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Program Description

  Soil Conservation

This program is comprised of staff and other resources from Federal, State, and local agricultural agencies. It provides technical and outreach educational assistance to farmers/rural landowners for implementing best management and conservation practices. The Montgomery Soil Conservation District (MSCD) assists the County to achieve the nationally mandated, State-assigned, Rural MS4 Permit - Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Diet - Watershed Implementation Program (WIP-III) goals. Failure to achieve the WIP-III goals will likely result in the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) instituting the backstop measure which will negatively impact the County and the agricultural community by denying all permits moving forward and harming the County's rural economy/infrastructure with increased regulatory requirements. In addition, the district provides technical assistance to the County with technical reviews and regulatory requirements associated with county stormwater management facility retrofit projects associated with the County's MS4 permit requirements regulated by the EPA and State of Maryland.

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Program Contacts

Contact Jacqueline Arnold of the Office of Agriculture at 301-590-2859 or Seamus McNamara of the Office of Management and Budget at 240-777-2755 for more information regarding this department's operating budget.

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Program Performance Measures

Program Performance MeasuresActual FY24Actual FY25Estimated FY26Target FY27Target FY28
Soil conservation contacts with farmers and landowners to provide technical assistance8,1418,9428,9428,9428,942
Water quality plans completed72106106106106
Percent of interagency site visits coordinated within one business day of agricultural complaint100%100%100%100%100%
Tons of carbon dioxide reduced through conservation and best management practices 1N/A12,43012,43012,43012,430
1  When reviewing this data, it is important to note that it is based on reported values from best management practices (BMPs) implemented on farms. These values are entered into a model that uses various assumptions to estimate the total number of tons.
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Program Budget Changes

FY27 Recommended ChangesExpendituresFTEs
FY26 Approved1975770.90
Multi-program adjustments, including negotiated compensation changes, employee benefit changes, changes due to staff turnover, reorganizations, and other budget changes affecting multiple programs.61420.00
FY27 Recommended2037190.90