June 26, 2007
index to previous eNotes
- NACD Executive Board Talks Business
- FY 2008 Appropriations Update
- USDA Announces CRP Re-enrollment Opportunities
- NACD, U.S. Forest Service Look toward future of State and Private Forestry
- Supreme Court Decision Gives Clean Water Act Primacy
- Draft Forest Service Open Space Conservation Strategy Available for Public Comment
- House and Senate Hold Hearings on Wildfires Management
- Ocean Exploration Legislation on the Move
- Local Governments to Receive $232 Million through PILT Program
- Resources Available on Sustainable Reuse of Brownfields
NOTE: The hotel deadline for NACD’s Legislative Conference is Friday, June 29.
1.NACD Executive Board Talks Business
The NACD Executive Board met last week in Indianapolis to work on the 2008 budget, review proposed bylaw changes and discuss staffing issues, major policy initiatives and other matters impacting NACD and conservation districts. They also met with officials with FFA and Willow Marketing regarding NACD’s stewardship and education programs and the future of NACD’s Online Store.
In addition to the business meeting, the group met with the officers and partnership leaders of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the Conservation Technology Information Center Board of Directors.
2. FY 2008 Appropriations Update
Appropriators in both the House and Senate continue work on fiscal year 2008 spending bills.
Last week, Senate appropriators cleared Interior and Environment legislation from committee, recommending spending for the Environmental Protection Agency’s 319 Nonpoint Source Grants at $204 million, and the U.S. Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry at $273 million, $7 million under the House-suggested level. House action was delayed last week by negations on earmarks; however an agreement appears to have been reached.
This week, the full House debates Interior and Environment spending on the floor, while the Senate committee takes up work on Commerce, Justice and Science, and Energy and Water legislation. Both chambers of Congress have yet to take up Agriculture appropriations.
3. USDA Announces CRP Re-enrollment Opportunities
More than 14,000 agricultural producers and landowners may be eligible to re-enroll their land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) continuous sign-up if their contracts expire on Sept. 30, 2007. More than 300,000 acres are eligible to leave the program, and 71,800 of those acres are found in major corn producing states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska and Ohio). Re-enrollment of these acres is important in conservation as it protects some of the nation’s most environmentally sensitive land.
Farmers and ranchers with general sign-up CRP contracts that expire Sept. 30, 2007, and that did not take advantage of the last year's re-enrollment or extension offer also may be eligible for the continuous sign-up. In addition, producers with land eligible for the continuous sign-up may, in some cases, be eligible for the special incentives of CRP's Farmable Wetlands Program. Continuous sign-up contracts are for 10 to 15 years. For more information about CRP, visit your local USDA Service Center or go to www.fsa.usda.gov.
4. NACD, U.S. Forest Service Look toward future of State and Private Forestry
NACD staff participated in meetings with the U.S. Forest Service last week, as Director of Cooperative Forestry Larry Payne outlined the agency’s plan on redesigning State and Private Forestry.
NACD CEO Krysta Harden met with Payne regarding the agency’s organization plan, the 2009 budget process and the future role of NACD’s forestry committee. NACD Committee Advisor Doug Williams and Grassroots Coordinator Jeremy Peters also attended a partnership briefing with Payne as he outlined the redesign approach. Payne highlighted the purpose of the redesign approach, which seeks to shape forest land use to optimize public benefits from trees and forests. The approach centers on three national themes: conserving working forested landscapes, protecting forests from harm and enhancing benefits from trees and forests.
5. Supreme Court Decision Gives Clean Water Act Primacy
The Supreme Court recently ruled 5-4 in National Association of Homebuilders v. Defenders of Wildlife that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acted appropriately in providing the state of Arizona water permitting authority. The case centered on concerns that the state did not take into consideration endangered species when providing clean water permits. The decision by the Supreme Court clarifies that according to the Clean Water Act (CWA), EPA delegates authority to states dependent upon nine criteria, which do not include threatened and endangered species concerns. Therefore the Endangered Species Act does not “trump” the CWA, and permitting should continue under the parameters of the CWA.
