The Senate has advanced a bill that would reauthorize a slate of conservation grant programs that fund Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, assistance for producers that lose livestock to endangered predators, and wetlands conservation projects.
The America's Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Reauthorization Act was approved on a voice vote Wednesday. It now heads to the House, where it currently does not have companion legislation. Authorization for the programs expires Sept. 30.
The bill would give grant programs through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act a $5-million-per-year boost in authorized funding, putting it at $65 million annually. The program, which was first authorized in 1989, would provide nonfederal entities with a one-to-one match for wetland restoration projects.
The bill would extend $15 million annual Grant Program for Losses of Livestock Due to Depredation by Federally Protected Species, authorizing $10 million for state fish and game agencies, livestock loss boards, or agriculture departments to compensate producers for livestock losses from predators such as wolves or grizzly bears, and $5 million for “proactive and non-lethal activities” meant to reduce predator-caused livestock deaths.
It also would bolster the budget for EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program, which serves as one of the primary federal funding sources for states and organizations involved in the Chesapeake Bay Partnership. The program is currently authorized at $92 million annually, a figure that would grow to $100 million under the new bill.
Cut through the clutter! We deliver the news you need to stay informed about farm, food and rural issues. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse here.
In addition, the ACE Reauthorization Act would reauthorize the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit chartered by Congress that handles grant-making for several EPA and Fish and Wildlife Service conservation programs and helps coordinate cost-shares with participating agencies.
Senator Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., and ranking member Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., both welcomed the bill's unanimous passage. Carper, in a release, said Senate approval brings lawmakers "one step closer to getting this legislation across the finish line to bolster the conservation programs that fuel our outdoor recreation economy."
"By passing the ACE Act today, the Senate notched a win for conservation and habitat restoration efforts,” Moore Capito said.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has proposed a set of bills to reauthorize both the Chesapeake Bay and Chesapeake WILD programs. Both programs would be renewed through the Senate's ACE Reauthorization Act.
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com.
