EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 722 JACKSON PLACE, N.W. WASHINGTON, DC 20006 August 11, 1980
MEMORANDUM FOR HEADS OF AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Prime and Unique Agricultural Lands and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
The accompanying memorandum on Analysis of Impacts on Prime or Unique Agricultural Lands in Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act was developed in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. It updates and supersedes the Council's previous memorandum on this subject of August 1976.
In order to review agency progress or problems in implementing this memorandum the Council will request periodic reports from federal agencies as part of our ongoing oversight of agency implementation of NEPA and the Council's regulations. At this time we would appreciate receiving from your agency by November 1, 1980, the following information:
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identification and brief summary of existing or proposed agency policies, regulations and other directives specifically intended to preserve or mitigate the effects of agency actions on prime or unique agricultural lands, including criteria or methodology used in assessing these impacts.
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identification of specific impact statements and, to the extent possible, other documents prepared from October 1, 1979 to October 1, 1980 covering actions deemed likely to have significant direct or indirect effects on prime or unique agricultural lands.
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the name of the policy-level official responsible for agricultural land policies in your agency, and the name of the staff-level official in your agency's NEPA office who will be responsible for carrying out the actions discussed in this memorandum.
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| GUS SPETH Chairman |
U.S. Department of Agriculture State Land Use
Committee Chairpersons
Mr. William B. Lingle
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 311
Auburn, Alabama 36830 |
Mr. Otis D. Fincher
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
204 Trt$adway Towers
9 East Lockerman Street
Dover, Delaware 19901 |
Mr. Marvin C. Meier
Director, State and Private Forestry
2221 E. Northern Lights Blvd.
Box 6606
Anchorage, Alaska 99502
|
Mr. William E. Austin
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 1208
Gainesville, Florida 32601
|
Mr. Thomas C. Rockenbaugh
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
Federal Bldg., Rm. 3006
230 S. First Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85025
|
Mr. Dwight Treadway
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 832
Athens, Georgia 30601
|
Mr. M. J. Spears
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 2323
Little Rock, Arkansas 72203
|
Nr. Jack P. Kanaiz
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P,O. Box 50004
Honolulu, Hawaii 96950
|
Mr. James H. Hansen
State Resource Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
2828 Chiles Road
P.O., Box 1019
Davis, California 95616
|
Mr. Randall Johnson
Farmers Home Administration
U.S. Department of Agriculture
304 North Eighth Street
Boise, Idaho S3702
|
Mr. Sheldon G. Boone
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.0, Box 17107
Denver, Colorado 80217
|
Mr. Warren J Fitzgerald
Stare Consemationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 678
Champaign, Illinois 61820
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Ms. Maria Maiorana Russell
Assistant Director
Community Resource & Staff Dev.
Cooperative Extension Service
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut 06268
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Mr. Robert Bollman
Assistant State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
5610 Crawfordsvil1e Road, Suite 2200
Indianapolis, Indiana 46224
|
Mr . Rollin Swank
Assistant State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
693 Federal Bldg.
210 Walnut Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
|
Dr. Raleigh Barlowe
323 Natural Resources Bldg.
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
|
Mr. John W. Tippie
State Conservationist
760 South Broadway
P.O. Box 600
Salina, Kansas 67401
|
Mr. Harry M. Major
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
316 North Robert Street
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101
|
Mr. Glen E. Murray
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
333 Waller Avenue
Lexington, Kentucky 40504
|
Mr. Billy C. Griffin
Deputy State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 610
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
|
Dr. Floyd L. Corty
Ag. Econ. & Agribusiness
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
|
Mr. Kenneth G. McManus
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
555 Vandiver Drive
P.O. Box 459
Columbia, Missouri 65201
|
Mr. Eddie L. Wood
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
USDA Bldg. Univ. of Maine
Orono, Maine 04473
|
Mr. Van K. Haderlie
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
Federal Bldg.
P.0. Box 970
Bozeman, Montana 59715
|
Mr. Gerald R. Calhoun
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
Rm. 522, Hartwick Bldg.
4321 Hartwick Road
College Park, Maryland 20740
|
Mr. Russell Schultz
Soil Conservation Service
Federal Bldg.
U.S. Courthouse, Rm. 345
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
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Dr. Gene McMurtry
Assoc. Dir., Coop. Ext. Service
Stockbirdge Hall, Rm. 2ll
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Nassachusetts 01003
|
Mr. Gerald C. Thola
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 4850
Reno, Nevada 89505
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Mr. Roger Leighton
James Hall
University of New Hampshire
Durham, Hew Hampshire 03824
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Mr. Bobby T. Birdwell
Soil Conservation Service
Agricultural Center Office Bldg.
