Sponsors (2)
The bill narrows CRP eligibility to exclude lands already covered by local, State, or Tribal conservation mandates, improving clarity and directing federal payments to otherwise-unprotected land but reducing payments for some landowners and limiting USDA flexibility and potential cooperation with non‑federal programs.
Farmers and agricultural landowners whose land is NOT already subject to local, State, or Tribal conservation mandates can enroll in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and receive program payments and technical assistance.
Applicants and USDA administrators gain clearer eligibility rules for CRP that reduce administrative uncertainty about which lands are excluded because of non‑federal mandates.
Landowners whose property is already subject to local, State, or Tribal conservation requirements will be barred from receiving CRP payments, reducing potential income for those owners.
State, local, and Tribal conservation programs may be weakened because some landowners could lose federal CRP incentives to adopt or maintain voluntary conservation practices.
Removing the phrase 'as determined by the Secretary' reduces USDA discretion, which may limit the program's flexibility to account for local circumstances or coordinate with non‑federal conservation requirements.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Excludes land required by tribal, state, or local conservation laws from CRP eligibility, except land subject to administrative or court orders remains eligible.
Official title: Amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to clarify land eligible for enrollment in the conservation reserve program.
Introduced June 24, 2026 by Peter Welch · Last progress June 24, 2026
Amends federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) eligibility rules to make land ineligible for CRP if a tribal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation requires the implementation of resource‑conserving or environmental protection measures or practices. The change preserves eligibility for land that is subject only to an administrative order or a court order. The bill also removes a discretionary phrase limiting a prior eligibility exclusion and makes minor punctuation edits to the underlying statute. Overall, it narrows opportunities for land already subject to nonfederal conservation mandates to enroll in CRP, and it reduces the Secretary of Agriculture's discretion that previously appeared in the statutory text.