IMPROVING FEDERAL ALLOCATION OF EQIP FUNDING
Abstract
The motivation behind this report is to evaluate and respond to past and current decision
pathways employed for determining state allocation of the Environmental Quality Incentives
Program [EQIP] funding under the Natural Resource Conservation Service [NRCS]. We
work to provide justifiable recommendations for how the allocation of EQIP dollars
might be improved, especially as it pertains to improving equity among those states
with the highest priority needs. In this project, we worked with our client, a Program
Analyst at the North Carolina NRCS office, to tailor our recommendations to the specific
concerns of one state. Our client’s specific concern was that North Carolina has historically
been positioned lower in the national ranking of EQIP funding that it receives as
compared to many other large agricultural states.
We reviewed the history of EQIP, examined the past and current decision pathways used
to determine federal allocation of conservation dollars to state NRCS offices, conducted
interviews among NRCS staff, and quantitatively analyzed the funding allocation process.
We provide scenarios for how it might be possible for a state like North Carolina
to increase its allocation of EQIP funding and attain better conservation on identified
lands of highest priority. In this project, the formula we use to develop our quantitative
analysis of the federal EQIP allocation process is the formula used by NRCS for fiscal
years 2009-2011. From our analysis, we developed a number of scenarios that propose
ways in which the funding formula might be changed to better address different social
or environmental issues and to serve those states that, in the past, have struggled
to receive the same budgetary support as other states, and so are less likely to see
the needs of their farmers and the conservation needs of their land be served to the
same degree.
Our evaluation led us to make a number of recommendations that we expect will move
EQIP more in line with its stated goal of optimizing environmental benefits. Our
recommendations are also made with the goal to reduce or eliminate many of the inconsistences
and criticisms that have beleaguered past EQIP funding allocation processes.
Type
Master's projectSubject
EQIPFarms and Ranches
Allocation of Conservation Funding
Environmental Equity
Environmental Quality
Conservation Practices
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6796Citation
Qin, Jianming; Neal, Ashley; Gilbert, Emily; & Liu, Jiemei (2013). IMPROVING FEDERAL ALLOCATION OF EQIP FUNDING. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6796.Collections
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