6. Draft Forest Service Open Space Conservation Strategy Available for Public Comment
The USDA Forest Service is building a national strategy to identify how the agency can best help conserve open space, with an emphasis on partnerships and collaborative approaches. The agency is interested in addressing the effects of the loss of open space on private forests; on National Forests and Grasslands and the surrounding landscape; and on forests in cities, suburbs, and towns.
The Draft Forest Service Open Space Conservation Strategy is now available for public review and comment. A Federal Register Notice inviting public comment was published last Friday and comments will be accepted until July 23.
NACD submitted comments to the Forest Service during the initial comment phase for strategy development. Click here to view NACD’s comments .
For more information and to submit comments see http://www.fs.fed.us/openspace.
7. House and Senate Hold Hearings on Wildfires Management
The House and Senate both recently held hearings on wildfire preparedness, suppression and cost containment strategies. Mark Rey, USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment, served as a witness before the subcommittees. According to Rey, the Forest Service is estimated to save $130-150 million this year due to cost containment measures.
Committee members questioned whether enough fuel treatment and other preventative measures against wildfires were being implemented. Out of 180 million acres at risk for fires, 80 million acres are classified as high priority and should be treated. Only 3-5 million acres are currently being treated. Although increases have occurred in the acreage receiving fuel treatments recently, budget and labor constraints have left many forests overstocked and diseased leaving them highly vulnerable to wildfires. Congress and the Federal agencies will continue to look at comprehensive strategies on cost containment of wildfires.
8. Ocean Exploration Legislation on the Move
The House Fisheries, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee approved two bills last week that would expand federal efforts to explore and map U.S. waters. A bill introduced by Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) would formally establish a coordinated national ocean exploration program at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a separate undersea research program that would include a network of extramural regional research centers and a national technology institute. Another bill introduced by subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) would authorize $296 million between 2008 and 2015 to map U.S. oceans and coastal waters, including the exclusive economic zone, the outer continental shelf and the Great Lakes. It would also direct NOAA to create a national registry of federally funded ocean and coastal mapping data and work to integrate onshore and offshore maps.
On Wednesday, June 27, the House Natural Resources Committee will vote on these two bills as well as H.R. 1205, legislation that would reauthorize the Coral Reef Conservation Act. Introduced by Bordallo and Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), the bill would codify a coral reef task force, expand the coral reef conservation program, and require agencies to report every three years on conservation and protection activities.
The Senate Commerce Committee meets Wednesday to mark up a bill that would authorize $600 million over the next four years for the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), a multi-agency program to collect environmental data in U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes. Several federal agencies are already working to implement IOOS, which is designed to feed U.S. oceans data into the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, an international project begun in 2005 to continuously monitor the global environment and improve environmental forecasts.
9. Local Governments to Receive $232 Million through PILT Program
County governments with tax-exempt federal land in their jurisdiction will receive more than $232 million this year in compensation for forgone tax revenue through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. Appropriated funds will be distributed to about 1,850 local governments to help them provide government services related to public safety, housing, social services, transportation and the environment.
Congress’ 2007 appropriation has maintained the level of PILT funding achieved last year, the highest funding level in history, according to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Local governments were scheduled to receive PILT funds last week to help counties plan their annual budgets.
To view the U.S. Department of Interior official news release, go to http://www.doi.gov/news/07_News_Releases/070615.html.
10. Resources Available on Sustainable Reuse of Brownfields
A handy brochure on resources for brownfields is available from the EPA's Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment. The two-page publication, Sustainable Reuse of Brownfields, includes resources for both Federal and National Brownfields programs as well as summaries of several former brownfields that have been successfully transformed into community assets. It can be downloaded at www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/policy/BF_Sustain_Trifold.pdf.
Brownfields revitalization returns abandoned or underutilized properties to productive use, cleans up the environment, creates jobs and strengthens the social fabric of communities. This brochure is a handy tool for conservation districts and communities interested in redeveloping brownfield properties in environmentally sound, economically competitive and socially responsible ways.