1998 ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM Release No. 0036.98 Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623 tom.amontree@usda.gov Diana Morse (202 720-4772 diana.morse@usda.gov GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES $200 MILLION FOR 1998 ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVES PROGRAM WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 1998--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced state funding allocations for $200 million for 1998 under USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program. "The EQIP program proved itself a winner from the start," said Glickman. "In less than a year it has become one of the most popular conservation programs at USDA, not to mention its long term environmental benefits. "There is a strong demand for voluntary conservation efforts, and EQIP helps farmers and ranchers meet that demand with financial, technical, and educational assistance, as well as incentives, " Glickman said. Under EQIP, USDA can provide cost-share assistance to family-sized farms and ranches for up to 75 percent of the costs of certain environmental protection practices, such as grassed waterways, filter strips, manure management facilities, capping abandoned wells, and wildlife habitat enhancement. USDA also may provide incentive payments to encourage producers to apply such land management practices as nutrient, manure, irrigation water, wildlife, and integrated pest management. EQIP was authorized by the 1996 Farm Bill to address agriculture's priority natural resource and environmental problems. It reflects the commitment of USDA and the Congress for a flexible, effective, voluntary conservation program for agricultural land. One emphasis in EQIP is the leveraging of EQIP funds with other conservation efforts to foster even greater stewardship of natural resources. This has happened around the country. Examples include: --Among the efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, the Deer Creek EQIP priority area in Harford County, Maryland, is helping farmers address animal waste, the top concern in that area. In addition to EQIP funds, the Maryland Department of Agriculture provides cost-share funds and the combined funding has made it possible for dairy farmers, for example, to upgrade animal waste storage facilities that were prohibitively expensive before. In 1998, EQIP will also be used to assist with the Maryland programs to address toxic Pfiesteria in the Chesapeake Bay drainage areas. --In North Carolina, more than $700,000 of EQIP funds will be joined this year with more than $800,000 of state cost-share funds to reduce nitrogen in the Neuse River basin by 30 percent. Massive fish kills and the discovery of Pfiesteria in the Neuse have brought this river national attention. Sources of nitrogen in the basin include swine and poultry operations, municipal sewage, and agricultural runoff. NRCS, the Cooperative Extension Service, and the North Carolina Division of Soil and Water Conservation have formed a partnership to help landowners in the basin design and install best management practices. Common practices that will be used include nutrient management plans, riparian buffers, filter strips, conservation tillage, crop rotations, stripcropping, and animal waste treatment facilities. --In Wisconsin, the Oneida Tribe and two county land conservation departments have formed a partnership to reduce nonpoint source pollution in the Duck and Ashwaubenon Creek watersheds in cooperation with local, tribal, state, and federal agencies. In addition to the 1998 EQIP proposal for vegetative buffers, wetland restoration, nutrient and pest management, and improved tillage, the state is projecting its funding at $10-$15 million over a 10-year period in this priority area. In 1997, the first year of the EQIP program, USDA approved 23,000 long-term contracts with farmers and ranchers. Nearly 58,000 applications for assistance were received, with requests totaling more than three times the amount of available funding. EQIP assistance is provided primarily to state priority areas. Each state's priority areas were determined locally and then approved by the NRCS state conservationist, in conjunction with state technical committees and USDA Farm Service Agency personnel. Under EQIP, priority areas are watersheds, or geographic regions, with (1) special environmental sensitivity, such as important wetland areas, or (2) significant natural resource concerns, such as manure management, soil erosion control, and water quality. For 1998, producers will be able to sign EQIP contracts once state priority areas are selected for funding. In the meantime, producers may contact local USDA Service Centers and NRCS, which administers the program, for information on possible eligibility for EQIP. Producers also can work with NRCS to develop their own conservation plans which are required for any EQIP contract. State funding for EQIP program assistance announced by the Secretary is as follows: Environmental Quality Incentives Program Fiscal Year 1998 Funds Distribution State Amount Alabama $ 3,200,000 Alaska 432,000 Arizona 5,069,000 Arkansas 6,490,000 California 7,558,000 Colorado 6,386,000 Connecticut 614,000 Delaware 1,113,000 Florida 4,774,000 Georgia 4,267,000 Hawaii 1,051,000 Idaho 4,143,000 Illinois 4,198,000 Indiana 3,180,000 Iowa 5,490,000 Kansas 5,188,000 Kentucky 2,891,000 Louisiana 5,311,000 Maine 2,545,000 Maryland 2,249,000 Massachusetts 860,000 Michigan 4,157,000 Minnesota 5,569,000 Mississippi 5,391,000 Missouri 4,975,000 Montana 6,264,000 Nebraska 5,023,000 Nevada 1,507,000 New Hampshire 372,000 New Jersey 1,070,000 New Mexico 3,865,000 New York 4,560,000 North Carolina 5,720,000 North Dakota 4,479,000 Ohio 3,284,000 Oklahoma 5,391,000 Oregon 4,219,000 Pacific Basin 516,000 Pennsylvania 4,180,000 Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands 1,159,000 Rhode Island 245,000 South Carolina 2,080,000 South Dakota 4,348,000 Tennessee 3,056,000 Texas 16,335,000 Utah 3,838,000 Vermont 1,218,000 Virginia 2,631,000 Washington 4,999,000 West Virginia 1,809,000 Wisconsin 4,356,000 Wyoming 3,875,000 Subtotal Distributed 197,500,000 Not Yet Distributed 2,500,000 EQIP U.S. Total 200,000,000 # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. 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