(b) On any other lands, upon obtaining proper consent or the necessary rights or interests in such lands. (Apr. 27, 1935, sec. 2, 49 Stat. 163; 16 U. S. C., sec. 590b.)

1084-24. Conditions under which benefits of law extend to nongovernment controlled lands.-As a condition to the extending of any benefits under this Act to any lands not owned or controlled by the United States or any of its agencies, the Secretary of Agriculture may, insofar as he may deem necessary for the purposes of this Act, require(1) The enactment and reasonable safeguards for the enforcement of State and local laws imposing suitable permanent restrictions on the use of such lands and otherwise providing for the prevention of soil erosion;

(2) Agreements or covenants as to the permanent use of such lands; and

(3) Contributions in money, services, materials, or otherwise, to any operations conferring such benefits. (Apr. 27, 1935, sec. 3, 49 Stat. 163; 16 U. S. C., sec. 590c.)

1084-25. Cooperation of governmental agencies; officers and employees, appointment and compensation; expenditures for personal services and supplies. For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture

may

(1) Secure the cooperation of any governmental agency;

(2) Subject to the provisions of the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, appoint and fix the compensation of such officers and employees as he may deem necessary, except for a period not to exceed eight months from the date of this enactment, the Secretary of Agriculture may make appointments and may continue employees of the organization heretofore established for the purpose of administering thos provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act which relate to the prevention of soil erosion, without regard to the civil-service laws or regulations and the Classification Act, as amended; and any persons with technical or practical knowledge may be employed and compensated under this Act on a basis to be determined by the Civil Service Commission; and

(3) Make expenditures for personal services and rent in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, for the purchase of law books and books of reference, for printing and binding, for the purchase, operation, and maintenance of passenger-carrying vehicles, and perform such acts, and prescribe such regulations, as he may deem proper to carry out the provisions of this Act. (Apr. 27, 1935, sec. 4, 49 Stat. 164; 16 U. S. Č., sec. 590d.)

1084-26. Soil Conservation Service; establishment; utilization and transfer of existing governmental agencies.-The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish an agency to be known as the "Soil Conservation Service", to exercise the powers conferred on him by this Act and may utilize the organization heretofore established for the purpose of administering those provisions of sections 202 and 203 of the National Industrial Recovery Act which relate to the prevention of soil erosion, together with such personnel thereof as the Secretary of Agriculture may determine, and all unexpended balances of funds heretofore allotted to said organization shall be available until June 30, 1937, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall assume all obligations incurred

by said organization prior to transfer to the Department of Agriculture. Funds provided in H. J. Res. 117, "An Act making appropriation for relief purposes" (for soil erosion) shall be available for expenditure under the provisions of this Act; and in order that there may be proper coordination of erosion-control activities the Secretary of Agriculture may transfer to the agency created under this Act such functions, funds, personnel, and property of other agencies in the Department of Agriculture as he may from time to time determine. (Apr. 27, 1935, sec. 5, 49 Stat. 164; 16 U. S. C., sec. 590e.)

1084-27. Appropriation authorized. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act such sums as Congress may from time to time determine to be necessary. (Apr. 27, 1935, sec. 6, 49 Stat. 164; 16 U. S. C., sec. 590f.)

1084-28. Additional policies and purposes of Act

Purposes enumerated. (a) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act also to secure, and the purposes of this Act shall also include, (1) preservation and improvement of soil fertility; (2) promotion of the economic use and conservation of land; (3) diminution of exploitation and wasteful and unscientific use of national soil resources; (4) the protection of rivers and harbors against the results of soil erosion in aid of maintaining the navigability of waters and water courses and in aid of flood control; and (5) reestablishment, at as rapid a rate as the Secretary of Agriculture determines to be practicable and in the general public interest, of the ratio between the purchasing power of the net income per person on farms and that of the income per person not on farms that prevailed during the five-year period August 1909-July 1914, inclusive, as determined from statistics available in the United States Department of Agriculture, and the maintenance of such ratio. The powers conferred under sections 7 to 14, inclusive, of this Act shall be used to assist voluntary action calculated to effectuate the purposes specified in this section. Such powers shall not be used to discourage the production of supplies of foods and fibers sufficient to maintain normal domestic human consumption as determined by the Secretary from the records of domestic human consumption in the years 1920 to 1929, inclusive, taking into consideration increased population, quantities of any commodity that were forced into domestic consumption by decline in exports during such period, current trends in domestic consumption and exports of particular commodities, and the quantities of substitutes available for domestic consumption within any general class of food commodities. In carrying out the purposes of this section due regard shall be given to the maintenance of a continuous and stable supply of agricultural commodities adequate to meet consumer demand at prices fair to both producers and

consumers.

