Explanation.
CIG Classic Awards only—State offices listed as the lead State must take the following steps to complete the environmental evaluations for the 19 new national CIG Classic projects:
1. 1. Identify all projects that have a lead project in your State (see Attachment A).
2. 2. Access project proposals and the task worksheet on the Sharepoint site.
a. The “CIG Classic” tab of the spreadsheet labeled “Attachment A. Projects by State 2021” lists all CIG Classic projects awarded in FY 2021.
b. The Project Title is linked to the folder where the project proposal is located and where you will upload your completed NRCS-CPA-52s.
3. 3. Determine if the project has any ground-disturbing activities or physical, chemical, or biological effect on the environment and which States have that type of activity. Projects that are determined to not have ground-disturbing activities should be noted as such on the task worksheet, column H, identifying the type of work that will happen in the project in column I.
4. 4. If the project has ground-disturbing activities or effect on the environment, contact the grantee technical contact listed in the spreadsheet to clearly understand this activity. If the review covers multiple States, be sure to list all States that have been considered in column J. Only one NRCS-CPA-52 needs to be completed by the lead State, provided the lead State can conclude with certainty that no significant adverse impacts will result from implementing project activities at any local site within the multi-State project area. If there is any potential for significant adverse impacts, the lead State should coordinate with each State involved to complete site-specific NRCS-CPA-52s. Note on the task worksheet if an NRCS-CPA-52 is required for all States or just one State.
5. 5. If the project activities do not present new farming activities or have any potential impact to the environment, NRCS-CPA-52 can be completed even if the project sites have not yet been selected.
6. 6. Upload the completed NRCS-CPA-52s to the project-specific folder in the “2021 Awarded Projects - EEs” folder in the CIG SharePoint site. If you have issues with the SharePoint site, please email nrcscig@usda.gov for access. In addition, please fill in the spreadsheet “CIG Classic Projects by State” in this SharePoint folder, marking completion and including any notes CIG staff may need to know, such as if there are any unidentified locations that will need environmental evaluations in the future. If an environmental evaluation is not necessary for a project taking place in your State, please mark that on the tracking sheet or email that determination to nrcscig@usda.gov.
CIG On-Farm Trials—State offices must take the following steps to complete the environmental evaluations for the 18 new national CIG On-Farm Trials projects:
1. Identify all projects with activity taking place in your State on the lists of 2021 On-Farm Trials projects in Attachment A.
. 2. Access project proposals and the task worksheet on the Sharepoint site.
a. The “OFT” tab of the spreadsheet labeled “Attachment A. Projects by State 2021” lists all On-Farm Trials projects awarded in FY 2021.
b. For each project, the Organization Name in column A will be linked to a supplementary tab where you should record all identified producers in your State, whether EQIP eligibility has been confirmed for these producers and whether an NRCS-CPA-52 has been completed for the producer site. You may return to this tab regularly as additional producers are located to maintain a running list of completed environmental evaluations and eligibility checks.
c. The Project Title is linked to the folder where the project proposal is located and where you will upload your completed NRCS-CPA-52s.
3. Prior to contacting grantees, review their planned activities in the relevant proposals found on the CIG SharePoint site.
4. Contact the grantee technical contact listed in the spreadsheet (Attachment A) to discuss the project activities and complete an NRCS-CPA-52 for each producer participating in their project.
5. Upload your completed NRCS-CPA-52 to the project-specific folder in the “2021 Awarded Projects - EEs” folder in the CIG SharePoint site. If you have issues with the SharePoint site, please email nrcscig@usda.gov for access. In addition, please fill in the spreadsheet “Projects by State” in this SharePoint folder, marking completion and including any notes CIG staff may need to know, such as if there are any unidentified locations that will need environmental evaluations in the future.
Note: Some On-Farm Trials awardees have all producers identified upfront while others recruit producers on a rolling basis. Therefore, for some projects, NRCS-CPA-52s can be completed at the onset of the project while others will need to be completed as producers are identified.
State NRCS points of contact for On-Farm Trials identified in Attachment B must take the following steps to complete the participant eligibility checks for all producers receiving an incentive through an On-Farm Trials project in their State:
1. Contact the grantee technical contact listed in Attachment A for each project with activities occurring in your State.
2. Work with the project contact to ensure the following items are addressed for all participating producers prior to the partner initiating technical assistance or conservation implementation with those producers:
a. Producers are registered with FSA. It is the responsibility of the awardee to make sure the producers register, but they should be in communication with you.
b. Producers are EQIP eligible and in compliance with the Farm Bill’s highly erodible land/wetland conservation and adjusted gross income provisions.
All tasks related to known sites for both programs should be completed by June 15, 2022. A webinar to discuss these requirements will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at 3:30 p.m. EST. Participants can join via Microsoft Teams or by calling 202-650-0123, ext. 706780228.
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