SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)—Gov. Jim Edgar wants a federal program altered to let farmers who weren’t flooded pay those who were for the right to plant on set-aside land. The plan would need the Clinton administration’s approval.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Edgar said the proposal would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue production certificates for the flooded farmland, which could be sold to other farmers enrolled in the federal Acreage Conservation Program.

Al Grosboll, Edgar’s flood response coordinator, said Thursday the proposal had been sent to the White House and USDA early this week. No response had been received as of Thursday, he said.

Steve Kinsella, spokesman for Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, said the proposal had been received and was being reviewed.

Under Edgar’s plan, a farmer with flooded land would receive certificates for his acres. The certificates could be sold to the highest bidding farmer who wants to plant the 5 percent of acres he otherwise would have to set aside as a condition to receiving federal subsidies.

Stephen Scates, executive director of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service in Illinois, which administers farm programs, said he had not seen the proposal. But, he said since the proposal recommends changes to a federal program, it could require congressional approval.

A spokesman for Sen. Paul Simon said the Democrat had no comment on the proposal. A spokesman for Rep. Dick Durbin D-Springfield, a member of the House Appropriations committee, said Durbin had not yet reviewed the proposal.

Grosboll said if there is interest in the proposal, Edgar would travel to Washington to lobby for it.

Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which helped draft the plan, credited Heartland Water Resources Council in Peoria with the certificate concept.

One advantage of the Edgar certificate plan, Hogan said, is that it largely uses private market forces, not tax money, to help the flooded farmers.

‘‘It could be economically profitable, both for the people buying the certificates, and the people selling,’‘ Hogan said.