(a) Subject to the availability of funds, annual rental payments will be made in such amount and in accordance with such time schedule as specified in the CRP contract.

(b) Annual rental payments are based on a weighted average soil rental rate, marginal pastureland rental rate, or grassland rate, as appropriate, and may include an incentive payment as a portion of the annual payment for specified practices. A per-acre national maximum rental payment rate may also be established by CCC for certain categories of CRP offers and contracts.

(c) The annual rental payment will be divided among the participants on a CRP contract as agreed to in such CRP contract.

(d) Limitations on annual rental payments include:

(1) The maximum amount of annual rental payments that a person or entity may receive, directly or indirectly, under CRP for any fiscal year must not exceed $50,000. The regulations in part 1400 of this chapter will be used to determine if the limit has been reached or exceeded.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(1) of this section, annual rental payments received by a rural water district or association for land enrolled in CRP for the purpose of protecting a wellhead may exceed $50,000.

(e) In the case of a contract succession, annual rental payments will be divided between the predecessor and the successor participants as agreed to among the participants and approved by CCC. If there is no agreement among the participants, annual rental payments will be divided in such manner deemed appropriate by CCC, and such distribution may be prorated based on the actual days of ownership of the property by each party.

(f) CCC will prepare a schedule for each county that shows the maximum soil rental rate CCC may pay and which may be supplemented to reflect special contract requirements. Such schedule may be calculated for cropland based on the relative productivity of soils within the county using NRCS data and local FSA average cash rental estimates. For marginal pastureland, rental rates will be based on estimates of the prevailing rental values of marginal pastureland in riparian areas. Grassland rental rates will be based on not more than 75 percent of the estimated grazing value of the land. The schedule will be available in the local FSA office and will indicate, when appropriate, that:

(1) Offers by producers who request rental payments greater than the maximum payment rate for their offer will be rejected;

(2) Offers submitted under continuous signup authorized at §1410.30(b) may be accepted without further evaluation when the requested payment rate is less than or equal to the maximum payment rate for the offer; and

(3) Otherwise qualifying offers will be ranked competitively based on factors established under §1410.31 in order to provide the most cost-effective environmental benefits.

(g) In the case of an owner or operator who transfers acreage to a wetland reserve easement in accordance with §1410.10, annual rental payments will be prorated based on the actual number of days the transferred acreage was enrolled in CRP.