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S 2624 115th Congress Senate Agriculture and Food Agricultural conservation and pollution Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Land use and conservation Public contracts and procurement Water quality Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

EQIP Improvement Act of 2018

Introduced: March 22, 2018 Introduced by: Booker, Cory A. Democratic · New Jersey See on congress.gov
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Mar 22, 2018
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Mar 22, 2018
Introduced in Senate
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

EQIP Improvement Act of 2018

This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). (EQIP provides financial and technical assistance for agricultural producers and land owners to implement certain conservation practices.)

The bill modifies EQIP to:

  • reduce the maximum federal cost-share from 75% to 40% for specified practices,
  • repeal the requirement for at least 60% of the funds made available for EQIP payments to be targeted at practices relating to livestock production, and
  • reduce the five-year EQIP payment cap from $450,000 to $150,000.

The bill also requires USDA to: (1) coordinate the program with the conservation effects assessments carried out by USDA, and (2) revise the guidance issued to states for allocating funds to require data regarding environmental concerns to be used as a primary factor to prioritize projects.

USDA must prioritize EQIP applications that consist only of the performance of certain land management or vegetative practices that are a cost-effective means of addressing the most pressing impairments that threaten to degrade or impair water quality, water quantity, soil or related natural resources within a local watershed, or a specific natural resource boundary.

What's happening now March 22, 2018

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1