Environmental Quality Incentives Program - Maryland

How It Works

Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices.  Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations.  Through EQIP, you can voluntarily implement conservation practices, and NRCS co-invests in these practices with you.

Benefits

Some of these benefits include:

• Reduction of contamination from agricultural sources, such as animal feeding operations.
• Efficient utilization of nutrients, reducing input costs and reduction in nonpoint source pollution.
• Increased soil health to help mitigate against increasing weather volatility and improved drought resiliency.

Applications

EQIP applications are accepted on a continuous basis, however, NRCS establishes application cutoff dates for evaluation, ranking and approval of eligible applications. EQIP is open to all eligible agricultural producers and submitted applications may be considered or evaluated in multiple funding pool opportunities. Applications accepted after the announced deadlines may be considered for funding if additional application rounds are announced or for potential consideration in 2026.  All applications are competitive and are ranked based on national, state and locally identified resource priorities and the overall benefit to the environment. 

For Fiscal Year 2025, the application cutoff date for EQIP Conservation Incentive Contracts is October 25, 2024.

The application cutoff date for new EQIP classic contracts is December 15, 2024.

Cut-off dates for other funding pools include:

• October 25: EQIP Conservation Incentives Contracts
• November 15: EQIP Act Now, CPA-DIA-CEMA Act Now, High Tunnel Act Now, Oyster Restoration Act Now, On-Farm Energy IRA Act Now, Cover Crop Initiative IRA Act Now
• December 15: EQIP, EQIP-IRA, National Water Quality Initiative, Working Lands for Wildlife Golden Wing Warbler, National Air Quality Initiative, National Organic Initiative, Organic Transition Initiative
• December 20: EQIP-IRA Act Now for Cropland, Grazing, Livestock, and Forestry
• February 7: EQIP-Urban

Eligibility

Agricultural producers and owners of non-industrial private forestland and Tribes are eligible to apply for EQIP. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pastureland, non-industrial private forestland and other farm or ranch lands.

Applicants must:  

• Control or own eligible land
• Comply with adjusted gross income limitation provisions
• Be in compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation requirements
• Develop an NRCS EQIP plan of operations

Additional restrictions and program requirements may apply. 

Participant Responsibilities

Applicants are responsible for completing and filing all application and eligibility paperwork as required. If funded, participants are required to sign a contract and agree to implement the planned conservation practices to NRCS standards and specifications as scheduled.

Assistance For Underserved Groups

Maryland is committed to equitable program access for Socially Disadvantaged, Beginning and Limited Resource Farmers/Ranchers, Military Veteran Farmers individuals and groups. These participants may also receive higher payment rates in addition to being considered in high priority funding pools. Enhancements under the 2018 Farm Bill include increased payment rates and advance payments of up to 50 percent to purchase materials and services needed to implement conservation practices included in their EQIP contract. 

National and State Priorities

The following national priorities, consistent with statutory resources concerns that include soil, water, wildlife, air quality, and related natural resource concerns, may be used in EQIP implementation:

1. Reductions of nonpoint source pollution, such as nutrients, sediment, pesticides, or excess salinity in impaired watersheds consistent with total maximum daily loads (TMDL) where available; the reduction of surface and groundwater contamination; and the reduction of contamination from agricultural sources, such as animal feeding operations
2. Conservation of ground and surface water resources
3. Reduction of emissions, such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards
4. Reduction in soil erosion and sedimentation from unacceptable levels on agricultural land
5. Promotion of at-risk species habitat conservation including development and improvement of wildlife habitat
6. Energy conservation to help save fuel, improve efficiency of water use, maintain production, and protect soil and water resources by more efficiently using fertilizers and pesticides and
7. Biological carbon storage and sequestration

In addition, Maryland has identified the following priorities:

• Air Quality Emissions
• Aquatic Habitat
• Concentrated Erosion
• Degraded Plant Condition
• Field Sediment, Nutrient and Pathogen Loss
• Inefficient Energy Use
• Livestock Production Limitation
• Pest Pressure
• Soil Quality Limitations
• Storage and Handling of Pollutants
• Terrestrial Habitat
• Wind and Water Erosion

Decision Making Process for EQIP

Input from Outside Groups, Agencies, and Citizens: The list of eligible practices in Maryland, payment rates and limits, eligible resource concerns, and state scoring criteria are developed based on input and recommendations from the State Technical Committee. The Committee is made up of representatives from various agribusinesses, producer groups, conservation organizations, and federal, state, and tribal government agency representatives.

Act Now

NRCS has developed a faster process to approve producer applications for its conservation programs. Using its “Act Now” authority, NRCS can now pre-approve applications when they meet or exceed a pre-determined minimum ranking score. Applications are ranked according to local resource concerns, the amount of conservation benefits the work will provide, and the needs of applicants.

Applications for eligible practices that meet or exceed pre-determined minimum ranking thresholds will be considered for priority funding when applying to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  No special application is required to be eligible for funding through the Act Now process. 

This means funding decisions can be made without having to wait for all applications to be reviewed and ranked. This can potentially allow farmers to start conservation projects earlier instead of waiting long periods to know if a project will be funded.

Maryland NRCS will utilize Act Now to obligate funding in the following EQIP ranking pools for Fiscal Year 2025. 

• EQIP Act Now (31-point minimum ranking score)
• High Tunnel (125-point minimum ranking score)
• CPA-DIA-CEMA (130-point minimum ranking score)
• Oyster Restoration (92-point minimum ranking score)
• WLFW Golden Winged Warbler (60-point minimum ranking score)
• Organic Initiative (32-point minimum ranking score)
• Beginning Farmer (32-point minimum ranking score)
• Socially Disadvantaged (32-point minimum ranking score)
• NWQI Catoctin Creek (45-point minimum ranking score)
• NWQI Prettyboy (45-point minimum ranking score)
• Little Pipe Creek (45-point minimum ranking score)
• IRA EQIP Act Now (31-point minimum ranking score)
• IRA On-Farm Energy (80-point minimum ranking score)
• IRA Beginning Farmer (32-point minimum ranking score)
• IRA Socially Disadvantaged (32-point minimum ranking score)

Please contact your local USDA Service Center for more information on which practices are eligible in Maryland.

Conservation Incentive Contracts

Incentive contracts are an option available through EQIP that offers producers financial assistance to adopt conservation management practices on working landscapes. 

Producers may use incentive contracts as a “steppingstone” from correcting resource issues on specific land units through EQIP, to achieving sustainable stewardship on their entire operation. Conservation Incentive Contracts are available nationwide and help producers address priority resource concerns, like sequestering carbon and improving water quality in high-priority areas. Incentive contracts now offers new conservation evaluation and monitoring activities to help report outcomes of practices.

Details

• Requires producers to address at least one priority resource concern during the contract period.
• Has an initial length of five years.
• Has a payment limitation of $200,000 for the life of the 2018 Farm Bill.
• Offers two types of payments:
  • Implementation payments, which are paid after certification of the conservation practice.
  • Annual payments, which include management practices, paid as soon as practicable, after October 1 of each fiscal year.
• Offers higher payment rates and advance payments to historically underserved (HU) producers who implement conservation practices in an EQIP Conservation Incentive Contract.