The Agriculture appropriations bill—formally called the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—funds all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), excluding the U.S. Forest Service. For FY2022, the House Appropriations Committee reported H.R. 4356 on June 30, 2021 (including H.Rept. 117-82), and the Senate Appropriations Committee reported S. 2599 on August 4, 2021 (including S.Rept. 117-34). The House passed a seven-bill omnibus appropriation (H.R. 4502) on July 29, 2021, with Agriculture appropriations as Division B. The measure was not completed before the end of FY2021. On September 30, 2021, Congress passed a continuing resolution (P.L. 117-43, Division A), which provided funding for USDA through December 3, 2021. Three additional continuing resolutions were enacted before March 15, 2022, when Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the FY2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-103). Agriculture and related agencies are included under Division A.

This report provides a brief overview of the conservation-related provisions in the FY2022 Agriculture appropriations bills. For a general analysis of FY2022 appropriations for agriculture, see CRS Report R46951, Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2022 Appropriations.

Conservation Appropriations

USDA administers numerous agricultural conservation programs that assist private landowners with making land improvements and addressing natural resource concerns. These include working lands programs, land retirement and easement programs, watershed programs, technical assistance, and other programs. The two lead agricultural conservation agencies within USDA are the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), which provides technical assistance and administers most conservation programs, and the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which administers the Conservation Reserve Program.¹

Most conservation program funding is mandatory, obtained through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), and authorized in omnibus farm bills (about $5.9 billion of CCC budget authority in FY2022).² The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334) reauthorized most mandatory conservation programs through FY2023. Other conservation programs—most of which provide technical assistance—operate with discretionary funding provided in annual appropriations (about $1 billion annually).

The FY2022 appropriation is less than FY2021 level for discretionary conservation programs, whereas the FY2022 House-passed and Senate-reported appropriations bills generally increased funding from FY2021 levels for discretionary conservation programs. The Biden Administration's FY2022 request also proposed increases for discretionary conservation funding from the FY2021 enacted levels. Differences between the FY2022 enacted appropriation and House and Senate appropriations bills center on watershed programs, which received funding in FY2022 through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58).

Discretionary Conservation Programs

Conservation Operations

NRCS administers all of USDA's discretionary conservation programs. The largest program and the account that funds most NRCS activities is Conservation Operations (CO). The CO account primarily funds Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), which provides conservation planning and implementation assistance from field staff placed in almost all counties within the United States and its territories. Other components of CO include the Soil Survey, Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting, and Plant Materials Centers (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Conservation Operations Appropriations, by Function, FY2012-FY2022

Source: Figure created by Congressional Research Service (CRS) based on appropriations acts. Notes: CTA = Conservation Technical Assistance; PMC = Plant Materials Centers; and Other = Grazing Lands Conservation Initiatives, watershed projects, rescissions, and other congressionally directed funds (earmarks). Depending on the legislative text, some programs included in Other during one year may be accounted for in CTA in another year.

The CO account is the primary source of discretionary funding for technical assistance (see "Funding for Technical Assistance" section for additional detail). The Biden Administration's FY2022 budget requests $886.3 million for CO, $53.6 million (+6.4%) more than enacted for FY2021. The FY2022 appropriation increases CO funding by $71.7 million from FY2021 levels and directs funding to a number of conservation initiatives (Table 1). Language in the FY2022 joint explanatory statement, H.Rept. 117-82 (accompanying H.R. 4356) and S.Rept. 117-34 (accompanying S. 2599) further directs funding to selected activities and earmarks (Table 4 and Table 5).³ In some cases, funding from CO would be directed to programs or initiatives that in prior years have been funded outside of the CO account. For example, the FY2020 and FY2021 enacted appropriations included funding for the Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production program in the General Provisions title ($5.0 million and $7.0 million, respectively). The FY2022 appropriation includes funding for the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production under the CO account ($8.5 million). Therefore, while the total amount for CO funding increases under the FY2022 appropriation from the FY2021 level, much of the increase would go to these directed activities (Table 1).

Funding for Technical Assistance

NRCS is the federal provider of technical assistance for agricultural conservation.⁴ At the landowner's request, NRCS provides technical assistance to conserve and improve natural resources. The assistance includes technical expertise combined with knowledge of local conditions and is provided through a network of federal staff throughout the United States.

