RCPP is a partnership-driven funding opportunity in which partner organizations apply for and manage funding, working directly with private landowners, producers, communities, and cooperating partners. 

By leveraging collective resources and collaborating on common goals, RCPP demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships in delivering results for agriculture and conservation.

RCPP projects fall under two different categories:  RCPP Classic and RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFAs). RCPP Classic projects are implemented using NRCS contracts and easements with producers, landowners and communities, in collaboration with project partners. Through RCPP AFAs, NRCS provides funding to partners to support conservation activities with eligible producers and landowners on eligible land. RCPP AFA funding reimburses partners for conservation activities done for or on behalf of producers, landowners, or other entities. 

Successful RCPP projects embody the following core principles:

• Impact—RCPP applications must propose effective and compelling solutions that address one or more natural resource priorities to help solve natural resource challenges. Partners are responsible for evaluating a project’s impact and results.
• Partner Contributions—Partners are responsible for identifying any combination of cash and in-kind value-added contributions to leverage NRCS’s RCPP investments. It is NRCS’s goal that partner contributions at least equal the NRCS investment in an RCPP project. Substantive partner contributions are given priority consideration as part of the RCPP application evaluation criteria.
• Partnerships and Management—Partners must have experience, expertise, and capacity to manage the partnership and project, provide outreach to producers, and quantify the environmental outcomes of an RCPP project. RCPP ranking criteria give preference to applicants that meaningfully engage historically underserved farmers and ranchers.

1. Reduction of non-point source pollution; including soil erosion control and, containment and utilization of manure and waste resulting from animal confinement.
2. Grazing land health.
3. Forestland health.
4. Protection and enhancement of traditionally and culturally utilized resources while protecting ecological functions and values.

Partner Eligibility

Eligible organizations interested in partnering with NRCS on conservation projects can develop proposals  for the RCPP competition. The lead partner for an RCPP project is the entity that submits a proposal, and if selected for an award is ultimately responsible for collaborating with NRCS to successfully complete an RCPP project.

If you are entering into a cooperative, contribution, interagency, or partnership agreement; a federal contract; or a grant agreement with NRCS and you use an Employer Identification Number (EIN), also referred to as a Tax Identification Number (TIN), you will need a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and to be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM).

See the RCPP funding announcements on grants.gov for details about what types of organizations are eligible to apply.  
 

Producer and Landowner Eligibility

Once NRCS selects a proposed project and executes an RCPP agreement with a lead partner, agricultural producers may participate in an RCPP project in one of two ways. First, producers may engage with project partners and delegate a willing partner to act as their representative in working with NRCS. Second, producers seeking to carry out conservation activities consistent with a RCPP project in the project’s geographic area can apply directly to NRCS.
 

Land Eligibility

RCPP projects must be carried out on agricultural or non-industrial private forest land or associated land on which NRCS determines an eligible activity would help achieve conservation benefits (i.e., improved condition of natural resources resulting from implementation of conservation activities).

Eligible conservation activities may be implemented on public lands when those activities will benefit eligible lands as determined by NRCS and are included in the scope of an approved RCPP project.

RCPP projects may include a range of on-the-ground conservation activities implemented by farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. These activities include:

• Land management/land improvement/restoration practices
• Land rentals
• Entity-held easements
• United States-held easements
• Public works/watershed activities

A single RCPP project application can propose to employ any combination of these eligible activity types as part of an RCPP project. For more details about eligible RCPP conservation activities, please see the RCPP Notice of Funding announcement.

Conservation easements protect working agricultural lands, limit nonagricultural uses, and facilitate the restoration and enhancement of wetlands, grasslands, forestlands, and other natural resources.

NRCS’s RCPP easement programs are intended to complement other NRCS easement programs, filling the gaps other NRCS easement programs don’t address. They can be used to conserve various eligible land types that meet the goals of the RCPP project. RCPP easements provide expanded opportunities to tailor easement structure specifically to RCPP project purposes.

RCPP offers two types of easements:  U.S.-Held Conservation Easements and Entity-Held Conservation Easements. Both require Farm Bill eligible lands and landowners, but land uses and land cover are potentially less restrictive in RCPP than they are in other NRCS easement programs.

More information on the RCPP Easements webpage: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/regional-conservation-partnership-program/rcpp-easements 

NRCS will release an announcement for program funding that will outline requirements for proposal submissions for funding. NRCS will review partnership proposals according to the priorities identified in the announcement and make project selections. 

Upon selection of a partnership proposal, NRCS and the partner will enter into a partnership agreement through which they will coordinate to provide producers in the project area assistance. 

Partnership agreements may be for a period of up to five years. NRCS may extend an agreement one time for an additional 12 months if needed to meet the objectives of the program.