Assistance Listings

Conservation Stewardship Program

Objectives

Through CSP, NRCS provides financial and technical assistance to eligible producers to conserve and enhance soil, water, air, and related natural resources on their land. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest lands, agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe, and other private agricultural land (including cropped woodland, marshes, and agricultural land used for the production of livestock) on which resource concerns related to agricultural production could be addressed. Participation in the program is voluntary. CSP encourages land stewards to improve their conservation performance by installing and adopting additional activities, and improving, maintaining, and managing existing activities on agricultural land and nonindustrial private forest land. The NRCS will make CSP available nationwide on a continuous application basis.

Examples of Funded Projects

Assistance Listing Description

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

CSP payments to a person or legal entity may not exceed $200,000 for contracts entered into during FY 2019 through FY 2023. Each CSP contract is limited to $200,000 over the term of the initial contract period. The above limitations exclude funding arrangements with federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native corporations as described in 7 CFR part 1470+.

Accomplishments

Account Identification

12-1004-0-1-302

Types of Assistance

B - Cooperative Agreements, Z - Salaries and Expenses

Credentials and Documentation

The participant must have control of the land offered for the length of the contract period. NRCS requires all program payments be made by direct deposit unless the participant requests a waiver as described in 31 CFR Part 208.4, paragraph (a). 2 CFR 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles applies to this program.

Applicant Eligibility

The program provides equitable access to all producers, regardless of operation size, crops produced, or geographic location. Individual producers, legal entities, corporations, and Indian Tribes may be eligible for the program. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. Applicants must have documented control of the land for the term of the proposed contract; include the eligible land in their entire operation as represented for other USDA programs; and be in compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions of 7 CFR Part 12, and adjusted gross income provisions of 7 CFR part 1400. The applicant’s operation must also meet a stewardship threshold.

Beneficiary Eligibility

The program provides equitable access to all producers, regardless of operation size, crops produced, or geographic location. Individual producers, legal entities, corporations, and Indian Tribes may be eligible for the program. Eligible lands include cropland, grassland, prairie land, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. As stated in the Federal Register, 1470.6a, Applicants must be the operator of record in the USDA farm records management system for the eligible land being offered for enrollment; have documented control of the land for the term of the proposed contract; include the eligible land in their entire operation as represented for other USDA programs; and be in compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation provisions of 7 CFR Part 12, and adjusted gross income provisions of 7 CFR part 1400. The applicants operation must also meet a stewardship threshold.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

NRCS will make payments as soon as practicable after October 1 of each fiscal year for activities carried out in the previous fiscal year. CSP payments to a person or legal entity may not exceed $200,000 for contracts entered into FY 2019 through FY 2023. Each CSP contract will be limited to $200,000 over the term of the initial contract period. The above limitations exclude funding arrangements with federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native corporations. Annual payment. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: lump sum

Use of Assistance

CSP is available on Tribal and private agricultural lands, as well as nonindustrial private forest lands in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Caribbean and Pacific Islands Areas. The entire operation must be enrolled and must include all eligible land that will be under the applicant's control for the term of the proposed contract that is operated substantially separate from other operations. Land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (7 CFR part 1410), a Wetlands Reserve Easement through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, and the Conservation Security Program (CFR part 1469) are ineligible for CSP. Additionally, a participant may not receive payment for land used for crop production after February 7, 2014, that had not been planted, considered to be planted, or devoted to crop production for at least four of the six years preceding that date, unless the land was: previously enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program; maintained using long-term rotations, such as hayland in rotation; or incidental to the operation but needed for the efficient management of the operation. An example of land considered ‘‘incidental to the operation’’ that may be eligible for payment is land that had once been used for buildings and is now being used for crop production to square up a cropland field.

Deadlines

Preapplication Coordination

Preapplication coordination is required. An environmental impact assessment is required for this listing. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. A programmatic environmental assessment has been prepared in association with this rulemaking. The analysis has determined that there will not be a significant impact to the human environment and as a result an Environmental Impact Statement is not required to be prepared (40 CFR part 1508.13).

Application Procedures

2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program.

Criteria for Selecting Proposals

All applications which meet the sign-up criteria will be placed in an enrollment category until field verification against records is made, upon which applications will be funded in priority order until the available funds are exhausted.

Award Procedure

Once applicant and land eligibility are determined, the NRCS field office will assist the producer with completing the resource inventory to determine if the stewardship threshold requirement is met, rank applications, and establish payments. Applicants will be ranked relative to other applicants who face similar resource challenges in State-established ranking pools using ranking scores. Upon approval, the contract will obligate the participant to achieve a higher level of conservation performance by installing additional activities scheduled in their conservation stewardship plan and to maintain the level of existing conservation performance identified at the time of application.

Date Range for Approval/Disapproval

From 60 to 90 days.

Renewals

At the end of an initial conservation stewardship contract, NRCS will allow a participant to compete for a renewal contract to receive payments for an additional five year period, subject to the availability of funds. To be considered for contract renewal, the participant must be in compliance with the terms of their initial contract as determined by NRCS; add any newly acquired eligible land that is part of the agricultural operation and meets minimum treatment criteria as established and determined by NRCS; meet stewardship thresholds for additional priority resource concerns as determined by NRCS; and agree to adopt conservation activities as determined by NRCS.

Appeals

From 15 to 30 days. A participant may obtain administrative review in accordance with 7 CFR parts 11 and 614 for an adverse decision. Participants cannot appeal payment rates, payment limits, and cost-share percentages, eligible conservation practices, or other matters of general applicability. Before a participant can seek judicial review, the participant must exhaust all administrative appeal procedures.

Policy Requirements

Reports

Audits

Records

As stipulated in §1470.6 (a), the applicant must make available to NRCS upon request appropriate records documenting applied conservation activity and production system information. NRCS will request records when conducting field verification with pre-approved applicants.

Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature

Congress authorized the enrollment of an additional 10,000,000 acres for each fiscal year (FY) for the period beginning February 7, 2014, and ending on September 30, 2019.

Formula and Matching Requirements

Regional or Local Locations:

Headquarters Office: