Farm Programs: Conservation Compliance Provisions Could Be Made More Effective

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) administration of the conservation compliance, sodbuster, and swampbuster provisions of Title XII of the Food Security Act.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter	Status	Comments
If Congress wishes to increase the amount of erodible land and wetlands protected and the amount of soil erosion and wetlands saved by the act's conservation provisions, it could consider revising the provisions to require the Secretary of Agriculture to use a lower erosion potential or other factors to define land covered by the conservation compliance and sodbuster provisions.	Closed – Not Implemented	Congress did not enact this provision when reauthorizing these provisions as part of the 1990 farm bill.
If Congress wishes to increase the amount of erodible land and wetlands protected and the amount of soil erosion and wetlands saved by the act's conservation provisions, it could consider revising the provisions to withhold benefits when highly erodible lands or wetlands are converted for planting, and require the restoration of such converted wetlands or mitigation of damages to converted wetlands before farm program eligibility can be regained.	Closed – Implemented	Congress changed this provision in the 1990 farm bill.
If Congress wishes to increase the protection of erodible lands, it may want to consider requiring that conservation systems applied to sodbusted land, whether or not they are converted from native vegetation, limit erosion to no more than the soil loss tolerance level. Land used for planting a nonagricultural crop during 1981-1985 in a long-term rotation approved by SCS should be excluded.	Closed – Not Implemented	Congress did not include this provision when reauthorizing the program in the 1990 farm bill.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Agriculture	The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, SCS, to prioritize its limited cost-share funds so that USDA resources are allocated in a manner that achieves the greatest conservation benefit.	Closed – Implemented USDA stated that it is already attempting to prioritize funds.
Department of Agriculture	The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Administrator, SCS, to build on ongoing efforts and report accomplishments (soil erosion savings) achieved by implementing the conservation compliance and sodbuster provisions.	Closed – Implemented USDA revised its policies relating to reporting and tracking soil savings as of January 1, 1991.
Department of Agriculture	To prevent any further loss of wetlands and to improve program implementation of the swampbuster provisions, the Secretary of Agriculture should monitor the application of the wetlands commenced conversion criteria so the decisions made are consistent.	Closed – Implemented USDA took action to review its decisions for consistency.
Department of Agriculture	To improve ASCS enforcement of the conservation provisions, the Secretary of Agriculture should require ASCS to develop controls to verify the compliance of all USDA farm program participants who fail to certify their compliance annually with ASCS.	Closed – Implemented USDA took action to ensure that all program participants are making the required certification.
Department of Agriculture	To improve ASCS enforcement of the conservation provisions, the Secretary of Agriculture should require ASCS to develop a procedure to ensure that all USDA farm program participants, including those participating in Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) or Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) programs, are included in the ASCS universe for sampling participants' compliance.	Closed – Implemented USDA expanded spot-checking to include FmHA and FCIC participants.
Department of Agriculture	To prevent any further loss of wetlands and to improve implementation of the swampbuster provisions, the Secretary of Agriculture should enforce the requirements for the FWS consultations on commenced decisions in order to utilize its expertise in the area.	Closed – Implemented USDA sent all cases to FWS for concurrence.

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Topics

Agriculture and Food

Agricultural productsAgricultural programsEligibility criteriaLand managementLand use agreementsLand use lawSoil conservationWater resources conservationConservation complianceWetlands