U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 3861. Establishment of State technical committees

(a) Establishment

The Secretary shall establish a technical committee in each State to assist the Secretary in the considerations relating to implementation and technical aspects of the conservation programs under this chapter.

(b) Standards

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, the Secretary shall develop—

(1) standard operating procedures to standardize the operations of State technical committees; and

(2) standards to be used by State technical committees in the development of technical guidelines under section 3862 (b) ^[1] of this title for the implementation of the conservation provisions of this chapter.

Each State technical committee shall be composed of agricultural producers and other professionals that represent a variety of disciplines in the soil, water, wetland, and wildlife sciences. The technical committee for a State shall include representatives from among the following:

(1) The Natural Resources Conservation Service.

(2) The Farm Service Agency.

(3) The Forest Service.

(4) The National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

(5) The State fish and wildlife agency.

(6) The State forester or equivalent State official.

(7) The State water resources agency.

(8) The State department of agriculture.

(9) The State association of soil and water conservation districts.

(10) Agricultural producers representing the variety of crops and livestock or poultry raised within the State.

(11) Owners of nonindustrial private forest land.

(12) Nonprofit organizations within the meaning of section 501 (c)(3) of title 26 with demonstrable conservation expertise and experience working with agriculture producers in the State.

(13) Agribusiness.

[1] See References in Text note below.

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