The subchapter V - Resource Conservation and Development Program of this Chapter 54 - Resource Conservation of the United States Code provides for the Resource Conservation and Development Program. The subchapter provides that the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a resource conservation and development program under which the Secretary shall provide technical assistance and financial assistance to councils to develop and carry out area plans and projects in designated areas (1) to conserve and improve the use of land, develop natural resources, and improve and enhance the social, economic, and environmental conditions in primarily rural areas of the United States; and (2) to encourage and improve the capability of State, units of government, Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, and councils to carry out the purposes described in paragraph (1). The term area plan means a resource conservation and use plan developed through a locally led planning process by a council for a designated area of 1 or more States, or of land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe, that includes 1 or more of the following elements: (A) A land conservation element, the purpose of which is to control erosion and sedimentation. (B) A water management element that provides 1 or more clear environmental or conservation benefits, the purpose of which is to provide for - (i) the conservation, use, and quality of water, including irrigation and rural water supplies; (ii) the mitigation of floods and high water tables; (iii) the repair and improvement of reservoirs; (iv) the improvement of agricultural water management; and (v) the improvement of water quality; (C) A community development element, the purpose of which is to improve - (i) the development of resources-based industries; (ii) the protection of rural industries from natural resource hazards; (iii) the development of adequate rural water and waste disposal systems; (iv) the improvement of recreation facilities; (v) the improvement in the quality of rural housing; (vi) the provision of adequate health and education facilities; (vii) the satisfaction of essential transportation and communication needs; and (viii) the promotion of food security, economic development, and education; (D) A land management element, the purpose of which is - (i) energy conservation, including the production of energy crops; (ii) the protection of agricultural land, as appropriate, from conversion to other uses; (iii) farmland protection; and (iv) the protection of fish and wildlife habitats. The chapter also provides that the Secretary of Agriculture may enter into contracts to provide financial assistance in the form of payments to owners and operators of cropland located in counties where the soil normally freezes to a depth of at least four inches annually who remove such land from agricultural production for a period not to exceed one year for the purpose of installing enduring conservation measures which involve excavation of the soil. The payments under such contracts shall be in such amounts as determined by the Secretary to be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this subchapter but shall not exceed an amount equal to the number of acres of cropland removed from agricultural production for such purpose multiplied by 50 per centum of the typical annual rent, as determined by the Secretary, paid for similar land in the county. Financial assistance may not be provided under this section with respect to any conservation measure without the approval of the soil and water conservation district board for the district in which the land is located, and may not, in the aggregate, be provided in any year with respect to more than one-half of 1 per centum of the cropland in any county. The Secretary of Agriculture is urged and requested to (1) direct the attention of our Nation's farmers to the costs and benefits of conservation tillage as a means of controlling soil erosion and improving profitability; and (2) conduct a program of research designed to resolve any unanswered questions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of conservation tillage over other soil conservation practices.
美国 · 1981-12-22