Farm Road & Brumley Street
Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074
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Mr. Plater T. Campbell
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
1370 Hamilton Street
P.O. Box 219
Somerset, New Jersey 08873
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Mr. Guy Nutt
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
Federal Bldg., 16th Floor
1220 SW Third Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204
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Mr. Thomas G. Schmeckpeper
Deputy Regional Forester
U.S. Forest Service
Rm. 5424, Federal Bldg.
517 Gold Avenue, S.W.
Albuquerque, N.M. 87102
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Mr. Thomas B. King
Associate Director
Cooperative Extension Service
The Pennsylvania State University
323 Agricultural Admin. Bldg.
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
|
Mr. Robert L. Hilliard
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
U.S. Courthouse & Federal Bldg.
100 South Clinton St., Rm. 771
Syracuse, New York 13260
|
Mr. Richard F. Kenyon
State Executive Director
Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service
222 Quaker Lane
West Warwick, Rhode Island 02893
|
Mr. Mitchell E. Clary
Assistant State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 27307
Raleigh, North Carolina 27611
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Mr. K.G. Smith
State Director
Farmers Home Administration
240 Stoneridge Drive
Columbia, South Carolina 29210
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Mr. Sylvester C. Ekart
Chairman
North Dakota Land Use Comm.
Federal Bldg.
P.O. Box 1453
Bismarck, North Dakota 58501
|
Mr. Wayne D. Testerman
State Executive Director
Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service
200 Fourth Street, S.W.
Federal Bldg., Rm. 210
Huron, South Dakota 57350
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Mr. Robert R. Shaw
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
Federal Bldg Rm. 522
200 N. High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
|
Dr. M. Lloyd Downen
Director, Agricultural Extension
University of Tennessee
P.O. Box 1071
Knoxville, Tennessee 37901
|
Mr. George C. Marks
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 648
Temple, Texas 76501
|
Mr. Reed Page
State Director of the
Farmers Home Administration
125 South State St., Rm. 5434
Salt Lake City, Utah 84138
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Mr. Coy Garrett
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
One Burlington Square, Suite 205
Burlington, Vermont 05401
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Mr. Manly S. Wilder
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
400 North Eighth Street
P.O. Box 10026
Richmond, Virginia 23240
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Mr. Lester N. Liebel
Ext. Rural Development Coord.
Cooperation Extension Service
Washington State University
417, Ag. Phase II
Pullman, Washington 99163
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Mr. Craig, M. Right
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.0. Box 845
Morgantown, West Virginia 26505
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Mr. Jerome C. Hytry
State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
46Ol Hammersley Road
Madison, Wisconsin 53711
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Mr. Robert W. Cobb
Assistant State Conservationist
Soil Conservation Service
P.O. Box 2440
Casper, Wyoming 82601
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PART 657 - PRIME AND UNIQUE FARMLANDS
Subpart A - Important Farmlands Inventory
657.5 Identification of important farmlands.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 590a-f, q; 7 CFR 2.62 Pub. L. 95-87; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.
Section 657.5 Identification of important farmlands.
- Prime farmlands.
- General. Prime farmland is land that has the best combination
of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage,
fiber, and oilseed crops, and is also available for these uses (the land could
be cropland, pastureland, rangeland, forest land, or other land, but not
urban built-up land or water). It has the soil quality, growing season, and
moisture supply needed to economically produce sustained high yields of
crops when treated and managed, including water management, according
to acceptable farming methods. In general, prime farmlands have an adequate
and dependable water supply from precipitation or irrigation, a favorable
temperature and growing season, acceptable acidity or alkalinity,
acceptable salt and sodium content, and few or no rocks. They are permeable
to water and air. Prime farmlands are not excessively erodible
or saturated with water for a long period of time, and they either do not
flood frequently or are protected from flooding. Examples of soils that
qualify as prime farmland are Palouse silt loam, 0 to 7 percent slopes;
Brookston silty clay loam, drained; and Tama silty clay loam, 0 to 5 percent
slopes.
