The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Security Program (CSP), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), are designed to promote conservation goals. In recently issued reports on these programs, GAO assessed

(1) NRCS's process for allocating EQIP funds to the states to optimize environmental benefits,

(2) NRCS's measures to monitor EQIP's performance, and

(3) the legislative and regulatory measures available to prevent duplication between CSP and other conservation programs, such as EQIP.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommended that NRCS

(1) ensure that the factors and weights used in EQIP's general financial assistance formula are documented and linked to program priorities, and data sources are accurate and current,

(2) continue to analyze and use information from its performance measures to revise the financial assistance formula, and

(3) develop a comprehensive process to preclude and identify duplicate payments between CSP and other conservation programs. USDA agreed that the EQIP financial assistance formula needed review and said it has improved oversight to cross-check payments to determine if duplicate payments have been made. USDA did not agree that the EQIP funding process lacked a clear link to the program's purpose.

To see the whole report, go to http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07370t.pdf