|
 The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting project
proposals now through July 2, 2024, that will help farmers,
ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation
strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the
climate crisis. These projects in turn can save farmers money,
create new revenue streams, and increase productivity.
The investments in climate-smart agriculture that USDA has made
since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, and will
continue to make through the Inflation Reduction Act and
Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, are estimated to
support over 180,000 farms and over 225 million acres in the
next 5 years.
Today’s investment is made available through the Farm Bill and
the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in
history, which has enabled USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) to boost funding for RCPP. Additionally, NRCS is
announcing progress on its effort to streamline and simplify
RCPP and improve processes and implementation.
“We had unprecedented demand for the Regional Conservation
Partnership Program last year, showing the robust interest in
conservation from farmers and ranchers,” Secretary Vilsack said.
“Through the increase in funding from President Biden’s
Inflation Reduction Act, we’re able to invest even more this
year in this important program, increasing our impact across the
landscape. We’re looking forward to seeing what the more
streamlined and customer-oriented Regional Conservation
Partnership Program can do to get more conservation on the
ground in the coming months and years.”
There are two separate funding opportunities being announced
today: RCPP Classic and RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA).
RCPP Classic projects are implemented using NRCS contracts and
easements with producers, landowners and communities in
collaboration with project partners. Through RCPP AFA, the lead
partner works directly with agricultural producers to support
the development of innovative conservation approaches that would
not otherwise be available under RCPP Classic. NRCS will set
aside $100 million for Tribal-led projects to be used between
both funding opportunities.
The 2024 RCPP funding priorities are climate-smart agriculture,
urban agriculture, conservation, and environmental justice. This
funding advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which
aims to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of
certain climate, clean energy, and other federal investments
flow to disadvantaged communities marginalized by
underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Today’s action
also advances President Biden’s America the Beautiful
initiative, a 10-year, locally led and nationally scaled
conservation initiative that includes the voluntary efforts of
farmers, ranchers and private landowners.
NRCS encourages proposals led by historically underserved
entities or Indian tribes.
Project proposals for RCPP are being accepted through the
RCPP portal.
Details on the RCPP Classic and RCPP AFA funding opportunities
are available on Grants.gov.
NRCS will be hosting webinars to provide additional information.
Learn how to participate at the
RCPP website.
More about RCPP
RCPP is a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds
solutions to natural resource challenges on agricultural land.
By leveraging collective resources and collaborating on common
goals, RCPP demonstrates the power of public-private
partnerships in delivering results for agriculture and
conservation.
In November 2023, NRCS announced more than $1
billion for 81 RCPP projects across the country.
View the interactive map of awarded projects here.
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Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris
Administration, NRCS has invested a total of $1.8 billion in 256
RCPP projects covering 49 states and territories.
More about the RCPP Improvement Effort
Through a concerted effort in 2023 using feedback and expertise from
partners, employees, leadership and stakeholders, NRCS identified
several improvements to RCPP that the agency has implemented and
will continue to implement in the months and years ahead. In fiscal
year 2024, NRCS is:
• Streamlining RCPP agreement negotiation to allow simultaneous
execution of program partnership and supplemental agreements;
• Updating policy and business tools to streamline the development
of RCPP agreement deliverables and reducing the need for nationally
approved waivers;
• Conducting annual comprehensive training for state program
managers and support staff; and
• Delegating additional authority to State Conservationists to
support locally led projects.
NRCS will continue to invest in creating a new
business tool to support greater automation of RCPP agreement
development, obligating funding to partners, and quicker processing
of payments.
NRCS is working on model easement deeds to streamline implementation
of RCPP easements that use common deed terms for specific land uses.
This year, NRCS aims to reduce negotiation time from 15 months to 6
months, with the goal to reduce the time even further in future
years.
For the full list of RCPP improvements NRCS has identified, please
visit our website.
In addition to improving RCPP, NRCS is also working to make
improvements to its Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and
Conservation Stewardship Program to make them function better for
producers, partners and staff.
More about the Inflation Reduction Act
These two RCPP funding opportunities include Farm Bill and Inflation
Reduction Act funds.
In total, the Inflation Reduction Act provides $19.5 billion over
five years to support USDA’s oversubscribed conservation programs,
including $4.95 billion for RCPP over five years. The Inflation
Reduction Act, part of President Biden’s Investing in America
agenda, represents the single largest investment in climate and
clean energy solutions in American history.
Learn more about NRCS’ Inflation Reduction Act investments in fiscal
year 2023.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in
so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris administration, USDA is
transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more
resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all
producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in
all communities, building new markets and streams of income for
farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry
practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean
energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity
across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a
workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit
usda.gov.
[Aaron Patrick
Public Affairs Specialist
USDA NRCS Illinois] |
