CTA – Where We Are and What We Need To Do

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service at the NRCS Conservation Technical Assistance Program State Allocation Formula Team Meeting

Arlington, VA
March 14, 2005

Good morning and welcome. It’s good to see we have an enthusiastic Conservatoin Technical Assistance (CTA) team that’s willing to be here bright and early.

CTA has been the foundation of our agency throughout its 70-year history. But, as we have gained new programs and funding, CTA has not always received the respect it deserves. One reason is that we have never fully defined CTA as an official conservation program. In fact until now, we have never had a formal policy covering CTA. CTA just sort of developed over the years, with policy scattered in many places. What I call random acts of conservation kindness.

But, now we have a policy for CTA, thanks to the hard work of our CTA policy team. The policy provides a format to determine priorities for the CTA program. Those priorities were included an allocation letter that the States received in January.

There are five priorities for CTA, four of which are the same as for EQIP. Briefly, the CTA priorities are
1. Comprehensive nutrient management planning,
2. Reduction of non-point source pollution in impaired watersheds,
3. Reduction of emissions that contribute to air quality impairment violations,
4. Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation on agricultural lands, and
5. Promotion of at risk species habitat conservation.
The allocation letter described these priorities more fully, so don’t rely solely on how I have described them today.

Having a policy and priorities in place is important to continued funding of CTA. The policy and priorities help us treat CTA as the core program it is, and they make it easier for us to demonstrate the benefits of CTA. And, in government today, we need to be able to show what we are accomplishing.

In FY 2003, CTA received an overall rating of “Results Not Demonstrated” under the Program Assessment Rating Tool – PART. The rating score was 59. As a result, the Office of Management and Budget is requiring us to provide an update this year on what we are doing to make the CTA program more accountable.

Since the OMB PART results, NRCS has taken steps to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, focus and accountability of the Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA) Program. Examples include:
• Developing long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and reflect the purpose and priorities of the CTA Program,
• Directing employees through policy that the CTA Program would be used to assist decision makers for conservation planning prior to the commitment or approval of a participant’s funding for financial assistance or easement conservation programs, and
• Releasing a unified, comprehensive policy that brings the CTA Program up to the operational standards of a full-fledged program.
Clearly, Improving our management of the CTA program is one important way in which we can integrate our budgeting and programs, as part of the President’s management initiatives.

We’ve formed this working group of State Conservationists to recommend how to do CTA allocations in the future. Tony Kramer, the State Conservationist from New Jersey, has agreed to lead this effort.

We have used an historical approach to allocating CTA. I doubt that this is the best approach. CTA Program resources need to be directed to accomplish program priorities. We probably need a new approach, based more on natural resource conservation needs.

The CTA Program policy gives us a framework on where your team can base its efforts. The policy
1. States that the CTA Program works in partnership with locally led decision-making processes to address national priorities in concert with local and State needs, that CTA is the principal source of technical assistance and infrastructure support, and that CTA will be used to assist decision makers for conservation planning prior to the commitment or approval of a participant’s funding for financial assistance or easement conservation programs,
2. Places emphasis on using CTA to support development, transfer and maintenance of effective, science-based, historically proven technology and tools (FOTGs) for use in NRCS’s planning and other technical assistance activities,
3. Recognizes the Chief has full discretion to determine fund allocation methodology, and
4. States that on a single or multi-year basis, the NRCS Chief establishes CTA Program national priorities and initiatives to focus resources on a specific program objective(s).

There are several pieces of key background information the team should consider in accomplishing its task:
• The CTA Policy - pay particular attention to the purposes identified in the policy because it identifies the natural resource areas and concerns for the CTA Program;
• Agency Performance Measures/Goals - especially the ones where the CTA Program carries a major load;
• CTA Logic Mode - pay attention to program activities, and work products; and
• FY 2005; national CTA Program Priorities.

A CTA Allocation Formula is needed now to
• Improve the transparency to internal and external audience (defensible)
• Improve accountability,
• Align allocations with the program’s long-term performance measures/goals and also reflects the purpose of the program,
• Improve the overall score from PART and potentially remove the impact of PART on future funding for CTA Program,
• Improve program allocation flexibility to respond to changes in regional and national conservation priorities, and
• Maintain and update allocation methodology.

Several key principles should guide your work:
• Develop a CTA state allocation formula
• Consider a natural resource based formula
• Consider program performance as an element of the allocation formula
• Consider input from conservation partners
• Use iterative process for formula development
• Make formula equitable and defensible
• Align formula with the new CTA Program Manual (policy), CTA performance measures/goals, CTA Logic Model, and CTA national program priorities
• Consistency of formula with other processes used in other programs

Your charge is to develop an allocation formula for the Conservation Technical Assistance Program that is transparent, natural resource driven, and aligns with the CTA Policy, goals and priorities.

Some final thoughts to guide your deliberation:
• Should the formula be entirely natural resource based?
• Should performance be a part of formula?
• Should allocation process have some portion of funding as a base and some portion run through the formula?
• What should be the implementation time frame?

I want to thank each of you for agreeing to serve on this critical and important team. Tom Christensen, Deputy Chief for Programs, will serve as your team sponsor, and Tony Kramer, State Conservationist for New Jersey, will serve as team leader.

I’d like a final product by August 1, 2005, for use/consideration in making FY 2006 allocations. Your final product should also include a strategy for implementing the CTA Program State allocation formula.