Cooperation with States; grants. (b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall cooperate with States, in the execution of State plans to effectuate the purposes of this section, by making grants under this section to enable them to carry out such plans.

State plans. (c) Any State which submits to the Secretary, prior to such time and in such manner and form as the Secretary prescribes, a State plan to effectuate the purposes of this section shall be entitled to payments, as provided in this section, for the year to which such plan is applicable, if such plan is approved by the Secretary as provided in this section.

Conditions of plans. (d) No such plan shall be approved unless by its terms:

(1) It provides that the agency to administer the plan shall be such State agency as may be designated by the Secretary if such agency is authorized by the State, or such other State agency as is authorized by the State and approved by the Secretary;

(2) It provides for such methods of administration, and such participation in the administration of the plan by county and community committees or associations of agricultural producers organized for such purpose, as the Secretary finds necessary for the effective administration of the plan; and

(3) It provides for the submisison to the Secretary of such reports as he finds necessary to ascertain whether the plan is being carried out according to its terms, and for compliance with such requirements as the Secretary may prescribe to assure the correctness of and make possible the vertification of such reports. Approval of plans. (e) Such plan shall be approved if the Secretary finds that there is a reasonable prospect that

(1) Substantial accomplishment in effectuating the purposes of this section will be brought about through the operation of such plan and the plans submitted by other States, and

(2) The operation of such plan will result in as substantial a furtherance of such accomplishment as may reasonably be achieved through the action of such State.

Allocation of funds. (f) Upon approval of any State plan for any year the Secretary shall allocate to such State such sum (not in excess of the maximum amount fixed in pursuance of subsection (g) for such State for such year) as he finds necessary to carry out such plan for such year, and thereupon shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for payment to such agency of the State as the Secretary of Agricul ture certifies is designated in the plan, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to such agency, one-fourth of the amount so allocated. The remainder of the amount so allocated shall be similarly certified and paid in such installments (payable prior to the end of the calendar year) as may be provided in the plan. No such installment shall be certified for payment if the Secretary of Agriculture finds that, prior to the due date of such installment, there has been a substantial failure by the State to carry out the plan according to its terms, or that the further operation of the plan according to its terms will not tend to effectuate the purposes of this section. No amount shall be certified for payment under any such installment in excess of the amount the Secretary finds necessary for the effective carrying out of the plan during the period to which the installment relates.

Apportionment of funds. (g) On or before November 1 of each year, the Secretary shall apportion among the several States the funds which will be available for carrying out State plans during the next calendar year, and in determining the amount to be apportioned to each State, the Secretary shall take into consideration the acreage and value of the major soil depleting and major export crops produced in the respective States during a representative period and the acreage and productivity of land devoted to agricultural production (including dairy products) in the respective States during a representative

period: Provided, however, That any such apportionment of funds available for carrying out State plans during any year prior to 1942 may be made at any time prior to or during the year to which such plans relate. Notwithstanding the making of an apportionment to any State for any calendar year, the funds apportioned to any State for which no plan has been approved for such year, and any amount apportioned to any State which is not required to carry out an approved plan for such State for such year, shall be available for carrying out the provisions of sections 7 to 14, inclusive, of this Act. (Apr. 27, 1935, sec. 7, as added Feb. 29, 1936, sec. 1, 49 Stat. 1148, as amended June 28, 1937, sec. 1, 50 Stat. 329; 16 U. S. C., sec. 590g (a) to (g).) 1084-29. Payments and grants of aid

Duration of authority of Secretary of Agriculture. (a) In order to carry out the purposes specified in section 7 (a) during the period necessary to afford a reasonable opportunity for legislative action by a sufficient number of States to assure the effectuation of such purposes by State action and in order to promote the more effective accomplishment of such purposes by State action thereafter, the Secretary shall exercise the powers conferred in this section during the period prior to January 1, 1942, except with respect to farming operations commenced in any State after the effective date of a State plan for such State approved pursuant to section 7. No such powers shall be exercised after December 31, 1941, except with respect to payments or grants in connection with farming operations carried out prior to January 1,

1942.

