A GOP-backed bill to reauthorize the Farm Bill was approved by the House Agriculture Committee on a party-line vote on April 18, advancing a measure that would increase the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) focus on protecting sources of drinking water from farm runoff.
Introduced as the Agriculture and Nutrition Act (H.R. 2), the bill would reauthorize the Farm Bill, comprised of a variety of agricultural assistance, conservation, and food stamp programs, for four years. The most recent Farm Bill, enacted in 2014, is scheduled to expire later this year.
The new measure would take a number of steps to improve and encourage source water protection activities by farmers, such as reauthorizing the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) at $250 million per year. The program offers USDA grant assistance to farmers who partner with nearby water utilities and other local stakeholders on joint projects that protect or improve water quality or meet other stated environmental objectives. The bill would amend the RCPP to explicitly make projects related to the “protection of source waters for drinking water” an eligible expense for RCPP assistance.
Another section of the legislation would increase the prominence of source water protection efforts throughout all conservation programs. The bill would direct USDA, as it carries out “any conservation program” under the Farm Bill, to “encourage practices that relate to water quality and water quantity that protect source waters for drinking water.” Additionally, USDA would be directed to work collaboratively with community water systems to identify local priority areas for source water protection work, and to set aside at least 10 percent of cross-program conservation funding for use on source water protection efforts.
Finally, the bill would extend funding for USDA’s water, waste disposal and wastewater facility grant program, which offers grants and loans to small water utilities to upgrade their drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. The bill also would continue USDA’s circuit rider technical assistance program that pays for experts to travel to small utilities to assist with management and technical challenges.
Despite these provisions to boost rural infrastructure and improve source water protections, all Democrats on the Agriculture Committee voted against the bill, in part due to concerns about provisions that could reduce access to nutritional assistance programs for the poor. House GOP leaders nevertheless hope to bring the bill to the floor in the coming months. Their Senate counterparts, however, have yet to release their own proposal and it is unclear whether lawmakers will be able to finalize new farm legislation before the current Farm Bill expires at the end of September. If they are unable to do so, a temporary extension of existing USDA programs is likely.