Technical assistance for conservation is funded through both mandatory and discretionary sources, with CO being the primary account receiving discretionary funding from annual appropriations. The CTA program within CO funds much of the conservation technical assistance provided by NRCS. Funds support salaries and expenses for NRCS staff, technology development, conservation system design, compliance reviews, grants to partners for additional technical assistance capacity, and resource assessment reports. Total funding for CO has fluctuated in recent years. In some cases, fluctuations in funding were the result of an Administration's request. In other cases, funding changes reflected national budget dynamics that were not unique to CO (e.g., reductions caused by fiscal pressures and sequestration in FY2013 and funding increases through budget agreements in FY2014-FY2021). In inflation-adjusted dollars, CO has declined over the past 20 years (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Conservation Operations (CO) Appropriated Funding, FY1999-FY2022

Sources: Figure created by CRS using historical appropriations; and Office of Management and Budget, Table 10.1—Gross Domestic Product and Deflators Used in the Historical Tables: 1940–2026, May 2021, at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/hist10z1_fy22.xlsx. Note: The blue line is funding in nominal dollars, whereas the inflation-adjusted red line is calculated using the gross domestic product price deflator in FY2022 dollars.

The other side of agricultural conservation assistance is financial assistance. Financial assistance provides direct payments to landowners to implement certain conservation practices or to conserve and protect natural resources on private land. Most programs providing financial assistance are authorized through omnibus farm bills and receive funding from mandatory sources—thus, they do not require an annual appropriation.

In addition to technical assistance provided through CTA and CO, technical assistance is part of farm bill conservation programs, which are funded through a program's mandatory authorization. Most technical assistance activities within mandatory programs support the delivery of some level of financial assistance as part of a contract or agreement (Figure 3). These activities could include providing designs, standards, and specifications needed to install approved conservation practices and activities.

Generally, technical assistance prior to a producer entering into a contract for financial assistance is considered part of CTA. After a producer signs a contract for financial assistance, technical assistance is funded from the individual mandatory program rather than CTA. Once the financial assistance contract is complete, most mandatory program funds are no longer available to support ongoing assistance in maintaining the conservation plans, practices, and activities implemented under the financial assistance program.

Figure 3. FY2021 Estimated NRCS Technical Assistance, by Program (budget authority in millions of dollars)

Source: Figure created by CRS using USDA, FY2022 Budget Explanatory Notes—Natural Resources Conservation Service, p. 29. Notes: The figure reflects the total resources for staff, as reported by NRCS, as necessary to implement NRCS-administered conservation programs, including technical assistance for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The total for discretionary technical assistance includes associated science and technology programs funded through the Conservation Operations account. The total for mandatory technical assistance includes the amount reported by NRCS as necessary to implement farm bill authorized conservation programs. ACEP = Agricultural Conservation Easement Program; CSP = Conservation Stewardship Program; EQIP = Environmental Quality Incentives Program; PMC = Plant Material Centers; and RCPP = Regional Conservation Partnership Program. ACEP, CRP, CSP, EQIP, and RCPP are authorized through farm bills, most recently the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334). Expired Farm Bill Programs include Agricultural Water Enhancement Program, Chesapeake Bay Watershed Program, Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, Grassland Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Other Farm Bill Programs include the NRCS portion of Agricultural Management Assistance, Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot, and Healthy Forest Reserve Program.

As Figure 3 shows, mandatory programs fund the majority of NRCS technical assistance. Proposals to increase financial assistance for the farm bill conservation programs would likely require a corresponding increase in the amount of technical assistance needed for implementation. For example, the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376, passed by the House) would increase selected farm bill conservation programs and CTA.⁵ Without an increase in discretionary spending accounts, implementation of additional financial assistance could be hindered since technical assistance prior to a financial assistance contract generally is funded through discretionary spending accounts (i.e., CTA).

