§ 1302. Conservation agreements to effectuate water bank program; duration and renewal; adjustment of payment rate for renewal period; “wetlands” defined; duration of ownership or control of land as determining eligibility for agreements; protection of and compensation for tenants and sharecroppers; participation by owner or operator in other Federal or State programs

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

1. 1970

   Water Bank Act

   Pub. L. 91–559 § 3 · 84 Stat. 1468

   Enacted · 16 U.S.C. § 1302

   Pub. L. 91–559, § 3, Dec. 19, 1970, 84 Stat. 1469

   Source evidence

   Code source credit
   Pub. L. 91–559, § 3, Dec. 19, 1970, 84 Stat. 1469

   Enacted provision · exact public law section
   Sec. 3. In effectuating the water bank program authorized by this Conservation agreements. Act, the Secretary shall have authority to enter into agreements with landowners and operators in important migratory waterfowl nesting and breeding areas for the conservation of water on specified farm, ranch, or other wetlands identified in a conservation plan developed in cooperation with the Soil and Water Conservation District in which the lands are located, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe. These agreements shall be entered into for a period of ten veal’s, with provision for renewal for additional periods of ten years each. The Secretary shall reexamine the payment rates at the beginning of any such ten-year renewal period in the light, of the then current land and crop values and make needed adjustments in rates for any such renewal period. As used in this Act. the term “Wetlands.” “wetlands” means the inland fresh areas (types 1 through 5) described in Circular 39, Wetlands of the United States, published by the United States Department of the Interior (including artificially developed inland fresh areas which meet the description of inland fresh areas, types 1 through 5, contained in such Circular 39). No agreement shall be entered into under this Act concerning land with respect to which the ownership or control has changed in the two-year period preceding the first year of the agreement period unless the new ownership was acquired by will or succession as a result of the death of the previous owner, or unless the new ownership was acquired prior to July 1, 1971, under other circumstances which the Secretary determines, and specifies by regulation, will give adequate assurance that such land was not acquired for the purpose of placing it in the program, except that this sentence shall not be construed to prohibit the continuation of an agreement by a new owner or operator after an agreement has once been entered into under this Act. A person who has operated the land to be covered by an agreement under this Act for as long as two years preceding the date of the agreement and who controls the 1 and for the agreement period shall not be required to own the land as a condition of eligibility for entering into the agreement. Nothing in this section shall prevent an owner or operator from placing land in the program if the land was acquired by the owner or operator to replace eligible land from which he was displaced because of its acquisition by any Federal, State, or other agency having the right of eminent domain. Safeguards. The Secretary shall provide adequate safeguards to protect the interests of tenants and sharecroppers, including provision for sharing, on a fair and equitable basis, in payments or compensation under this program. No provision of this Act shall prevent an owner or operator who is participating in the program under this Act from participating in other Federal or State programs designed to conserve or protect wetlands.

2. 1980

   Pub. L. 96–182 · 93 Stat. 1317

   1. Substituted · 16 U.S.C. § 1302

      Pub. L. 96–182, in provisions relating to the reexamination of payment rates, substituted provisions requiring the Secretary to make such reexamination, beginning in 1980, at the beginning of the fifth year of any ten-year initial or renewal period and before the beginning of any renewal period, and make adjustments in accordance with section 1304 of this title, and in agreements in effect for five years or more, requiring the Secretary to make adjustments in the light of current land and crop values for provisions requiring reexamination and adjustment at the beginning of the ten-year renewal period only, and, in definition of “wetlands”

   2. Amended · 16 U.S.C. § 1302

      Pub. L. 96–182, in provisions relating to the reexamination of payment rates, designated existing provisions as cl. (1) and, among other changes

   3. Substituted · 16 U.S.C. § 1302

      Pub. L. 96–182, in provisions relating to the reexamination of payment rates, substituted types 1–7 for types 1–5

   4. Added · 16 U.S.C. § 1302

      Pub. L. 96–182, in provisions relating to the reexamination of payment rates, added cls. (2) and (3)

   Source evidence

   Code amendment note
   Pub. L. 96–182, in provisions relating to the reexamination of payment rates, substituted provisions requiring the Secretary to make such reexamination, beginning in 1980, at the beginning of the fifth year of any ten-year initial or renewal period and before the beginning of any renewal period, and make adjustments in accordance with section 1304 of this title, and in agreements in effect for five years or more, requiring the Secretary to make adjustments in the light of current land and crop values for provisions requiring reexamination and adjustment at the beginning of the ten-year renewal period only, and, in definition of “wetlands”, designated existing provisions as cl. (1) and, among other changes, substituted types 1–7 for types 1–5, and added cls. (2) and (3).

1 of 5 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 4 partial