Marisa Koontz is a law student at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She is a guest contributor to this blog.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, is a budget reconciliation package that provides approximately $770 billion in new spending to reduce the federal government budget deficit and promote clean energy and climate change programs. The IRA directs $19.5 billion of these funds towards existing USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) agricultural conservation programs over five years, expendable until 2031. This includes $8.45 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), $3.25 billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), $4.95 billion for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and $1.4 billion for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). These NRCS programs receive mandatory funding from the conservation title (Title II) of the Farm Bill, with a baseline amount set in the Farm Bill every five years. The IRA funding for conservation programs was written by Democratic legislators to supplement the Farm Bill NRCS program funding, not replace it.
These NRCS programs provide funding to assist farmers in implementing conservation practices to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. For example, in 2018, agriculture and forestry operations produced 10.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States (U.S.), contributing to environmental degradation and negative health externalities. Agricultural practices also contribute to excess water use; 80% of consumptive water use in the U.S. is contributed to agriculture. The NRCS conservation programs support mitigation practices for the negative effects of agriculture and are an important tool for promoting the sustainability of agriculture.
FBLE’s Climate and Conservation Report recommends that the 2023 Farm Bill increase mandatory funding for working lands programs as a way to keep essential agricultural land in production while advancing conservation and climate-conscious agriculture practices. The Report argues that increased funding for CSP specifically can provide significant benefits to agriculture as it “addresses multiple resource concerns on farms at once, requires participants to address priority concerns, and requires continually advancing efforts to stay in the program.”
The IRA conservation funds present a unique opportunity for additional funding, the implementation of targeted and effective agricultural conservation practices, and increased technical assistance for program administration. Each year the NRCS receives approximately 100,000 applications for its conservation programs but can only fund around 25% of the demand. In addition to the Farm Bill conservation funds, IRA funding would increase the number of applicants who receive subsidies, thus promoting the expansion of diverse farming operations and increasing the net climate impacts of NRCS programs. The increased funding could also result in higher baseline mandatory funding for the conservation title in future Farm Bill cycles to meet the ever-increasing demand for these subsidies.
The NRCS began taking applications from farmers wanting to receive IRA funding in February and began disbursing funds in March. However, the future of IRA conservation funding is up in the air. During Farm Bill 2023 negotiations, Republican legislators have discussed repurposing the IRA conservation funding for other provisions in the Farm Bill, thus diminishing the potential impact these programs can have on promoting climate-friendly agriculture. To maximize the climate change mitigation impacts of NRCS programs, the IRA conservation funding should remain separate from Farm Bill negotiations and act as a supplement to the mandatory funding for conservation programs in Title II of the Farm Bill.
In previous Farm Bill cycles, EQIP and CSP funds were frequently administered to subsidize concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), crowding out other applicants and ultimately contributing to the expansion of environmentally harmful CAFOs. The IRA was written to fund climate-smart conservation practices in an effort to achieve climate goals and limit the activities that may receive NRCS funding. According to the USDA, NRCS funding from the IRA must be used to “support practices that directly improve soil carbon, reduce nitrogen losses, or reduce, capture, avoid, or sequester carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions associated with agricultural production.” A full list of NRCS conservation and climate-friendly mitigation activities that can receive funding through the IRA can be found here.
In addition to funding subsidies for farmers, IRA funds can promote the employment and administration of NRCS programs. It is projected that the NRCS will need to hire an additional 3,000-4,000 employees in the next two years to keep up with the demand to implement their conservation programs. The IRA funding provides essential support for the administration of these programs, an often overlooked but essential piece to ensuring their success.
House and Senate Democrats have voiced opposition to moving IRA conservation funding during the Farm Bill process, and in April, members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Climate and Agriculture Task Force sent a letter to the chairs of the House Agriculture Committee asking for protection of the nearly $20 billion in IRA funding for conservation programs. Farm Bill negotiations may see the IRA funding come into question. Still, the demand for additional funding for NRCS conservation programs, alongside the potential conservation and mitigation benefits, warrants the exclusion of IRA funding from Title II negotiations in the 2023 Farm Bill.
The views and opinions expressed on the FBLE Blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FBLE. While we review posts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee the reliability and completeness of any legal analysis presented; posts on this Blog do not constitute legal advice. If you discover an error, please reach out to contact@farmbilllaw.org.
Photo credit: Edwin Remsberg
