§ 3838f. Stewardship contracts
(a)
Submission of contract offers
To be eligible to participate in the conservation stewardship program, a producer shall submit to the Secretary for approval a contract offer that—
(1)
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the producer, at the time of the contract offer, is meeting the stewardship threshold for at least one resource concern; and
(b)
Evaluation of contract offers
(1)
Ranking of applications
In evaluating contract offers made by producers to enter into contracts under the program, the Secretary shall rank applications based on—
(A)
the level of conservation treatment on all applicable priority resource concerns at the time of application, based to the maximum extent practicable on conservation measurement tools;
(B)
the degree to which the proposed conservation treatment on applicable priority resource concerns effectively increases conservation performance, based to the maximum extent possible on conservation measurement tools;
(C)
the number of applicable priority resource concerns proposed to be treated to meet or exceed the stewardship threshold by the end of the contract;
(c)
Entering into contracts
After a determination that a producer is eligible for the program under subsection (a), and a determination that the contract offer ranks sufficiently high under the evaluation criteria under subsection (b), the Secretary shall enter into a conservation stewardship contract with the producer to enroll the land to be covered by the contract.
(d)
Contract provisions
(2)
Provisions
The conservation stewardship contract of a producer shall—
(A)
state the amount of the payment the Secretary agrees to make to the producer for each year of the conservation stewardship contract under section
3838g
(e) of this title;
(B)
require the producer—
(i)
to implement during the term of the conservation stewardship contract the conservation stewardship plan approved by the Secretary;
(e)
Contract renewal
At the end of an initial conservation stewardship contract of a producer, the Secretary may allow the producer to renew the contract for one additional five-year period if the producer—
(f)
Modification
The Secretary may allow a producer to modify a stewardship contract if the Secretary determines that the modification is consistent with achieving the purposes of the program.
(g)
Contract termination
(1)
Voluntary termination
A producer may terminate a conservation stewardship contract if the Secretary determines that termination would not defeat the purposes of the program.
(2)
Involuntary termination
The Secretary may terminate a contract under this subpart if the Secretary determines that the producer violated the contract.
(3)
Repayment
If a contract is terminated, the Secretary may, consistent with the purposes of the program—
(4)
Change of interest in land subject to a contract
(A)
In general
Except as provided in paragraph (B), a change in the interest of a producer in land covered by a contract under this part shall result in the termination of the contract with regard to that land.
(B)
Transfer of duties and rights
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if—
(i)
within a reasonable period of time (as determined by the Secretary) after the date of the change in the interest in land covered by a contract under the program, the transferee of the land provides written notice to the Secretary that all duties and rights under the contract have been transferred to, and assumed by, the transferee; and
(i)
On-farm research and demonstration or pilot testing
The Secretary may approve a contract offer under this subpart that includes—