PAYMENTS.

SEC. 1434. PAYMENTS. (a) Cost Share Assistance.— Section 1234(b) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(b)) is amended to read as follows: “(b) (1) In making cost sharing payments to an owner or operator under a contract entered into under this subchapter, the Secretary shall pay 50 percent of the cost of establishing water quality and conservation measures and practices required under such contracts for which the Secretary determines that cost-sharing is appropriate and in the public interest. “(2) The Secretary shall not make any payment under this subchapter to the extent that the total amount of cost sharing payments provided to such owners and operators from all sources would exceed 100 percent of the total establishment costs. “(3) In the case of land devoted to the production of hardwood trees, windbreaks, shelterbelts, or wildlife corridors under a contract entered into under this subchapter after the date of enactment of this section, or in the case of land converted to such production under section 1235A, the Secretary, in making cost share payments to an owner or operator of such land, shall pay 50 percent of the reasonable and necessary costs, as determined by the Secretary, incurred by such owner or operator for maintaining such plantings that are trees or shrubs, including the cost of replanting (if the trees or shrubs were lost due to conditions beyond the control of the owner or operator), during not less than the 2-year, and not more than the 4-year, period beginning on the date of such plantings, as determined appropriate by the Secretary. “(4) The Secretary may permit owners or operators who contract to devote at least 10 acres of land to the production of hardwood trees under this subchapter to extend the planting of such trees over a 3-year period if at least one-third of such trees are planted in each of the first 2 years. “(5) An owner or operator shall not be eligible to receive or retain cost share assistance under this subsection if such owner or operator receives any other Federal cost share assistance with respect to such land under any other provision of law.”. (b) Acceptability of Offers; Continuous Sign-Up for Hardwood Trees.— (1) Acceptability of offers.— Section 1234(c)(3) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(c)(3)) is amended to read as follows: “(3) In determining the acceptability of contract offers, the Secretary may— “(A) take into consideration the extent to which enrollment of the land that is the subject of the contract offer would improve soil resources, water quality, wildlife habitat, or provide other environmental benefits; and “(B) establish different criteria in various States and regions of the United States based upon the extent to which water quality or wildlife habitat may be improved or erosion may be abated.”. (2) Continuous sign-up for hardwood trees.— Section 1234(c) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(c)) is104 STAT. 3582 further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: “(4) In the case of acreage enrolled in the conservation reserve established under this subchapter that is to be devoted to hardwood trees, the Secretary may consider bids for contracts tinder this subsection on a continuous basis.”. (c) State Payments.— Section 1234(d) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(4) Payments to a producer under a special conservation reserve enhancement program described in subsection (f)(4) shall be in the form of cash only.”. (d) Other Payments.— Section 1234(f)(3) of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834(f)(3)) is amended by inserting “, the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990,” after “this Act”. (e) Exemption From Sequestration; Other State Payments.— Section 1234 of the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3834) is amended further by adding at the end the following new subsections: “(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no order issued for any fiscal year under section 252 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended (2 U.S.C. 902) shall affect any payment under any contract entered into at any time that is subject to this subchapter, including contracts entered into prior to the date of enactment of this subsection. “(h) In addition to any payment under this subchapter, an owner or operator may receive cost share assistance, rental payments, or tax benefits from a State or subdivision thereof for enrolling lands in the conservation reserve program.”.