NAQI Funding for New Farm Equipment
Funding is available to help agricultural producers meet air quality compliance requirements and to support practices that address impacts associated with greenhouse gases through NAQI, an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) which is a voluntary, conservation program administered by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). EQIP promotes agricultural production, forest management, and environmental quality as compatible goals; to optimize environmental benefits; and to help farmers and ranchers meet Federal, State, Tribal, and local environment regulations.
Funds are available to reduce diesel exhaust emissions through the removal from service and permanent destruction of:
- A fully functional in-use off-road mobile agricultural equipment that is powered and self-propelled by a nonroad compression-ignition engine (e.g. diesel-fueled engines) rated at 25.0 brake-horsepower (bhp) or higher; and
- Replace with a new “like” off-road mobile agricultural equipment powered and self-propelled by a new nonroad diesel engine rated at 25.0 bhp or higher that meets Tier 4 emissions-certification, or meets 2016-2017 model-year California emission standards or equivalent.
Examples of off-road mobile equipment used exclusively in agriculture and powered and self-propelled by nonroad diesel engines eligible for NAQI include:
- Tractors
- Loaders
- Bulldozers
- Harrowbeds
- Rough-Terrain Forklifts
- Harvesters
- Sprayers
- Sweepers
- Combines
- Swathers
Eligible applicants must:
- Be an agricultural producer
- Control or own eligible land
- Comply with adjusted gross income (AGI) for less than $900,000
- Be in compliance with the highly erodible land and wetland conservation requirements
- Develop an NRCS EQIP plan of operations that addresses at least one natural resource concern related to air quality impacts.
For 2017, interested owners and/or operators of land managed for agricultural production in the following counties may be eligible for the National Air Quality Initiative: Alameda, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba. For more information on the resource priority for each county refer to pages three and four of the funding notice.
Payment rates for Combustion System Improvement vary depending on bhp and horse power (HP) and can be found here (Practice Code 372).
NRCS accepts EQIP applications year-round. The full request for proposals can be found here.
For more information on this grant or how to apply with Morrison's assistance, please contact the Morrison Grants Team by email at grants@morrisonco.net or call us at 530.893.4764.