Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/1832

 12 2 STA T . 1 809PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 46—J U NE 18, 2008 ‘ ‘ (2)theus e ofc o n se rva t i on p ractices that b enefit native an dm ana g ed po l linators . ‘‘(i) STREAMLIN E DAP PLI C ATI O N P ROCE S S. — ‘‘( 1 ) I N G ENERAL.—In carr y ing out each conservation pro - gram under this title , the Secretary shall ensure that the application process used by producers and lando w ners is streamlined to minimi z e comple x ity and eliminate redundancy. ‘‘(2) R E V IE W AND STREAMLINING.— ‘‘(A) REVIEW.— T he Secretary shall carry out a review of the application forms and processes for each conservation program covered by this subsection. ‘‘( B ) STREAMLINING.— O n completion of the review the Secretary shall revise application forms and processes, as necessary, to ensure that— ‘‘(i) all re q uired application information is essential for the efficient, effective, and accountable implementa- tion of conservation programs ‘‘(ii) conservation program applicants are not required to provide information that is readily avail- able to the Secretary through existing information sys- tems of the D epartment of Agriculture; ‘‘(iii) information provided by the applicant is man- aged and delivered efficiently for use in all stages of the application process, or for multiple applications; and ‘‘(iv) information technology is used effectively to minimize data and information input requirements. ‘‘( 3 ) IMPLEMENTATION AND NOTI F ICATION.— N ot later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the F ood, C onservation, and E nergy Act of 2 0 0 8, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a written notification of completion of the requirements of this subsection. ’ ’. SEC.2709 .E NVIRO N M EN TAL SERVICES MAR K ETS. Subtitle E of title X II of the Food Security Act of 1 9 8 5 is amended by inserting after section 12 4 4(1 6U .S.C. 3844) the fol- lowing new section

‘SEC. 1 2 45 . ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES MARKETS. ‘‘(a) TEC H NICAL GU IDELINES RE Q UIRED.—The Secretary shall establish technical guidelines that outline science-based methods to measure the environmental services benefits from conservation and land management activities in order to facilitate the participa- tion of farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in emerging environmental services mar k ets. The Secretary shall give priority to the establishment of guidelines related to farmer, rancher, and forest landowner participation in carbon markets. ‘‘(b) ESTA B LISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish guidelines under subsection (a) for use in developing the following: ‘‘(1) A procedure to measure environmental services bene- fits. ‘‘(2) A protocol to report environmental services benefits. ‘‘(3) A registry to collect, record and maintain the benefits measured. ‘‘(c) V ERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF REPORTS.—The Secretary shall estab- lish guidelines for a process to verify that a farmer, rancher, or forest landowner who reports an environmental services 16USC3845.

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