Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program Statutory Authority
SEC. 2503. FARMLAND PROTECTION PROGRAM
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of
the Food Security Act of 1985 (as amended by section 2001) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
Subchapter B—Farmland Protection Program
SEC. 1238H. DEFINITIONS.
In this subchapter:
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term 'eligible entity' means—
(A) any agency of any
State or local government or an Indian tribe (including a farmland protection
board or land resource council established under State law); or
(B) any organization that—
(i) is organized for, and
at all times since the formation of the organization has been operated
principally for, 1 or more of the conservation purposes specified in clause (i),
(ii), (iii), or (iv) of section 170(h)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986;
(ii) is an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of that Code that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code;
(iii) is described in section 509(a)(2) of that Code; or
(iv) is described in section 509(a)(3), and is controlled by an organization described in section 509(a)(2), of that Code.
(2) ELIGIBLE LAND.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term
'eligible land' means land on a farm or ranch that—
(i)(I) has prime, unique, or other productive soil; or
(II) contains historical or archaeological resources; and
(ii) is subject to a pending offer for purchase from an eligible entity.
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term 'eligible land' includes, on a farm or ranch—
(i) cropland;
(ii) rangeland;
(iii) grassland;
(iv) pasture land; and
(v) forest land that is an incidental part of an agricultural operation, as determined by the Secretary.
(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term
'Indian tribe' has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
(4) PROGRAM.—The term
'program' means the farmland protection program established under section 1238I(a).
SEC. 1238I. FARMLAND PROTECTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The
Secretary, acting through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall
establish and carry out a farmland protection program under which the Secretary
shall purchase conservation easements or other interests in eligible land that
is subject to a pending offer from an eligible entity for the purpose of
protecting topsoil by limiting nonagricultural uses of the land.
(b) CONSERVATION PLAN.—Any
highly erodible cropland for which a conservation easement or other interest is
purchased under this subchapter shall be subject to the requirements of a
conservation plan that requires, at the option of the Secretary, the conversion
of the cropland to less intensive uses.
(c) COST SHARING.—
(1) FARMLAND PROTECTION.—
(A) SHARE PROVIDED UNDER
THIS SUBSECTION.—The share of the cost of purchasing a conservation easement or
other interest in eligible land described in subsection (a) provided under
section 1241(d) shall not exceed 50 percent of the appraised fair market value
of the conservation easement or other interest in eligible land.
(B) SHARE NOT PROVIDED
UNDER THIS SUBSECTION.— As part of the share of the cost of purchasing a
conservation easement or other interest in eligible land described in subsection
(a) that is not provided under section 1241(d), an eligible entity may include a
charitable donation by the private landowner from which the eligible land is to
be purchased of not more than 25 percent of the fair market value of the
conservation easement or other interest in eligible land.
(2) BIDDING DOWN.—If the
Secretary determines that 2 or more applications for the purchase of a
conservation easement or other interest in eligible land described in subsection
(a) are comparable in achieving the purposes of this section, the Secretary
shall not assign a higher priority to any 1 of those applications solely on the
basis of lesser cost to the farmland protection program established under
subsection (a).
SEC. 1238J. FARM VIABILITY PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The
Secretary may provide to eligible entities identified by the Secretary grants
for use in carrying out farm viability programs developed by the eligible
entities and approved by the Secretary.
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to
carry out this section such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2002
through 2007..
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—
(A) Section 388 of the
Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 3830 note; Public Law 104–127) is repealed.
(B) Section 211 of the
Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 3830 note; Public Law 106–224) is amended—
(i) by striking subsection (a); and
(ii) in subsection (b)—
(I) by striking the
subsection designation and the subsection heading;
(II) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as subsections (a), (b), and (c), respectively, and
indenting appropriately;
(III) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated), by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as paragraphs
(1), (2), and (3), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
(IV) in subsection (b) (as so redesignated), by striking ASSISTANCE and inserting ASSISTANCE; and
(V) by striking subsection each place it appears and inserting section".
(2) EFFECT ON CONTRACTS.—The
amendment made by paragraph (1)(A) shall have no effect on any contract entered
into under section 388 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of
1996 (16 U.S.C. 3830 note) that is in effect as of the date of enactment of this
Act.
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