NRCS Staffing Levels

The CO account funds close to half of NRCS staff; other smaller discretionary programs and mandatory conservation programs account for the remainder. The total number of permanent positions at NRCS funded by CO declined from FY2014 through FY2019 (see Figure 4). The Administration's FY2022 request includes no increase in proposed staff compared with FY2021, notwithstanding a requested increase in CO funding of $53.6 million compared with FY2021. According to the request, this increase in funding would be used primarily for climate change-related initiatives.⁶ If FY2021 staffing estimates were realized and no additional staff were added in FY2022, NRCS staffing levels would have increased from their recent low levels (FY2018 through FY2020) but would still remain below the higher staffing levels that prevailed before FY2017 (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Total Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Staffing, FY1999-FY2022

Source: Figure created by CRS using annual USDA Budget Explanatory Notes. Notes: A staff year is equivalent to one full-time person working for one year. CO = Conservation Operations and EOY = end of year.

Watershed Programs

The FY2022 appropriation contains funding for watershed activities, including Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations (WFPO)—a program that assists state and local organizations with planning and installing measures to prevent erosion, sedimentation, and flood damage.⁷ The appropriation reduces WFPO funding to $100.0 million, $75.0 million less than the FY2021 level of $175.0 million.

WFPO consists of projects built under two authorities—the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-566) and the Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78-534). The vast majority of the projects (referred to as P.L. 566 projects) have been built pursuant to the authority of P.L. 83-566, which authorizes the chief of the NRCS to approve construction of smaller watershed projects.⁸ Congressional approval is needed for larger P.L. 566 projects. The Flood Control Act of 1944 authorized 11 specific projects, referred to as P.L. 534 projects, which are much larger and more expensive than P.L. 566 projects.

Since FY2014, Congress has directed a portion of CO funds to selected WFPO activities. The enacted FY2022 appropriation included similar directive language but shifted a portion to the WFPO account (Table 1). The enacted appropriation does not transfer CO funds for WFPO activities but does direct WFPO funding to specific activities (Table 3). The House-passed bill would direct $65.0 million of available WFPO funding to projects that could commence promptly, address regional priorities, or are authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 534 projects). The Senate-reported bill includes similar language for $10.0 million of available WFPO funds. The Senate-reported bill also would direct $23.3 million for WFPO earmarks and $10.0 million for projects that provide water to rural communities. The FY2022 appropriation mirrors the Senate-reported bill.

The FY2022 appropriation also includes $1 million for the Watershed Rehabilitation Program––$9 million less than enacted in FY2021. The Watershed Rehabilitation Program repairs aging dams built by USDA under WFPO.

The 2018 farm bill provides $50.0 million annually in permanent mandatory funding for WFPO and Watershed Rehabilitation activities. The mandatory funding is in addition to discretionary funding provided through annual appropriations.⁹ Also separate from annual appropriations, the IIJA (P.L. 117-58, Division J, Title I) provides $918.0 million for NRCS watershed programs in FY2022, including $500.0 million for WFPO, $118.0 million for the Watershed Rehabilitation Program, and $300.0 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.¹⁰ Funding is available until expended. The FY2022 joint explanatory statement notes the IIJA additions in reference to the reductions in the annual appropriated levels.

Congressionally Directed Spending (Earmarks)

For FY2022, the House and Senate resumed allowing earmarks in appropriations.¹¹ Appropriations acts last contained earmarks in FY2010.¹² Earmarks generally are defined as congressionally directed spending that noncompetitively benefits a specific entity or locality. Both chambers' rules require that appropriations reports disclose earmarks.¹³

The House-passed bill for FY2022 does not include earmarks to conservation accounts. The Senate-reported bill contains 24 earmarks totaling $42.9 million in two accounts—CO and WFPO (Table 2). The enacted appropriation includes all of the Senate-reported earmarks, including $19.6 million of earmarks in CO (2% of the total FY2022 appropriation of $904.4 million) and $23.3 million of earmarks in WFPO (23% of the total FY2022 appropriation of $100.0 million).

