FY2018 and FY2019 Appropriations for Agricultural Conservation

Summary

The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. The FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 115-141, Division A), and both of the FY2019 agriculture bills reported by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees (H.R. 5961, S. 2976) include funding for conservation programs and activities at USDA.

Congress passed the FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act on March 23, 2018, which included agriculture appropriations under Division A. For FY2019, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees reported agriculture bills in May 2018. The Senate amended and passed its version as Division C of a four-bill minibus on August 1, 2018 (H.R. 6147). In the absence of a final appropriation, Congress enacted a continuing resolution through December 7, 2018 (P.L. 115-245, Division C).

Agricultural conservation programs include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Most conservation program funding is mandatory and is authorized in omnibus farm bills. Other conservation programs—mostly technical assistance—are discretionary and are funded through annual appropriations.

The largest discretionary program is the Conservation Operations (CO) account, which funds conservation planning and implementation assistance on private agricultural lands across the country. The enacted FY2018 appropriation provided $874 million for CO, an increase from the FY2017 enacted amount ($864 million). The FY2019 House-reported and Senate-passed bills would further increase funding for CO above FY2018 levels to $890 million and $879 million, respectively. Other discretionary spending is primarily for watershed programs. The largest—Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO)—was funded at $150 million in FY2018. Both the House-reported and Senate-passed bills would fund WFPO at the $150 million level in FY2019.

Most mandatory conservation programs are authorized in omnibus farm bills and do not require an annual appropriation. However, Congress has reduced mandatory conservation programs through changes in mandatory program spending (CHIMPS) in the annual agricultural appropriations law every year since FY2003. The enacted FY2018 omnibus marks the first appropriation since FY2002 that does not include CHIMPS to mandatory conservation programs. For FY2019, both the House and Senate appropriation bills do not include reductions to mandatory conservation programs, because most programs’ authorizations expired on September 30, 2018, making these programs ineligible for reduction.

While this is infrequent, the Agriculture appropriations bill may also serve as a vehicle for amendments to authorized programs that permanently alter or create programs. The FY2018 enacted appropriation included two such amendments—one to WFPO and one to farm bill conservation program reporting requirements. The WFPO amendment increased the size threshold required for congressional approval. Under the amended language, the Senate and House Agriculture Committees must approve WFPO projects that include an estimated federal contribution of more than $25 million for construction, an increase from the previous $5 million threshold. Additionally, the FY2018 appropriation exempted farm bill conservation programs from select federal reporting requirements, including obtaining a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and System for Award Management (SAM) registration.

Agriculture appropriations bills may also include policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out the appropriation. The FY2018 enacted appropriation and both the FY2019 House-reported and Senate-passed bills include policy provisions for conservation programs that range from reports to Congress to suggested natural resource priorities.