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<DIV>2006 CSP Sign-Up Announced: <BR>On Jan. 31, Ag Secretary Johanns announced that the 2006 Conservation <BR>Security Program (CSP) sign-up will be held Feb. 13, 2006 to March 31, <BR>2006 in 60 watersheds nationwide. <BR><BR>USDA announced preliminary selection of 110 watersheds for fiscal year <BR>2006 based on the President's budget request. Based on available <BR>funding, CSP will be offered in 60 watersheds across all 50 states, the <BR>Caribbean and Guam. The sign-up will only include those producers who do <BR>not have an existing CSP contract. <BR><BR>To be eligible for CSP, most of a producer's agricultural operation must <BR>fall within the boundaries of a selected watershed. Applications which <BR>meet CSP's minimum requirements as set forth in the amendment to the <BR>Interim Final Rule published in the Federal Register March 25, 2005, <BR>will be placed in enrollment categories. The CSP amendment to the <BR>Interim Final Rule is available for viewing at: <BR>http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/csp/. <BR><BR>This is the 3rd CSP sign-up. During the 2004 and 2005 sign ups, farmers <BR>enrolled nearly 11 million acres in the 220 eligible watersheds. <BR><BR>*******************************************************<BR><BR>2006 CIG Program Announced:<BR><BR>CIG has two competitions available in fiscal year 2006--National and <BR>State. The announcement for program funding for the National competition <BR>is below. Each State administering a CIG competition will announce <BR>funding availability through separate requests for proposals. The <BR>deadline for proposals for the national competition is March 20, 2006.<BR><BR>· Natural Resource Concerns component--Up to $10 million available for <BR>proposals addressing one or more of the CIG natural resource concerns. <BR>This component was also offered in 2004 and 2005. <BR>· Chesapeake Bay Watershed component--Up to $5 million available for <BR>proposals addressing one or more of the CIG natural resource concerns in <BR>the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This component was also offered in 2005. <BR>· Technology component--Up to $5 million available for proposals <BR>addressing one or more of the CIG technology or approach categories. <BR>This component is new in 2006. <BR><BR>For more information, visit <BR>http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/index.html<BR><BR>********************************************************************<BR><BR>EPA Announces First Air Compliance Agreements with Animal Feeding <BR>Operations: <BR><BR>From EPA:<BR>Contact: Dave Ryan, 202-564-4355 / ryan.dave@epa.gov <BR><BR>On Jan. 30, EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) approved the first <BR>20 Air compliance agreements for animal feeding operations (AFOs). Under <BR>these agreements, the AFOs will participate in a nationwide project to <BR>evaluate the air emissions from animal feeding operations and use this <BR>data to develop an effective regulatory program. EPA also is settling <BR>liability for certain past violations against AFOs. <BR><BR>Key to the agreements is an EPA-approved monitoring and research study <BR>conducted by independent researchers. The goal of the study, expected to <BR>begin later this year, is to provide the agency with better air <BR>emissions science and data that can be used to develop a sound, <BR>reasonable and effective air emissions regulatory program. EPA will use <BR>data it gathers to develop emission estimates for farms that can be <BR>applied nationwide. EPA also may develop new compliance standards, <BR>guidelines and enforcement policies. <BR><BR>In the Jan. 31, 2005 Federal Register, EPA offered AFOs an opportunity <BR>to sign a voluntary consent agreement and final order to resolve <BR>potential violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Comprehensive <BR>Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)also <BR>known as Superfund, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to <BR>Know Act (EPCRA). Ultimately, 2,681 AFOs, representing more than 6,700 <BR>farms in 42 states, signed up to participate in the voluntary agreement <BR>by the Aug. 12, 2005 deadline. <BR><BR>The 20 agreements announced today were submitted to the EAB on Nov. 9, <BR>2005, and consisted of 10 swine-raising operations and 10 operations <BR>that raise egg-laying birds. The EAB determined that the agreements <BR>were consistent with applicable statues and regulations under the <BR>federal Clean Air Act (CAA), including penalty provisions. <BR><BR>EPA is evaluating the remaining agreements and plans to send those <BR>satisfying the requirements for participation to the EAB for approval as <BR>soon as possible. <BR><BR>Based on its evaluation of the agreements thus far, EPA has determined <BR>that enough dairies, swine farms, egg-laying operations, and meat-bird <BR>operations have signed up to provide a representative sample for the <BR>monitoring program. However, EPA has not yet determined whether there <BR>are enough turkey operations for a representative sample. A nonprofit <BR>entity will contract with an independent monitoring contractor (IMC) to <BR>implement the monitoring study. The IMC must submit a detailed plan to <BR>EPA for review within 60 days of the respondent's receipt of the <BR>executed agreement. EPA will then have 30 days to review and approve or <BR>disapprove of the plan.<BR><BR><BR>Suzy Friedman<BR>Center for Conservation Incentives at Environmental Defense<BR>Staff Scientist/Ag Policy Analyst<BR>sfriedman@environmentaldefense.org<BR>http://www.environmentaldefense.org<BR><BR>--^----------------------------------------------------------------<BR>This email was sent to: lda@coevolution.org<BR><BR>EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrFaE.bNS0Hg.bGRhQGNv<BR>Or send an email to: agpolicyreform-unsubscribe@topica.com<BR><BR>For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:<BR>http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER<BR>--^------------------------------------------------------</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#004000 size=3 PTSIZE="12">Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR>Coevolution Institute<BR>423 Washington St. 5th<BR>San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>415 362 1137<BR>www.coevolution.org<BR>www.nappc.org<BR><BR><B><I>Our future flies on the wings of pollinators.</B></I></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>