Page 80 - MFB State Annual Meeting 2018 -- RESOLUTIONS BOOK

AFBF Policies – Page 24
the land user for this service. Funding for conservation programs
should be administered by FSA. 12.2. NRCS should:
12.2.1. Act as a non-regulatory mediator of environmental compliance issues with regulatory agencies, on behalf of producers;
12.2.2. Use funding only for agricultural purposes;
12.2.3. Place a high priority on providing quality, technical and
scientific natural resources expertise;
12.2.4. Have adequate funds for technical assistance that are not
tied directly to conservation programs;
12.2.5. Ensure local farmer input on NRCS personnel decisions and
direction of natural resource programs through conservation
districts is maintained for the benefit of producers;
12.2.6. Accept state licenses as proof of qualifications, without
further testing or requirements, to be a Technical Service
Provider;
12.2.7. Amend NRCS regulation to count perennial crops, such as
orchards, vineyards or sod, as prior converted land when the
crop is removed;
12.2.8. Inform landowners and tenants when NRCS officials are
considering changing or altering wetland status on any
portion of their holdings;
12.2.9. Honor wetland determinations made prior to 1990;
12.2.10. Modify existing cost-share programs to allow for NRCS
technical assistance in assessing the long-term availability of water resources and the planning and development of new on-farm water supplies and irrigation systems;
12.2.11. Recognize regional seasonality of farm commodities when determining program sign-up dates; and
12.2.12. Allow an accredited third party or NRCS staff to complete on-site determinations to ensure timely determinations; and
12.2.13. Focus exclusively on agriculture services and cease bringing in influences from non-agriculture groups.
12.3.NRCS should not:
12.3.1. Become a regulatory agency, serve in a policing capacity or
be combined through USDA reorganization with an agency
that has regulatory functions;
12.3.2. Negotiate Memorandums of Agreement or Memorandums of
Understanding with federal regulatory agencies that would give NRCS the power to develop, implement, or police those agencies' regulations on agricultural land; and
12.3.3. Require partnerships, limited liability corporations (LLC) and other farm entities to register on the Standardized Award Management Service (SAMS) site. 
#547 Water Quality
(amendment at line 3.1)
1. Agricultural Point Sources/Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
1.1. Any new rules, regulations or enforcement of the Clean Water Act
(CWA) as applied to concentrated animal feeding operations must:
1.1.1. Take into consideration the unique climate and topography of
each state;
1.1.2. Preserve the 25-year 24-hour storm permit exemption;
1.1.3. Not extend point source regulations to nonpoint sources such
as farm and ranch fields and pastures;
1.1.4. Clarify the definition of process wastewater to exclude water
mixed with minute amounts of feedstuffs or dust around animal
buildings;
1.1.5. Allow individual states to retain control of implementation of
CWA regulations and compliance monitoring; and
1.1.6. Trigger enforcement only by an actual illegal discharge into the
waters of the United States.
1.2. We support: