Sponsor
John Hoeven
Senator · R-ND
Senator · R-ND
The bill creates predictable, targeted grants that enable multi-year, on-the-ground conservation projects and empower tribal participation, but the relatively small total appropriation, matching requirements, and reduced federal conditioning/oversight risk leaving under-resourced states, tribes, and smaller projects without sufficient support or consistent coordination.
Farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners can receive multi-year conservation grants (up to $10 million per recipient annually) to implement soil-health and wildlife-habitat practices and obtain technical assistance.
State governments, tribes, and producers gain predictable program funding ($50 million per year, FY2027–2031) and the ability to award 5-year grants, enabling longer-term planning and project continuity.
Eligible Indian Tribes have access to dedicated grant funding and can opt into State applications, supporting tribal-led conservation programs and local jurisdictional control.
State governments — particularly low-capacity or low-income States — generally must provide dollar-for-dollar matching funds, which can limit participation and reduce the effective federal support available.
The $50 million annual appropriation must be spread across all States and Tribes, which may be insufficient to meet demand and could leave many projects unfunded or funded at inadequate levels.
Annual audit requirements and USDA disqualification authority create compliance burdens and increase the risk that smaller State or tribal programs with limited administrative capacity will lose funding.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a CCC-funded competitive grant program ($50M/yr FY2027–FY2031) for State and Tribal soil health and wildlife habitat programs with matching and administrative limits.
Official title: Amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish State assistance for soil health and wildlife habitat, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 22, 2026 by John Hoeven · Last progress June 22, 2026
Creates a five-year competitive grant program using Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds to help States and Indian Tribes develop and run soil health and wildlife habitat programs on agricultural land. The program provides $50 million per year for FY2027–FY2031, limits awards to $10 million per recipient per year, generally requires dollar-for-dollar state/tribal matches, and places caps on administrative spending and grantee administrative use.