Permanent Wetlands Agricultural Reserve Act - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a wetland reservation program of at least 2,500,000 acres to be carried out through permanent easement agreements providing for compensation to wetlands owners for restoration, the fair market value, lost income, and the establishment of vegetation on the wetlands.
HR 4347 IH 101st CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 4347 To provide for the establishment of a wetland reserve program on agricultural land. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 21, 1990 Mr. RIDGE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To provide for the establishment of a wetland reserve program on agricultural land. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Permanent Wetlands Agricultural Reserve Act'. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds that-- (1) wetlands are a valuable national resource which have been diminishing at such a fast rate that less than 100,000,000 acres of wetlands exist in the United States out of the 215,000,000 such acres that existed when our Nation was formed; and (2) since 1950, it has been estimated that the majority of wetland losses have occurred due to conversion of such land to agricultural uses on private property, often with the support of Federal programs. (b) PURPOSES- The purposes of this Act are to-- (1) place in permanent conservation reserve not less than 2,500,000 acres of wetlands and converted wetlands, and lands adjacent thereto, on agricultural property prior to the 1995 crop year; (2) provide assistance to owners of such land to reestablish previously converted wetlands on agricultural property; and (3) promote long term environmentally sound management techniques for permanent wetland agricultural reserves. SEC. 3. WETLANDS AGRICULTURAL RESERVE PROGRAM. Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 and following) is amended by inserting after subtitle D the following: `Subtitle E--Wetland Reserve Program `SEC. 1240A. ESTABLISHMENT. `(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish a wetland reservation program. This program shall be carried out through permanent easement agreements granting to the Secretary a perpetual easement on eligible lands for the purpose of restoring converted wetlands to their original state or preserving existing wetlands. The agreements shall be designed to assist owners of eligible lands in restoring such lands to, or keeping such lands in, their natural state. `(b) ENROLLMENT- `(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall enter into permanent easement agreements with owners of eligible lands to place such lands in a permanent wetland reserve. The total amount of eligible lands that may be placed in the reserve shall be at least 2,500,000 acres. `(2) CONSERVATION RESERVE- Land entered into the program established by subsection (a) shall be included in determining the number of acres entered into the conservation reserve program established by subtitle D, except that the combined total number of acres enrolled in both such programs shall not exceed the total number of acres allowed to be placed in the conservation reserve program under section 1231(b). `SEC. 1240B. DUTIES OF OWNERS. `Under the terms of a permanent easement agreement entered into under section 1240A, an owner of eligible lands shall agree-- `(1) to implement a long-term management plan, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, approved by the local conservation district or, in an area not located with a conservation district, a plan approved by the Secretary-- `(A) for protecting wetlands, including adjacent lands, that could be used to produce an agricultural commodity; or `(B) for restoring converted wetlands, including adjacent areas, to their natural state; `(2) to place eligible lands subject to a permanent easement agreement into the wetlands reserve program established under section 1240A(a); and `(3) not to use such land for agricultural purposes except as permitted by the Secretary. `SEC. 1240C. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY. `(a) RELATING TO AGREEMENT FORMATION- In return for a permanent easement agreement entered into by an owner under section 1240B, the Secretary shall-- `(1) pay compensation to the owner in an amount not to exceed-- `(A) 100 percent of the cost of restoring converted wetlands, and lands adjacent to those lands, to their original state as wetlands; `(B) 100 percent of the fair market value of eligible lands, as determined by the Secretary, placed in the wetlands reserve program; `(C) 100 percent of the amount equal to the amount of income that would have been generated by the lands placed in the wetlands reserve program had they continued to be used for agricultural purposes; and `(D) 50 percent of the cost of establishing vegetation in eligible lands placed in the wetlands reserve program that would be useful in implementing the long-term management plan referred to in paragraph (1) of section 1204B; and `(2) provide restoration technical assistance to the owner in carrying out the owner's obligations under the permanent easement agreement. `(b) PAYMENTS MADE TO OWNERS- The Secretary shall make payments under subsection (a)(1) to owners in cash-- `(1) in one lump sum at the time of the execution of the permanent easement agreement; or `(2) in equal annual payments over a 10 year period following the execution of the permanent easement agreement. `SEC. 1240D. ACCEPTABILITY OF OFFERS. `In determining the acceptability of permanent easement agreement offers, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, may-- `(1) take into consideration priorities established by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as set forth in the National Wetlands Priority Conservation Plan; `(2) take into consideration the desirability of restoring the converted wetland and adjacent areas covered by the permanent easement agreement offer and the extent to which such restoration will result in the loss of the use of such land for production of agricultural commodities; `(3) establish different criteria in various States and regions of the United States to determine the extent to which converted wetlands should be restored; and `(4) give due consideration to offers made by owners who are subject to economic stress, such as a general tightening for agricultural credit or an unfavorable relationship between production costs and prices received for agricultural commodities. `SEC. 1240E. USE OF LANDS IN WETLANDS RESERVE PROGRAM. `The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall issue regulations relating to allowable uses of lands placed in the wetlands reserve program. `SEC. 1240F. DELEGATION OF LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT. `The Secretary may delegate the long-term management and administration of specific easements established under this subtitle to departments or agencies without the Department of Agriculture, or to State natural resources agencies, to the extent such entities agree to such delegation. `SEC. 1240G. DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE LAND. `As used in this subtitle, the term `eligible land' means converted wetland and wetland, as those terms are defined in paragraphs (4) and (16), respectively, of section 1201(a) and land that is adjacent to those lands.'. SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 and following) is amended-- (1) in section 1201(a), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking out `through E' and inserting in lieu thereof `through F'; (2) in the headings of subtitles E and F by striking out `E' and `F' and inserting in lieu thereof `F' and `G', respectively; (3) in section 1241 (16 U.S.C. 3841)-- (A) by striking out `subtitle D' in subsection (a) each place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof `subtitles D and E'; and (B) by striking out`(A) through (E)' in subsection (b) and inserting in lieu thereof `A through F'; (4) in section 1242 (16 U.S.C. 3842)-- (A) by striking out `and D' in subsection (a) and inserting in lieu thereof `D, and E'; and (B) by striking out `subtitle D' in subsection (b) each place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof `subtitles D and E'; (5) in section 1243 (16 U.S.C. 3843)-- (A) by striking out `through E' in subsection (a) and inserting in lieu thereof `through F'; and (B) by striking out-- (i) `through E' in subsection (c) and inserting in lieu thereof `through F'; and (ii) `subtitle D' in subsection (c) and inserting in lieu thereof `subtitles D and E'; and (6) in section 1244 (16 U.S.C. 3844), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking out `through E' and inserting in lieu thereof `through F'.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation Credit and Rural Development.
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