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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS - Grant Application Federal Farm & Ranch Land Protection Program for Ag Conservation Easements-~ [lnited States CtEepart~nen# t-# I7,gricuNture Natural Resources Conservation Service 4405 Bland Road, Suite 205 Telephone No.: (919) 873-2101 Raleigh, North Carolina 27609 Fax No_: (919) 873-2156 March 17, 2004 NORTH CAROLINA BULLETIN NO. 300-4-10 SUBJECT: Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program Request for Proposals Purpose: To inform the field of opportunities for participation in the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program for FY 2004 Expiration: December 31, 2004 Background: The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 provides up to $125 million in financial and technical assistance for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) in fiscal year 2004. Eligible entities include state and local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, and non- governmental, non- profit conservation organizations. Policy and procedures for implementing the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program are contained in Part 519 of the Conservation Programs Manual. The information presented in this bulletin is a summary of key points contained in the manual. Refer to Part 519 for clarification. Eligibility and Application Process The request for proposals (RFP) (Attachment 1) is attached to this bulletin. Entities submitting proposals should include all of the required information as indicated in the RFP. The deadline for submitting proposals is May 3, 2004. Eligible entities are federally recognized Indian tribes, states, units of local government, and non-governmental organizations that have written pending offers for the acquisition of conservation easements for the purposes of protecting agricultural use. Individual landowners cannot apply directly for FRPP funds. Landowner interest must be conveyed to an eligible entity that has an existing farmland protection program. The eligible entity can then apply for federal FRPP matching funds to help acquire the easement. The federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program is designed to be a supplemental funding source for existing state and local farmland protection programs. Refer to Subpart D, Part 519.31 of the Conservation Programs Manual for cooperating entity eligibility requirements. Proposals must provide adequate proof of a pending offer for the subject land. Part 519.33a,b provides guidance on pending offers. The NRCS State Conservationist will review and rank proposals based on the following: • Organization or agency eligibility • Land eligibility. Refer to Part 519.32a-d for eligibility requirements • Extent to which the proposal protects prime, unique, or other productive soil DIST: E NC Bulletin 300-4-10 Page 2 To ensure that the proper land is enrolled, land must: • Be of sufficient size allowing for efficient management of the agricultural operation • Have a preponderance of soils of prime, unique, or statewide/local importance or contain significant historic or archaeological sites • Have access to markets for ag products and an infrastructure appropriate for agricultural production • Not be subject to an existing easement or deed restriction • Not be owned in fee title by an agency of the United States Proposals will receive a higher priority with lands and locations that: • Help create a large tract of protected area for viable agricultural production • Link other federal, tribal, state, local, or non-governmental organization efforts with complementary farmland protection or conservation programs • Provide special social, economic, and environmental benefits to the region • Protect a National Register of Historic Places site or a site with significant archaeological importance • Have permanent easements • Have pending offers supported by a signed appraisal The attached ranking worksheet (Attachment 3) provides a scoring process that considers many of the prioritization factors described above. Please note that if land is being offered for enrollment based upon the presence of historic or archaeological sites, then additional narrative information is needed as per Part 519.41 d of the manual. Please note that a significant change is that a landowner donation of up to 25% of the fair market price of the easement can be used as part of the local matching funds. The purchase price is the fair market value acquired through standard real property appraisal and is the difference between the value of the unencumbered property and the value of the property with the easement restrictions. In the case of purchasing easements, the NRCS share of the purchase price shall not exceed 50% of the fair market value. Refer to Part 519.52b for an explanation of payment shares when a landowner donates part of the easement and therefore accepts less than the fair market value. All land enrolled in USDA Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program easements must have a conservation plan developed and implemented. The conservation plan should be signed by the landowner prior to recording the easement. (While the plan is not required to be developed when the initial proposal is submitted fo NRCS for possible funding, it is important that the applicants included in the proposal understand the requirement for developing and implementing a conservation plan.) The plan will be reviewed for technical adequacy by the local NRCS district conservationist and submitted to the local soil and water conservation district for approval. All practices shall meet the standards and specifications contained in Section 4 of the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide. The conservation plan on highly erodible land (HEL), if applicable, must be implemented within 12 months (1 year) of the easement closing. Landowners have 4 years to implement the plan on non-HEL and must begin installation of at least one practice within 12 months of the date the easement is recorded. In situations where the 4-year implementation schedule creates an extreme hardship on the applicant, the NRCS State Conservationist has authority to extend the implementation period. NOTE: The Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program does not provide any cost share to install the practices required by the plan. While the landowner is responsible for installation, cost share funds, if available, can be used to implement the plan. Approval of cost share funds will 6e subject to the terms of NC Bulletin 300-4-10 Page 3 eligibility and approval of the respective program (EQIP, WHIP, NC Agricultural Cost Share Program, etc). Planning to the resource management system level is desirable and should be encouraged. If the plan does not meet the RMS level of planning, then the NRCS planning policy on progressive planning will be followed (i.e. the plan will list and explain the practices needed to reach the RMS level). However, at a minimum, conservation plans on all enrolled land must meet the criteria as outlined in Attachment 2, FRPP Conservation Planning Requirements. Questions concerning the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program should be addressed first to the local NRCS field office, then to the appropriate NRCS area office, and then to the program manager, Dick Fowler. Information on the web can be found at: http://www. nres.usda.gov/programs/frpp Proposals from eligible entities should be forwarded to: Dick Y. Fowler USDA-NRCS 4405 Bland Road, Suite 205 Raleigh, NC 27609 All proposal packages should address and include each of the items listed in the request for proposals. The attached NRCS Farmland Protection Program ranking worksheet should be completed and submitted for each farm included in the proposal. Please note that part 6 of the ranking worksheet must be completed by the local NRCS district conservationist and SWCD representative. Narratives should be submitted to cover any required items that are not addressed by the worksheet or any item in the worksheet that the applicant feels would benefit from additional clarification. The Summary of Pending Easement Offers (Attachment 4) should be completed with information for all farms included in the proposal. Incomplete proposal packets may result in the proposal not being considered for funding. A Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program committee will evaluate proposals and a prioritized recommendation for funding will be sent to the NRCS State Conservationist for consideration. The numerical score from the ranking worksheet, along with all other supporting data, will be used to prioritize funding requests. The State Conservationist will determine the funding amounts for the successful applicants. The program manager will notify all entities as to their funding status once final allocations are determined. Funding decisions are expected to be available within 30 days after the close of the Request For Proposals. All funds must be encumbered to agreements with eligible entities by September 30, 2004. ~~ Mary K. Combs State Conservationist Attachments