Great Plains Conservation
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To conserve and develop the Great Plains soil and water resources by providing technical and financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and others in planning and implementing conservation practices.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Cost-share funds are available for many of the soil and water conservation measures determined to be needed to protect and stabilize a farm or ranch unit against climatic and erosion hazards of the Great Plains area, and applied in accordance with a conservation plan for the entire operating unit. Additional practices may be included in the plan for agriculture-related pollution abatement, enhancement of fish, wildlife, recreational resources, and promotion of economic use of land and may or may not be cost-shared.
Who is eligible to apply...
Applicants must have control of the land for the period of the contract running from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 10 years. Applicants must be in compliance with Title XIV, Subtitles A and B of Public Law 101-624. Land must be located in one of 556 designated counties within the States of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.
Credentials/Documentation
Evidence that applicant has control over land to be entered into contract or will develop an adequate plan of farming operation that incorporates needed soil and water conservation practices. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
Application is made to the Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist serving the county in which the operating unit is located. The application is submitted on Form SCS-LTP-001, "Application for long-term contracted assistance through the Great Plains Conservation Program." This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
Generally, the area conservationist serving the multi-county area in which the participating county is located is the contracting officer and is the representative of the Secretary of Agriculture. The Contracting Officer is responsible for the technical adequacy of the conservation plan and the legal sufficiency of the contract.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
None.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Application servicing depends on the volume of applications, backlog of pending applications and priority rating based on severity of resource problems and NRCS staff assistance available for development of contracts.
Preapplication Coordination
None. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102 and E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
Appeals procedures are available from NRCS field offices, and are included in each contract.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Not applicable.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
Applicant must have control of the land for the period of the contract running from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 10 years.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Direct Payments for Specified Use
Financial assistance from the Federal government provided directly to individuals, private firms, and other private institutions to encourage or subsidize a particular activity by conditioning the receipt of the assistance on a particular performance by the recipient. This does not include solicited contracts for the procurement of goods and services for the Federal government.
Advisory Services and Counseling
Programs which provide Federal specialists to consult, advise, or counsel communities or individuals to include conferences, workshops, or personal contacts. This may involve the use of published information, but only in a secondary capacity.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
Up to $35,000 per farm operating unit over a contract period running from 3 to 10 years.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(From carryover funds): (Grants) FY 03 $96,694; FY 04 est $1,451,193; and FY 05 est $0. (Salaries and expenses) FY 03 $381; FY 04 est $18,350; and FY 05 est $0.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
12-2268-0-1-302.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Not applicable.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
At the end of FY 2001, there were 930 remaining active contracts with cost share practices valued in excess of $10,794,000 remaining to be implemented on over 3,906,000 acres. This program is operated in 556 counties in 10 States.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Not applicable.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Contract period runs from a minimum of 3 years to a maximum of 10 years. Obligations for assistance are tied to a long-term contract detailing the 3 to 10 year schedule in which needed land use changes and conservation practice installation will be made.
Formula and Matching Requirements
Cost-sharing to participant ranges for specified conservation practices from 80 percent of the cost for practices with the most public benefit to 50 percent for practices where the public benefit is less. Other practices may be required to be installed without cost-share.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
No reports. NRCS and the landowner or operator make an annual contract status review that includes maintenance of completed contract items, need for deletion or addition of contract items, etc.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
NRCS makes periodic random on site reviews of the quality and quantity of the application and maintenance of contract items.
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
None.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936, Public Law 74-46, as amended; Great Plains Act of 1956, Public Law 84-1021; Public Law 86-793; Public Law 91-118; Public Law 96-263; Public Law 101-624.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
"The Great Plains Conservation Program" PA-1317 "What the Natural Resources Conservation Service Does," SCS-CI-3; 7 CFR 631, regulations in Federal Register Vol. 49, No. 59, page 11141, March 26, 1984.