(a) During the first half of the fifth year of the initial contract period, NRCS may allow a participant to apply and compete for the opportunity under §1470.20 to renew the contract to receive payments for one additional 5-year period, subject to the availability of funds, if the participant meets criteria from paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) To be considered for contract renewal, the participant must—

(1) Be in compliance with the terms of their existing contract as determined by NRCS;

(2) Add any newly acquired eligible land that is part of the agricultural operation that NRCS determines must be included in the renewal contract;

(3) Agree to adopt and continue to integrate new or improved conservation activities across the entire agricultural operation, demonstrating continued improvement during the additional 5-year period, as determined by NRCS; and

(4) By the end of the renewal contract period, agree to meet or exceed the stewardship threshold of at least two additional priority resource concerns on the agricultural operation; or to adopt or improve conservation activities, as determined by NRCS, to achieve higher levels of conservation performance with respect to not less than two existing priority resource concerns that are specified by the Chief in the initial contract.

(c) Participants eligible for renewal who choose not to renew will be ineligible for a new contract on land previously enrolled under a conservation stewardship contract for 2 years following expiration of their initial contract.