve Program, and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, to pay for CRP and WRP technical assistance.
The 2002 farm bill clearly intended USDA to use mandatory funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation, to pay for conservation technical assistance. The plain language of the statute, the General Accounting Office, and every Member of Congress who had a hand in writing the farm bill support this interpretation of the farm bill.
Simply put our amendment would require the administration to honor the 2002 farm bill and mandate that technical assistance for each program is derived from funds provided for that program.
By providing more than $6.5 billion for working lands programs like EQIP and WHIP in the 2002 farm bill, Congress dramatically increased funds to help farmers manage working lands to produce food and fiber and simultaneously enhance water quality and wildlife habitat. For example, EQIP helps share the cost of a broad range of land management practices that help the environment, include more efficient use of fertilizers and pesticides, and innovative technologies to store and reuse animal waste. In combination, these working lands programs will provide farmers the tools and incentives they need to help meet our major environmental challenges.
Full funding for working lands incentive programs like EQIP and WHIP is vital not only in helping farmers and ranchers improve their farm management, but also in meeting America's most pressing environmental challenges. Because 70 percent of the American landscape is private land, farming dramatically affects the health of America's rivers, lakes and bays and the fate of America's rare species. Most rare species depend upon private lands for the survival, and many will become extinct without help from private landowners. When farmers and ranchers take steps to help improve air and water quality or assist rare species, they can face new costs, new risks, or loss of income. Conservation programs help share these costs, underwrite these risks, or offset these losses of income. Unless Congress provides adequate resources for these programs, there is little reason to hope that our farmers and ranchers will be able to help to meet these environmental challenges.
In addition, USDA conservation programs promote regional equity in farm spending. More than 90 percent of USDA spending flows to a handful of large farmers in 15 mid-western and southern States. As a result, many farmers and ranchers who are not eligible for traditional subsidies, including dairy farmers, ranchers, and fruit and vegetable farmers, rely upon conservation programs to boost farm and ranch income and to ease the cost of environmental compliance. Unlike commodity subsidies, conservation payments flow to all farmers and all regions. But, the farmers and ranchers who depend upon these programs, farmers, and ranchers who already receive a disproportionately small share of USDA funds, have faced a disproportionately large cut in spending.
By passing this legislation Congress and the administration will correct the shortfall in conservation technical assistance funding by directing USDA to use CCC funds to provide technical assistance to USDA conservation program. This legislation restores the clear intent of the authors of the 2002 farm bill relating to the payment of conservation technical assistance.” ##All Rights Reserved. No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.