§ 4900 - Vermont agricultural buffer program - Vermont Statutes

§ 4900. Vermont agricultural buffer program

(a) The secretary of agriculture, food and markets is authorized to develop a Vermont agricultural buffer program in addition to the federal conservation reserve enhancement program in order to compensate farmers for establishing and maintaining harvestable perennial vegetative buffers on annual cropland adjacent to the surface waters of the state.

(b) The establishment and annual incentive payments from the agency of agriculture, food and markets under the Vermont agricultural buffer program shall not exceed 40 percent of the combined federal and state payment that the relevant cropland would be eligible for under the federal conservation reserve enhancement program. The incentive payment shall be made annually at the end of the cropping season for a nonrenewable five-year period.

(c) The secretary of agriculture, food and markets may establish by procedure financial and technical criteria for the implementation and operation of the Vermont agricultural buffer program.

(d) Land enrolled in the Vermont agricultural buffer program shall be considered to be in "active use" as that term is defined in 32 V.S.A. § 3752(15).

(e) As used in this section, "surface waters" means all rivers, streams, creeks, brooks, reservoirs, ponds, lakes, and springs which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion of it. (Added 2005, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 55, eff. May 15, 2006.)