WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mike Lee (R-UT) reintroduced the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill that would reshape EQIP to be more equitable and effective.

Started in 1998, EQIP is a voluntary conservation program that provides farmers and ranchers with federal cost-share grants to implement environmentally-beneficial conservation practices on their farms. Unfortunately, USDA currently turns away two out of every three farmers seeking conservation assistance due to high demand; in 2021, over 87,000 farmers were turned away from EQIP alone.

This legislation would strengthen EQIP by ensuring more farmers and ranchers can participate in the program, particularly small farmers, funding the most effective conservation practices, and giving states more flexibility in implementing the program.

“EQIP is a critical federal program that helps ensure our farming practices are environmentally conscious,” said Senator Booker. “This bipartisan bill advances EQIP’s goal by best utilizing taxpayer dollars to support the most effective farm conservation practices, and by freeing up federal dollars to serve farmers and ranchers who need it most. With this bill, we will see more federal funding go toward providing vital financial support to our small family farmers and ranchers, all while better protecting our environment.”

“Through the EQIP program, taxpayers have subsidized projects with little public benefit,” said Senator Lee. “The Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) Improvement Act will prevent this abuse, freeing up resources for the type of conservation projects the program initially intended to support.”

“I am hopeful that the EQIP Improvement Act of 2023 will level the playing field, allowing more and smaller farms to access much-needed support for conservation and natural resource protection,” said Devin Cornia, Executive Director, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey. “In New Jersey, many small farmers who are already employing conservation practices struggle to participate in federal programs while large-scale industrial agriculture operations receive a large portion of the funding pool. This legislation will support more community-minded, regenerative family farms versus large-scale operations that pose a threat to natural resources and fragile ecosystems.”

“Thousands of farmers are being turned away by USDA when they offer to share the cost of cleaner air and water,” said Scott Faber, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the Environmental Working Group, a national environmental organization. “The reforms proposed in the EQIP Improvement Act of 2023 will allow more farmers to participate in EQIP when they seek USDA assistance to be better stewards. At a time when we need to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, we should be reforming conservation programs to help more farmers participate in programs like EQIP.”

"Our research finds that three out of every four farmers who apply for an EQIP contract are turned down. Cover crops cost less than concrete -- we can get more conservation bang for our buck and reach more farmers, including small and mid-sized farmers by removing subsidies for costly structural practices for the biggest operators through this bill," said Michael Happ, Policy Analyst with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

“National Taxpayers Union endorses the EQIP Improvement Act of 2023,” said Bryan Riley, Director of National Taxpayers Union Free Trade Initiative. “This amendment to the Food Security Act from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) would promote a more efficient and targeted use of taxpayer dollars.”

The full text of the bill can be found here. A list of endorsing organizations can be found here. A summary of the bill can be found here.