{ "id": "R46011", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R46011", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 614115, "date": "2020-01-21", "retrieved": "2020-01-22T13:54:08.823623", "title": "FY2020 Appropriations for Agricultural Conservation", "summary": "The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. The FY2020 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 116-94, Division B) includes funding for conservation programs and activities at USDA, among other departments. \nAgricultural conservation programs include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Most conservation program funding is mandatory and is authorized in omnibus farm bills. Other conservation programs\u2014mostly technical assistance\u2014are discretionary spending funded through annual appropriations. The FY2020 appropriation includes an increase from FY2019 levels for discretionary conservation programs and generally rejects the Administration\u2019s proposed reductions to discretionary and mandatory conservation programs.\nThe largest discretionary conservation program is the Conservation Operations (CO) account, which funds conservation planning and implementation assistance on private agricultural lands across the country. The CO account is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and funds more than half of the agency\u2019s total staff positions. The FY2020 enacted appropriation increases funding for CO by $10.1 million above FY2019 levels to $829.6 million. \nA decline in funding for CO over time has resulted in declining NRCS staffing levels. Much of the conservation technical assistance provided by NRCS is funded through the Conservation Technical Assistance program within CO. Funds are used to support salaries and expenses for NRCS staff, technology development, conservation system design, compliance reviews, grants to partners for additional technical assistance capacity, and resource assessment reports. Reduced staff could impact NRCS\u2019s ability to provide technical assistance and administer farm bill conservation programs to farmers and ranchers. \nThe recently created Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center receives $206.5 million in the FY2020 appropriation\u2014$9.8 million less than in FY2019. The FPAC Business Center is responsible for various administrative services for three USDA agencies, including NRCS. In FY2019, Congress realigned funding from NRCS discretionary and mandatory program accounts and NRCS staff to the Business Center. It is unclear how the transfer of NRCS positions and funding to the FPAC Business Center has impacted the agency\u2019s overall operations relative to the decline in CO funding. The FY2020 explanatory statement directs USDA to report to Congress on the efficiencies gained through the Business Center\u2019s creation, along with other staffing plans.\nOther discretionary spending is primarily for watershed programs. The largest\u2014Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO)\u2014is funded at $175 million in FY2020. This is an increase in WFPO funding from FY2019 levels of $150 million. The FY2020 appropriation also funds other discretionary water-related programs, such as the Watershed Rehabilitation Program ($10 million), Water Bank program ($4 million), and wetland mitigation banking ($5 million).\nMost mandatory conservation programs are authorized in omnibus farm bills and do not require an annual appropriation. However, previous Congresses have reduced mandatory conservation program funding through Changes in Mandatory Program Spending (CHIMPS) in the annual agricultural appropriations law every year between FY2003 and FY2018. The Trump Administration requested CHIMPS to two mandatory conservation programs for FY2020, but neither of these proposed reductions to mandatory conservation programs is included in the enacted FY2020 appropriation.\nAgriculture appropriations bills may also include policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out the appropriations. In the FY2020 appropriations act, these range from waiving specific programmatic requirements to requiring reports to Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R46011", "sha1": "912c39a42272a4d74d26d3bdd6835d7edf1a4fa1", "filename": "files/20200121_R46011_912c39a42272a4d74d26d3bdd6835d7edf1a4fa1.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46011_files&id=/2.png": "files/20200121_R46011_images_62fd686c7ea14a4de8e335b3dc231e8638ec88a0.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46011_files&id=/1.png": "files/20200121_R46011_images_7403b829070867f0fbf2910f801a4d37abb76c5e.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46011_files&id=/0.png": "files/20200121_R46011_images_717a36abfd0e5c559ec35e4624432c005171e235.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R46011", "sha1": "f176c385870d0d71142ae0e248125f30f7982415", "filename": "files/20200121_R46011_f176c385870d0d71142ae0e248125f30f7982415.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4770, "name": "Conservation & Natural Resources" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4830, "name": "Agriculture Budget & Appropriations" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4920, "name": "Agriculture Appropriations" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 608061, "date": "2019-11-15", "retrieved": "2019-12-13T15:23:01.101625", "title": "FY2020 Appropriations for Agricultural Conservation", "summary": "The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. The FY2020 consolidated appropriations bills passed by the House and Senate (H.R. 3055) include funding for conservation programs and activities at USDA, among other departments. Differences between the two versions remain to be resolved. In the absence of enacted full-year appropriations, Congress passed a continuing resolution (P.L. 116-59, Division A) through November 21, 2019.\nAgricultural conservation programs include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Most conservation program funding is mandatory and is authorized in omnibus farm bills. Other conservation programs\u2014mostly technical assistance\u2014are discretionary spending funded through annual appropriations.\nThe largest discretionary conservation program is the Conservation Operations (CO) account, which funds conservation planning and implementation assistance on private agricultural lands across the country. The CO account is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and funds more than half of the agency\u2019s total staff positions. The FY2020 House- and Senate-passed bills would increase funding for CO by $10.1 million and $15.7 million, respectively, above FY2019 levels to $829.6 million and $835.2 million, respectively. \nA decline in funding for CO over time has resulted in declining NRCS staffing levels. Reduced staff could impact NRCS\u2019s ability to administer farm bill conservation programs and provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers. Other shifts in staffing to the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center have also impacted total staffing levels, though it is difficult to evaluate how these transfers have impacted the agency\u2019s overall operations relative to the decline in overall funding.\nOther discretionary spending is primarily for watershed programs. The largest\u2014Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO)\u2014was funded at $150 million in FY2019. The House- and Senate-passed bills would increase WFPO funding to $155 million and $175 million, respectively.\nMost mandatory conservation programs are authorized in omnibus farm bills and do not require an annual appropriation. However, previous Congresses have reduced mandatory conservation program funding through Changes in Mandatory Program Spending (CHIMPS) in the annual agricultural appropriations law every year between FY2003 and FY2018. The Trump administration requested CHIMPS to two mandatory conservation programs for FY2020, but neither the House- nor the Senate-passed appropriations bills include reductions to mandatory conservation programs.\nAgriculture appropriations bills may also include policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out the appropriations. The FY2020 House- and Senate-passed bills both include policy provisions for conservation programs that range from reports to Congress to suggested natural resource priorities.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R46011", "sha1": "6be9883ec3d5e84ff2677c16d0902e205ae35d37", "filename": "files/20191115_R46011_6be9883ec3d5e84ff2677c16d0902e205ae35d37.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46011_files&id=/2.png": "files/20191115_R46011_images_62fd686c7ea14a4de8e335b3dc231e8638ec88a0.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46011_files&id=/1.png": "files/20191115_R46011_images_95b78e96c3d8fa911fa3855af97cae4e2e3c2581.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46011_files&id=/0.png": "files/20191115_R46011_images_97a452ddc2821f78ad1db58b7d94cf72fd415d23.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R46011", "sha1": "0f24bbb110f8203fded472b4a4aa27136329e07c", "filename": "files/20191115_R46011_0f24bbb110f8203fded472b4a4aa27136329e07c.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4770, "name": "Conservation & Natural Resources" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4830, "name": "Agriculture Budget & Appropriations" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4920, "name": "Agriculture Appropriations" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Agricultural Policy", "Appropriations", "Energy Policy" ] }