State Technical Committee Meeting Notice

Updated 03/09/2009

Notice

Upcoming Kentucky State Technical Committee Meeting

The purpose of the meeting is to review the procedures NRCS used to develop the 2009 Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) geographic area rate cap (GARC) and the proposed caps for counties throughout the state.

If you have questions or require special accommodations please contact Deena Wheby at 859 224 7350 or deena.wheby@ky.usda.gov

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 For more information regarding State Technical Committees, visit NRCS Web site at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/StateTech/

       TO:   Kentucky State Technical Committee and Other Interested Persons   

SUBJECT:  Meeting for Wetlands Reserve Program issues 

    DATE:   January 14, 2009                     

A brief meeting of the Kentucky State Technical Committee is scheduled for January 29, 2009, to review the procedures the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) used to develop the 2009 Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) geographic area rate cap (GARC) and the proposed caps for counties throughout the state.  The GARC establishes the maximum easement compensation available to a landowner in a county or counties across the state.  NRCS will also review the statutory provisions in the 2008 Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) regarding WRP easement compensation. 

While all persons are invited to attend, unless otherwise notified, the WRP GARC and easement compensation methods will be the only topics scheduled for the meeting.  A full-agenda State Technical Committee meeting will be held once new 2008 Farm Bill program rules have been published.

The meeting will be held at the NRCS State Office second floor conference room located at 771 Corporate Drive in Lexington. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. and should conclude by 11:30 a.m.

I had hoped by this time that the new Farm Bill program rules would be published and we could discuss them with you, however, as of this date, only the following have been published:

• State Technical Committee Interim Final Rule:  Published on November 25, 2008 and provided to you on December 5, 2008.  Comments are due on or before January 26, 2009.
• Regional Equity Interim Final Rule:   Published yesterday and a copy is attached to this letter.  Comments are due March 16, 2009.
• Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP):  Published today and a copy is attached to this letter.  Comments are due February 13, 2009.  Kentucky does not anticipate participating in the HFRP in fiscal year 2009.

If you have general questions about the meeting or if you require special accommodations, please contact Deena Wheby at (859) 224-7350 or deena.wheby@ky.usda.gov.  Questions specific to the Wetlands Reserve Program should be directed to Jack Kuhn at the same number or jack.kuhn@ky.usda.gov.

Once the rules have been published for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), WRP, and our other conservation programs, I will reconvene the State Technical Committee. 

Thomas A. Perrin

State Conservationist

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