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ACEP provides financial and technical assistance to help conserve agricultural lands and wetlands through easements. The ACEP regulations are being revised to be consistent with the changes the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) makes to subtitle H of title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985.

The regulatory changes include the following to be consistent with the 2018 Farm Bill changes:  (1) Specify the criteria by which the Secretary may enter into a legal arrangement with an eligible entity that is pursuing a "Buy-Protect-Sell" transaction, (2) modify the non-Federal share contribution requirements provided by the eligible entity, remove the requirement that 50 percent of the non-Federal share be provided by cash resources of the eligible entity, and determine the extent to which the non-Federal share can be comprised by other sources, such as a qualified charitable donation by the landowner; (3) specify the existing policy of the Secretary to adjust ranking and evaluation criteria for geographic differences and to give priority to applications that maintain agricultural viability; (4) introduce additional terms and conditions that may be included in the agricultural land easement deed; (5) specify the existing policy of the Secretary to ensure that a Reserve Grazing Rights Wetland Reserve Easement complies with a grazing management plan, which must be reviewed and modified as needed every 5 years, (6) Identify the criteria under which NRCS may authorize the restoration of the easement area to hydrologically appropriate native vegetative communities or alternative naturalized vegetative communities, subject to certain requirements, and (7) Incorporate changes to NRCS’s modification, subordination, exchange, or termination of ACEP easements.