Payments and grants of aid; local, county, state committees; rules and regulations. (b) Subject to the limitations provided in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary shall have power to carry out the purposes specified in clauses (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of section 7 (a) by making payments or grants of other aid to agricultural producers, including tenants and sharecroppers, in amounts determined by the Secretary to be fair and reasonable in connection with the effectuation of such purposes during the year with respect to which such payments or grants are made, and measured by (1) their treatment or use of their land, or a part thereof, for soil restoration, soil conservation, or the prevention of erosion; (2) changes in the use of their land; (3) their equitable share, as determined by the Secretary, of the normal national production of any commodity or commodities required for domestic consumption; or (4) their equitable share, as determined by the Secretary, of the national production of any commodity or commodities required for domestic consumption and exports adjusted to reflect the extent to which their utilization of cropland on the farm conforms to farming practices which the Secretary determines will best effectuate the purposes specified in section 7 (a); or (5) any combination of the above. In arid or semiarid sections, (1) and (2) above shall be construed to cover water conservation and the beneficial use of water on individual farms, including measures to prevent run-off, the building of check dams and ponds, and providing facili ties for applying water to the land. In determining the amount of any payment or grant measured by (1) or (2) the Secretary shall take into consideration the productivity of the land affected by the farming practices adopted during the year with respect to which such payment is made. In carrying out the provisions of this section in

the continental United States, the Secretary is directed to utilize the services of local and State committees selected as hereinafter provided. The Secretary shall designate local administrative areas as units for administration of programs under this section. No such local area shall include more than one county or parts of different counties. Farmers within any such local administrative area, and participating or cooperating in programs administered within such area, shall elect annually from among their number a local committee of not more than three members for such area and shall also elect annually from among their number a delegate to a county convention for the election of a county committee. The delegates from the various local areas in the county shall, in a county convention, elect, annually, the county committee for the county which shall consist of three members who are farmers in the county. The local committee shall select a secretary and may utilize the county agricultural extension agent for such purpose. The county committee shall select a secretary who may be the county agricultural extension agent. If such county agricultural extension agent shall not have been elected secretary of such committee, he shall be ex officio a member of the county committee. The county agricultural extension agent shall not have the power to vote. In any county in which there is only one local committee the local committee shall also be the county committee. In each State there shall be a State committee for the State composed of not less than three or more than five farmers who are legal residents of the State and who are appointed by the Secretary. The State director of the Agricultural Extension Service shall be ex officio a member of such State committee. The ex officio members of the county and State committees shall be in addition to the number of members of such committees hereinbefore specified. The Secretary shall make such regulations as are necessary relating to the selection and exercise of the functions of the respective committees, and to the administration, through such committees, of such programs. In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary-shall, as far as practicable, protect the interests of tenants and sharecroppers; is authorized to utilize the agricultural extension service and other approved agencies; shall accord such recognition and encouragement to producer-owned and producer-controlled cooperative associations as will be in harmony with the policy toward cooperative associations set forth in existing Acts of Congress and as will tend to promote efficient methods of marketing and distribution; shall not have power to acquire any land or any right or interest therein; shall, in every practicable manner, protect the interests of small producers; and shall in every practical way encourage and provide for soil-conserving and soil-rebuilding practices rather than the growing of soil-depleting crops. Rules and regulations governing payments or grants under this subsection shall be as simple and direct as possible, and, wherever practicable, they shall be classified on two bases: (a) Soil-depleting crops and practices, (b) soilbuilding crops and practices.

Apportionment of acreage allotments. (c) (1) In apportioning acreage allotments under this section in the case of wheat and corn, the National and State allotments and the allotments to counties shall be apportioned annually on the basis of the acreage seeded for the