Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) administration of the conservation compliance, sodbuster, and swampbuster provisions of Title XII of the Food Security Act.
GAO found that: (1) the act protected only those erodible lands and wetlands that were farmed by USDA program participants, thereby leaving substantial areas unprotected; (2) USDA criteria for determining whether lands required conservation plans further limited the amount of protected lands; (3) the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) identified highly erodible cropland and assisted producers in developing conservation plans for reducing erosion on the land, but lacked the staff and funding it needed to implement the conservation plans by the act's 1995 deadline; (4) USDA may not be able to implement the act's swampbuster provisions by the 1995 deadline because SCS did not identify and classify all wetlands and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) frequently changed exemption criteria for wetland conversions and did not always consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on commenced conversion decisions; and (5) ASCS did not adequately monitor participating producers for violations of conservation provisions.
