1 Introduction to the Conservation Transaction Plug-In Application Arlen Ricke Landscape Planning Specialist Natural Resources Conservation Service Washington, DC The Conservation Transaction Plug-In (Plug-In) is a tool to help streamline the process of third party conservation planning.

2 The Plug-In module allows planners who are not NRCS employees to access the NRCS National Conservation Planning database (NCP), using privately owned computers and third- party planning software, to check out client plan information and check completed plans back to the database. By allowing non-NRCS planners to check plans directly into NCP, NRCS staff will not need to manually input planned practices into Toolkit for later program funding. Why Create a Plug-In Application?

3 The Plug-In The Plug-In is a non-proprietary module available to commercial farm and natural resource management software providers (Transaction Handlers) to incorporate into their product suites.

4 Commercial Transaction Partners Non-NRCS planners download the software containing the Plug-In application from the commercial partners, and with a USDA e-Authentication account and proper permissions, obtain access to authorized folders and records in the NCP to view and update as necessary. NRCS has contracted with GeoAgro, a Florida-based software developer, to provide initial transaction handler services for the Plug-In application through their planning software, CPlanner.

5 The Business Plan To utilize the services of a commercial transaction partner, TSPs, NRCS cooperators and other users of the Plug-In application will pay a fee to the transaction partner. Depending on a transaction partners business plan, this could be a subscription fee, E-filing fee, or other type of service fee. Currently there is no fee for using Cplanner.

Permissions To utilize the Plug-In application, a non-NRCS planner must have a level 2 eAuthentication account and be either a certified TSP in TechReg or be an NRCS affiliate. Non-NRCS planners utilizing the Plug-In must meet any National or State conservation planner certification criteria for the work they will be doing based on their status as a TSP or affiliate. Permissions to view NCP information is granted at the customer folder level by NRCS. Normally, written permission from the customer is required to view this information.

Customer Folders Before a planner can develop or modify a plan using CPlanner, a folder must exist in the NCP for them to access. If a folder doesn’t already exist, an NRCS field employee will create a customer folder and “consplan” file using the NRCS Customer Service Toolkit (Toolkit).

Check In When a plan is checked back into the NCP through the plug-in, a workflow status of “Pending Review” will automatically be assigned to the plan in Toolkit. NRCS planners at the local office will review the plan, using Toolkit, to make sure all required fields are populated and the data looks logical. After reviewing the data, the workflow status will be set to “Approved” or “Pending Correction” by the NRCS planner. If “Pending Correction” is selected, NRCS will contact the non-NRCS planner to let them know the plan is incomplete and needs additional information. When the Toolkit workflow status is set to “Approved” by an NRCS planner, the process is finished and the plan is saved in the NCP.