The House and Senate Conference Committee have restored funding for the RC&D Program as a standalone program.  Both Chairman Obey and Inouye have stated that, "the bill restores cuts to valuable conservation programs, including the Resource Conservation and Development Program and the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program."

The Conference committee language specifically states the following:

"For necessary expenses in planning and carrying out projects for resource conservation and development and for sound land use pursuant to the provisions of sections 31 and 32 of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010-1011; 76 Stat. 607); the Act of April 27, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 590a-f); and subtitle H of title XV of the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3451-3461), $50,730,000: Provided, That not to exceed $3,073,000 shall be available for national headquarters activities."  Further report language notes that, "The conference agreement provides $50,730,000 for Resource Conservation and Development as proposed by the House, instead of the Senate proposal which would have given the Secretary the option of providing up to $50,730,000 for the program within the Conservation Operations account."

This is a big win for the RC&D Program but our work is not done.  According to our sources, the following 3 provisions were to be included in the Conferees report language.  However, such language has currently been stricken from the conferee mark.  We will monitor the status of the language as the Bill goes to the floor.

The three recommendations include:

1. Funding for each of the 375 Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Councils to have a Federal coordinator.
    
2. The Committee encourages NRCS to continue to work with the Councils to develop appropriate measures of effectiveness for both conservation and economic development.  Therefore, future budget proposals can be based on the effectiveness and performance of the program.
    
3. The Committee expects NRCS to promptly fill RC&D coordinator vacancies, and to allocate funding equitably among the existing councils.