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§ 3838i. Farmland protection
(a)
In general
The Secretary, acting through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall establish and carry out a farmland protection program under which the Secretary shall purchase conservation easements or other interests in eligible land that is subject to a pending offer from an eligible entity for the purpose of protecting topsoil by limiting nonagricultural uses of the land.
(b)
Conservation plan
Any highly erodible cropland for which a conservation easement or other interest is purchased under this subpart shall be subject to the requirements of a conservation plan that requires, at the option of the Secretary, the conversion of the cropland to less intensive uses.
(c)
Cost sharing
(1)
Farmland protection
(A)
Share provided under this subsection
The share of the cost of purchasing a conservation easement or other interest in eligible land described in subsection (a) of this section provided under section
3841
(d) of this title shall not exceed 50 percent of the appraised fair market value of the conservation easement or other interest in eligible land.
(B)
Share not provided under this subsection
As part of the share of the cost of purchasing a conservation easement or other interest in eligible land described in subsection (a) of this section that is not provided under section
3841
(d) of this title, an eligible entity may include a charitable donation by the private landowner from which the eligible land is to be purchased of not more than 25 percent of the fair market value of the conservation easement or other interest in eligible land.
(2)
Bidding down
If the Secretary determines that 2 or more applications for the purchase of a conservation easement or other interest in eligible land described in subsection (a) of this section are comparable in achieving the purposes of this section, the Secretary shall not assign a higher priority to any 1 of those applications solely on the basis of lesser cost to the farmland protection program established under subsection (a) of this section.
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Notes
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Parallel authorities (CFR)
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Notes
3 Update(s)
Parallel authorities (CFR)
PDF (1 pages)
Title 16 RSS
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