The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final regulation implementing the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) agricultural land and wetland reserve easements, effective February 4.
The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) helps farmers and ranchers voluntarily preserve their agricultural land and restore and protect wetlands on eligible lands.
Through ACEP agricultural land easements, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides matching funds to eligible entities that are state, tribal, and local governments, and nongovernmental organizations with farm and ranch land protection programs to purchase agricultural land easements that are permanent or for the maximum duration authorized by state law.
Through ACEP wetland reserve easements, NRCS protects wetlands on eligible lands by purchasing an easement directly from eligible landowners or entering 30-year contracts on acreage owned by Indian tribes in each case providing for the restoration, enhancement, and protection of wetlands and associated lands. Wetland reserve easements may be permanent, 30 years for acreage owned by Indian tribes, or the maximum duration authorized by state law.
Benefits of the rule identified in the final regulation notice include restoring and protecting high-value wetlands; controlling erosion as lands are restored from cropland to wetlands; restoring, enhancing, and protecting habitat for fish and wildlife; improving water quality by filtering sediment and chemicals; reducing flooding and flood-related damage; and recharging groundwater.
Among the many aspects of the revised rule, its groundwater-related aspects included the following —
- Added definitions for wetland restoration
- Made revisions to the environmental markets section in response to the 2018 Farm Bill
- Eliminated the requirement that land with a certain amount of forest land have a forest management plan (potential precipitation infiltration implications)
- Revised the requirement for a conservation plan on highly erodible cropland
- Increased the percent of acres of total cropland in a county that may be subject to an ACEP wetland reserve easement to 15 percent
- Included water quality as an additional priority along with the priority placed on acquiring wetland reserve easements based on the value of the easement for protecting and enhancing habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife
- Specified that grazing under a reserve grazing rights wetland reserve easement or 30-year contract must comply with a wetlands reserve plan of operations developed by NRCS, to be reviewed and modified as necessary, at least every 5 years.
Financial rule changes to participation included removal of the requirement that an eligible entity provide evidence at the time of application that they have funds available to meet the minimum cash contribution requirement and removal of the requirement for the eligible entity to contribute its own cash resources in an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of the federal share.
Click here to learn more about the rule.