- Specific criteria. Prime farmlands meet all the following criteria:
Terms used in this section are defined in USDA publications: "Soil
Taxonomy, Agriculture Handbook 436"; "Soil Survey Manual, Agriculture
Handbook 18"; "Rainfall-Erosion Losses from Cropland, Agriculture Handbook 282";
"Wind Erosion Forces in the United States and Their Use in
Predicting Soil Loss, Agriculture Handbook 346"; and "Saline and Alkali
Soils, Agriculture Handbook 60,"
- The soils have:
- Aquic, udic, ustic, or xeric moisture regimes and sufficient available
water capacity within a depth of 40 inches (1 meter), or in the root zone
(root zone is the part of the soil that is penetrated or can be penetrated
by plant roots) if the root zone is less than 40 inches deep, to produce the
commonly grown cultivated crops (cultivated crops include, but are not
limited to, grain, forage, fiber, oilseed, sugar beets, sugarcane, vegetables,
tobacco, orchard, vineyard, and bush fruit crops) adapted to the region
in 7 or more years out of 10; or
- Xeric or astic moisture regimes in which the available water
capacity is limited, but the area has a developed irrigation water supply
that is dependable (a dependable water supply is one in which enough water
is available for irrigation in 8 out of 10 years for the crops commonly
grown) and of adequate quality: or,
- Aridic or torric moisture regimes and the area has a developed
irrigation water supply that is dependable and of adequate quality; and,
- The soils have a temperature regime that is frigid, mesic, thermic,
or hyperthermic (pergelic and cryic regimes are excluded). These are soils
that, at a depth of 23 inches (50 cm), have a mean annual temperature
higher than 32 F (0 C). In addition, the mean summer temperature at
this depth in soils with an 0 horizon is higher than 47 F (8 C); in soils
that have no 0 horizon, the mean summer temperature is higher than
59 F (15 C); and,
- The soils have a pH between 4.5 and 8.4 in all horizons within
a depth of 40 inches (1 meter) or in the root zone if the root zone is less
than 43 inches deep; and,
- The soils either have no water table or have a water table that
is maintained at a sufficient depth during the cropping season to allow
cultivated crops common to the area to be grown; and,
- The soils can be managed so that, in all horizons within a depth
of 45 inches (1 meter) or in the root zone if the root zone is less than 49
inches deep, during part of each year the conductivity of the saturation
extract is less than 4 mmhos!cm and the exchangable sodium percentage
(ESP) is less than 15; and,
- The soils are not flooded frequently during the growing season
(less often than once in 2 years); and,
- The product of K (erodibility factor) x percent slope is less ,than
2.0, and the product of I (soils erodibility) x C (climatic factor) does not
exceed 60; and
- The soils have a permeability rate of at least 8.06 inch (0.15
cm) per hour in the upper 20 inches (50 cm) and the mean annual soil temper-
ature at a depth of 20 inches (50 cm) is less than 59’ F (15’ C); the per-
measlity raote is not a limiting factor if the mean annual soil.temperature
is 59 F (I5 C) or higher; and,
- Less than 10 percent of the surface layer (upper 6 inches) in these
soils consists of rock fragment: coarser than 3 inches (7,6 cm),
- Unique farmland.
- General. Unique farmland is land other than prime farmland that is
used for the production of specific high value food and fiber crops. It
has the special combination of soil quality, location, growing season,and
moisture supply needed to economically produce sustained high quality
and/or high yields of a specific crop when treated and managed according
to acceptable farming methods, Examples of such crops are citrus, tree
nuts, olives, cranberries, fruit, and vegetables.
- Specific characteristics of unique farmland.
- Is used for a specific high-value food or fiber crop.
- Has a moisture supply that is adequate for.‘the specific crop.
The supply is from stored moisture, precipitation, or a developed irrigation
system.
- Combines favorable factors of soil quality, growing seas.on, temperature,
humidity, air drainage, elevation, aspect, or other conditions, such
as nearness to market, that favor the growth of a specific food or fiber crop.
- Additional farmland of statewide importance. This is land, in
addition to prime and unique farmlands, that is of statewide importance
for the production of food, feed, fiber, forage, and oilseed crops. Criteria
for defining and delineating this land are to be determined by the appropriate
State agency or agencies. Generally, additional farmlands of stateuside
importance include those that are nearly prime farmland and that economically
produce high yields of crops when treated and managed according
to acceptable farming methods. Some may produce as high a yield as prime
farmlands if conditions are favorable. In some States, additional farmlands
of statewide importance may include tracts of land rhat have been designated
for agriculture by State law.
- Additional farmland of local importance. In some local areas
there is concern for certain additional farmlands for the production of
food, feed, fiber, forage, and oilseed crops, even though these lands are
not identified as having national or statewide importance. Where appropriate,
these lands are to be identified by the local agency or agencies
concerned. %n places, additional farmlands of local importance may include
tracts of land that have been designated for agriculture by local ordinance.
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