West Virginia 2004 EQIP Overview

West Virginia has 14 different Local Working Group areas for EQIP allocations and rankings. The areas range from 1 county to 6 counties and cover all of West Virginia’s 55 counties. The Local Working Groups are organized by the West Virginia Conservation District boundaries. In West Virginia, the Conservation Districts are based on the major watershed boundaries in the state.

Each Conservation District convened Local Working Group meetings to identify and prioritize their natural resource concerns which EQIP can address. The Local Working Groups included representatives of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Conservation Districts, State Conservation Agency, Cooperative Extension, Dept. of Natural Resources, Dept. of Environmental Protection, US Fish and Wildlife, County officials, and other elected officials.

The Local Working Groups identified and prioritized the needed practices to address the resource concerns. The prioritized practice information was used to develop a ranking sheet to evaluate EQIP applications in the Local Working Group area. West Virginia has 14 different sets of ranking criteria, each addressing the local needs as identified by the Local Working Groups. Each Local Working Group also developed a cost list for practices to be cost shared in their Conservation District’s area. This information was submitted as the Local Working Group’s proposal for consideration by the State Technical Committee and the NRCS State Conservationist.  The NRCS State Conservationist makes the final decisions regarding EQIP implementation in the state.

A state allocation formula was used to allocate funds to each of the 14 areas. It includes a variety of factors that address items such as acres of grazing land, acres of cropland, number of unfunded applications, etc. These factors take into consideration national and state EQIP priorities and measures. The State Technical Committee reviews the state allocation formula and makes recommendations to the NRCS State Conservationist. Each of the 14 Local Working Groups will receive a funding allocation, based on the state allocation formula. There is no guarantee that every county will receive funding. Applications within the Conservation District will be ranked and funded based on the ranking criteria for that area. Land users in every county will have the opportunity to apply and compete for EQIP funding, but there will not be a county level allocation.

West Virginia NRCS will establish ranking periods to evaluate and rank all applications received until the end of a given ranking period. Applications will be funded as ranked as far down the list as the funding will allow. A cut off date will be established by the NRCS state office as to when funds must be obligated. If a Local Working Groups funds are not obligated by this date, funds may be reallocated to other areas.

ELIGIBILITY

Any producer engaged in livestock or crop production on eligible land may apply for EQIP. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, pasture land, private non-industrial forestland, and other farm or ranch lands as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

SIGN-UP

Application signup is a continuous process and can be done anytime, either online or completed at your local USDA Service Center with NRCS or the Farm Service Agency. Ranking periods are identified and all applications that have been received prior to the ranking period cut-off will be ranked against each other. Applications received after the cut-off date will be held for ranking during the next ranking period.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

As always, technical assistance for EQIP will be available to you at no charge through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). You also have the opportunity to select a certified Technical Service Provider (TSP) to perform your technical assistance. TSPs are private sector or public agencies (such as a State agency) who have one or more individuals certified by the NRCS State Conservationist to perform technical services. Technical assistance provided by TSP’s is required to meet NRCS’s high technical standards. These persons or agencies will be compensated for their services with EQIP funding.

If you are interested in using a provider other than NRCS, you can see if there is a TSP certified to perform the technical services you need for your EQIP contract by visiting http://techreg.usda.gov and click on "TSP Locator." A list of certified individuals is also available from NRCS Field Offices.

For More Information

Please contact NRCS at your local USDA Service Center.

State Contact:

Jim Piper, Assistant State Conservationist
Phone: 304-284-7543
e-mail: Jim.Piper@wv.usda.gov

Map of West Virginia counties

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