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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1302. Conservation agreements to effectuate water bank program; duration and renewal; adjustment of payment rate for renewal period; "wetlands" defined; duration of ownership or control of land as determining eligibility for agreements; protection of and compensation for tenants and sharecroppers; participation by owner or operator in other Federal or State programs
In effectuating the water bank program authorized by this
chapter, the Secretary shall have authority to enter into
agreements with landowners and operators in important migratory
waterfowl nesting and breeding areas for the conservation of water
on specified farm, ranch, or other wetlands identified in a
conservation plan developed in cooperation with the Soil and Water
Conservation District in which the lands are located, under such
rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe. These
agreements shall be entered into for a period of ten years, with
provision for renewal for additional periods of ten years each. The
Secretary shall, beginning in 1980, reexamine the payment rates at
the beginning of the fifth year of any such ten-year initial or
renewal period and before the beginning of any renewal period, in
the light of the then current land and crop values, and make needed
adjustments in rates for any such initial or renewal period as
provided in section 1304 of this title. In addition, the Secretary
shall, beginning in 1980, reexamine the payment rates in any
agreement that has been in effect for five years or more in the
light of current land and crop values and make any needed
adjustments in rates. As used in this chapter, the term "wetlands"
means (1) the inland fresh areas described as types 1 through 7 in
Circular 39, Wetlands of the United States, published by the United
States Department of the Interior (or the inland fresh areas
corresponding to such types in any successor wetland classification
system developed by the Department of the Interior), (2)
artificially developed inland fresh areas that meet the description
of the inland fresh areas described in clause (1) of this sentence,
and (3) such other wetland types as the Secretary may designate. No
agreement shall be entered into under this chapter concerning land
with respect to which the ownership or control has changed in the
two-year period preceding the first year of the agreement period
unless the new ownership was acquired by will or succession as a
result of the death of the previous owner, or unless the new
ownership was acquired prior to July 1, 1971, under other
circumstances which the Secretary determines, and specifies by
regulation, will give adequate assurance that such land was not
acquired for the purpose of placing it in the program, except that
this sentence shall not be construed to prohibit the continuation
of an agreement by a new owner or operator after an agreement has
once been entered into under this chapter. A person who has
operated the land to be covered by an agreement under this chapter
for as long as two years preceding the date of the agreement and
who controls the land for the agreement period shall not be
required to own the land as a condition of eligibility for entering
into the agreement. Nothing in this section shall prevent an owner
or operator from placing land in the program if the land was
acquired by the owner or operator to replace eligible land from
which he was displaced because of its acquisition by any Federal,
State, or other agency having the right of eminent domain. The
Secretary shall provide adequate safeguards to protect the
interests of tenants and sharecroppers, including provision for
sharing, on a fair and equitable basis, in payments or compensation
under this program. No provision of this chapter shall prevent an
owner or operator who is participating in the program under this
chapter from participating in other Federal or State programs
designed to conserve or protect wetlands.
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