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Federal Register/Vol. 74, No. 10/Thursday, January 15, 2009/Rules and Regulations
through the restoration cost-share
agreement.
Section 1467.4(b) is revised to remove
reference to CRP easements with respect
to a county cap limitation since this
enrollment option is not provided
through the existing CRP. Additionally,
the 2008 Act removed the ability to
waive the 10% limitation of cropland
that can be enrolled through an
easement option under WRP. Therefore,
this paragraph has been revised to
reflect the 2008 Act amendments.
Section 1467.4(c) is revised to clarify
that eligible program participants are
persons or legal entities or Indian Tribes
and are subject to the adjusted gross
income (AGI) limitation and highly
erodible land and wetland compliance
provisions of the Food Security Act of
1985, as amended. Indian Tribes are
exempted from the AGI and payment
limitations by 7 CFR Part 1400.600(g).
Section 1467.4(c)(2) is revised to
reflect the statutory change in required
ownership period from 12 months to 7
years. NRCS will determine the 7-year
ownership requirement at the time
NRCS determines the eligibility of the
land offered for enrollment. Previously,
NRCS measured ownership duration at
the time of application. However, NRCS
determined that as an eligibility
criterion, ownership duration should be
determined as part of the eligibility
review of a project.
A new 1467.4(d)) is added to specify
that land that is accepted for enrollment
in an easement, but is sold or
transferred prior to the easement being
perfected will be removed from
enrollment. The new landowner may
file a new application so that all
landowner eligibility criteria may be
examined and documented
appropriately. However, the land
eligibility, ranking, and other
administrative determinations that
relate to the land will remain valid for
the remainder of the funding cycle.
Section 1467.4(d) is redesignated as
1467.4(e) and is revised to reflect the
requirement made by the 2008 Act
amendments that land must be private
land or acreage owned by Indian Tribes
to be eligible for WRP.
Section 1467.4(e)(3), formerly
1467.4(d)(2), is revised to provide the
new eligible land category for flooded
lands within a closed basin lake or
pothole as established by the
amendments in the 2008 Act. This
change authorizes the enrollment of
lands that are currently inundated.
Section 1467.4(e)(4) is revised to add
clarity related to lands that may be
considered farmed wetland or converted
wetland, and conform to revisions madein 1467.4(e)(3). The lands identified
were previously identified in regulation
but the revision ties their identification
more clearly to statutory criteria.
Section 1467.4(e)(5) Prairie Pothole
Region adds new language to provide
eligibility criteria for land being
enrolled under the new eligibility
category of flooded lands in a closed
basin located in the Prairie Pothole
Region as defined in 1467.3. The
Prairie Pothole Region is defined as the
counties designated as part of the Prairie
Pothole National Priority Area for CRP
as of June 18, 2008. This designation is
chosen because it is clearly delineated
and is already an established and well-
known designation. The 2008 Act
amendments require that lands under
this section maximize wildlife benefits
and wetland values and functions and
be restorable. In order for a wetland to
be restorable, the soils must be hydric,
and the depth of the water cannot
exceed 6.5 feet because water over this
level is considered open water, not a
wetland. The minimum size
requirement of 20 contiguous acres is
included to focus enrollment on lands
that are not eligible under the
Conservation Reserve Program Flooded
Farmland program, which allows
enrollment of parcels under 20
contiguous acres in size.
Section 1467.4(e)(6) restructures
language previously under
1467.4(d)(3)(iii) through (vi) regarding
eligibility of lands adjacent to land
eligible under 1467.4(e)(3). The change
results in increased cohesiveness in the
description of eligible lands and more
clearly comports with statutory intent
by rewording the existing language.
Land identified in this paragraph may
include types of land that could be
considered eligible under 1467.4(e)(3).
For example, paragraph (e)(6) identifies
restored wetlands as eligible adjacent
lands. However, some restored wetlands
that are not adjacent to eligible land
may be identified as farmed wetlands
and thus eligible under 1467.4(e)(3),
while other restored wetlands may not
have an agricultural history, and thus
would only be eligible as adjacent
eligible land under paragraph (e)(6). The
identification of restored wetlands
under paragraph (e)(6) is not intended to
preclude the enrollment of restored
agricultural wetlands under
1467.4(e)(3), but to facilitate the
enrollment of restored adjacent non-
agricultural wetlands if their enrollment
furthers the functions and values of
eligible agricultural wetlands.
Section 1467.4(e)(7) is revised to
clarify that eligible land must be
configured with boundaries that allow
for efficient management for theprogram purposes, as determined by
NRCS, by changing the term "easement"
to "program."
Section 1467.4(g)(3) is revised by
clarifying that land held in trust for
Indian Tribes, though owned by an
agency of the United States, is not
ineligible. Section 1467.4(g)(4) adds
language incorporating the statutory
change that lands owned by State and
local units of government are not
eligible for WRP. Section 1467.4(g)(5)
also revises the language describing
when an existing deed restriction causes
land to be ineligible for participation to
provide more administrative flexibility
to determine whether wetland functions
and values are adequately protected by
such restrictions. When existing
restrictions provide adequate wetland
protection benefits, WRP enrollment is
superfluous and unnecessary. In Section
1467.4(g)(6) NRCS provides examples of
the types of lands where
implementation of restoration practices
would be undermined due to on-site or
off-site conditions.
Section 1467.5 Application Procedures
The requirement that applications
must be submitted during an announced
period for such submissions is removed
from 1467.5(a), because NRCS
provides for continuous enrollment in
WRP.
In 1467.5(b) the term "Department"
is replaced with "NRCS."
NRCS has removed paragraph (c)
since the criteria about reduced
easement cost as a ranking factor is
addressed in revisions made to 1467.6.
Section 1467.6 Establishing Priority for
Enrollment of Properties in WRP
Section 1467.6(a) is removed to
eliminate duplicative language related
to enrollment priorities from this
regulation. Section 1467.6(b) is re-
designated as 1467.6(a) and clarifies
that the same ranking considerations
apply to all enrollment options.
Language is added to reflect additional
ranking considerations added to the
WRP statute by the 2008 Act. Section
1467.6 now reflects the priorities
identified in the WRP statute, including:
The conservation benefits of obtaining
an easement, or other interest in the
land; the cost effectiveness of each
easement or other interest in eligible
land, so as to maximize the
environmental benefits per dollar
expended; whether the landowner or
another person is offering to contribute
financially to the cost of the easement
or other interest in the land to leverage
Federal funds; the extent to which the
purposes of the easement program
would be achieved on the land; theproductivity of the land; and the on-
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United States. Office of the Federal Register. Federal Register, Volume 74, Number 10, January 15, 2009, Pages 2293-2756, periodical, January 15, 2009; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc132872/m1/41/: accessed May 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.