WFPO was the conservation program most affected by earmarks before the moratorium in FY2011; the account included earmarks in amounts that varied annually. For example, in FY2009, 97% of the funds appropriated for WFPO were earmarked for specific projects, whereas in FY2010, 74% of appropriated WFPO funds were earmarked.¹⁴ The high percentage of earmarks and program inflexibility were cited among several reasons that no funding for the program was requested in annual budget requests in some years.¹⁵

Mandatory Conservation Programs

Mandatory conservation programs generally are authorized in omnibus farm bills and receive funding from the CCC—thus, they do not require an annual appropriation. The 2018 farm bill reauthorized mandatory funding through FY2023 for many of the agricultural conservation programs.¹⁶ Because these programs—with the exception of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)—are classified as mandatory, nonexempt spending, they are reduced annually by about 6% by budget sequestration (Figure 5).¹⁷

Figure 5. Projected Mandatory Conservation Program Funding, FY2021 and FY2022 (budget authority in millions of dollars)

Sources: Figure created by CRS using Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Baseline Projections: USDA's Farm Programs, July 2021, at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2021-07/51317-2021-07-usda.pdf; and appropriations for Changes in Mandatory Program Spending (CHIMPS). Notes: Seq. & CHIMPS = Announced sequestration and changes in mandatory program spending (i.e., transfers to the Farm Production and Conservation Business Center); Other = budget authority for the Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program, Grassroots Source Water Protection, Feral Swine Eradication, Agricultural Management Assistance program, Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive, Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations, Watershed Rehabilitation Program, Conservation User Fees, and programs repealed by the 2014 farm bill; RCPP = Regional Conservation Partnership Program; ACEP = Agricultural Conservation Easement Program; CSP = Conservation Stewardship Program; EQIP = Environmental Quality Incentives Program; and CRP = Conservation Reserve Program. CSP amounts are divided by contracts authorized under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79) and Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334).

Congress has used annual Agriculture appropriations acts to reduce funding to mandatory conservation programs through Changes in Mandatory Program Spending (CHIMPS) every year from FY2003 to FY2017.¹⁸ The FY2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 115-141) marked the first appropriation since FY2002 that did not include CHIMPS to conservation programs, thus allowing all mandatory conservation programs to use their fully authorized level of funding, minus sequestration.

In FY2019, Congress began transferring funds to the Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center from other accounts, including from mandatory conservation programs.¹⁹ This transfer creates CHIMPS in three conservation programs—Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).²⁰ The FY2022 appropriation includes the Administration's request for transferring $60.2 million in conservation program CHIMPS to the FPAC Business Center. The same CHIMPS amount ($60.2 million) for the same conservation programs was included in each annual appropriation from FY2019 through FY2021.

Policy-Related Provisions

In addition to setting budgetary amounts, the Agriculture appropriations bill also may include policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch is to carry out an appropriation. These provisions may have the force of law if they are included in the text of an appropriations act, but their effect is generally limited to the current fiscal year (see Table 3). Policy-related provisions in appropriations acts generally do not amend the U.S. Code or have a multiyear effect.

For example, the WFPO program historically has been called the "small watershed program" because no project may exceed 250,000 acres, and no structure may exceed 12,500 acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity or 25,000 acre-feet of total capacity. The FY2022 enacted appropriation includes a policy provision that waives the 250,000-acre project limit when the project's primary purpose is something other than flood prevention.²¹ This provision does not amend the WFPO authorization and is effective only for the funds provided during the current appropriation year.²² The House-passed and Senate-reported bills for FY2022 both include a similar provision.

Many of these provisions have been included in past years' appropriations acts. Some provisions in report language and bill text address conservation programs that are not authorized or funded within the annual appropriations (i.e., mandatory spending for farm bill-authorized programs).

Table 3 compares some of the conservation-related policy provisions in the Farm Production and Conservation Programs (Title II) and General Provisions (Title VII) titles of the enacted FY2021 and FY2022 Agriculture appropriation bills. The table is divided by agency and account according to their location within the bills.

Beyond the text of an appropriations act, the explanatory statement accompanying the final appropriations—and the House and Senate report language that generally accompanies the committee-reported bills—may provide policy instructions. These documents do not have the force of law but often explain congressional intent, which Congress expects the agencies to observe. The committee reports and explanatory statement may need to be read together to capture all of the congressional intent for a given fiscal year.

Table 4 includes conservation policy provisions in report language that direct specific funding levels. Table 5 includes provisions that direct policy but not necessarily a specific amount of funding. The tables are divided by general programs, accounts, or themes. The majority of provisions are located under NRCS, but some are located under FSA or CCC within the reports.