EQIP | Pennsylvania NRCS

Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

General Program Description

EQIP is a voluntary conservation program that helps farmers and agricultural producers reduce pollution and improve natural resources. EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to help farmers plan, install and implement structural, vegetative and management conservation practices on agricultural land.

EQIP National Program Purposes

Reductions of nonpoint source pollution, such as nutrients, sediment, pesticides, or excess salinity in impaired watersheds consistent with TMDLs where available as well as the reduction of groundwater contamination and reduction of point sources such as contamination from confined animal feeding operations;
Conservation of ground and surface water resources;
Reduction of emissions, such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards;
Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from unacceptable levels on agricultural land; and
Promotion of at-risk species habitat conservation.

EQIP contracts can be as short as one year, with a one year maintenance period. Most contracts are for work that can be completed within four years. Financial assistance is provided through incentive payments that are based on average costs to implement conservation practices. Incentive rates are listed on the annual Practice Payment Rate schedule. Limited resource Farmers and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers may be eligible for higher incentive payment rates Total financial assistance payments are limited to $450,000 per an individual for the life of the 2002 Farm Bill.

How EQIP Works in Pennsylvania

Eligibility

Applicants must be a farmer or agricultural producer engaged in livestock or crop production on eligible land. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pasture, private non-industrial forestland, and other farm lands, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
Applicants must comply with USDA’s Highly Erodible Land(HEL)/Wetland Conservation provisions. For HEL, erosion must be reduced to minimum acceptable levels by the first year of the contract. Participants also must comply with Adjusted Gross Income provisions (the three-year AGI cannot exceed $2.5 million, with some exceptions if major portions of income are from agricultural sources).
Priority is given to applicants who have a current conservation plan. The conservation plan should describe the practices that will be included on the contract and the schedule for implementing the practices.
Preference is given to applicants who can complete work within 1-3 years.
EQIP participants receiving cost-share for animal waste management practices and systems are required to develop and implement a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan
Participants agree to maintain conservation practices implemented with EQIP financial assistance for the practice life span, which may exceed the length of the contract.
Conservation Practices must meet or exceed Pennsylvania NRCS standards and specifications.

Application

Applications are accepted by NRCS on a continuous basis throughout the year with cutoff dates to evaluate, rank, prioritize and select applicants. Farmers may apply by completing the NRCS-CPA-1200 Application Form and Appendix and submit in person, e-mail (must include signature), fax, or mail to their local USDA Service Centers. Application forms are available at your local USDA Service Centers in Pennsylvania or at the Pennsylvania or National EQIP website. There is no due date to apply but farmers are encouraged to apply early to increase likelihood of being offered a contract (See Evaluation and Ranking, below). Financial assistance eligibility is contingent on the producer not starting the practice before having a signed and approved EQIP contract.
Applicants are asked to identify the practice(s) for which they are requesting assistance and the farm(s) on which the proposed practices would be installed.

Evaluation and Ranking

EQIP is a competitive program and uses an evaluation and ranking process to assess needs and cost effectiveness. Ranking occurs after applications are first put through a screening tool and are determined to have at least minimal environmental benefits and meet EQIP program purposes. The review of applications for Fiscal Year 2009 contract requests will begin at the end of August 2008 and will continue monthly as long as funds are available. Because of the large demand for EQIP assistance, funds are usually expended after one or two ranking cycles.

Funding

Contracts will be awarded to producers with the highest rankings until funds are exhausted. For fiscal year 2009, a target date of December 31, 2008 has been set to finalize contracts. Applications that cannot be funded can be retained for up to two years, after which time the producer will need to re-file a new application.

Where noted, documents require