§ 88.32. Prime farmland investigation.
(a) The applicant shall conduct a preapplication investigation of the proposed permit areas to determine whether lands within the area may be prime farmland.
(b) Land may not be considered prime farmland if the applicant can demonstrate one of the following:
(1) The land has not been historically used for cropland.
(2) The slope of the land is 10% or greater.
(3) There are no soil map units that have been designated prime farmland by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, on the basis of a soil survey of lands within the permit area.
(c) If the applicant determines after investigation that all or part of the lands in the proposed permit area are not prime farmland, the applicant shall submit with the permit application a request for a negative determination showing that the lands for which the negative determination is sought meet one of the criteria of subsection (b).
(d) If the investigation indicates that lands within the proposed permit area may be prime farmlands, the applicant shall contact the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service to determine if a soil survey exists for those lands and whether the applicable soil map units have been designated as prime farmlands. If no soil survey has been made for the lands within the proposed permit area, the applicant shall cause a survey to be made.
(e) When a soil survey as required in subsection (d) includes soil map units that have been designated as prime farmlands, the applicant shall submit with the permit application a soil survey of the proposed permit area according to the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and the procedures in the United States Department of Agriculture Handbooks 436 (Soil Taxonomy, 1975) and 18 (Soil Survey Manual, 1951), as amended. The soil survey shall include a map unit and representative soil profile description as determined by the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service for each prime farmland soil within the proposed permit area unless other representative descriptions from the locality, prepared in conjunction with the National Cooperative Soil Survey, are available and their use is approved by the State Conservationist, United States Natural Resources Conservation Service.
(f) When a soil survey as required in subsection (d) includes map units that have not been designated as prime farmland after review by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, the applicant shall submit with the permit application a request for negative determination for nondesignated land establishing compliance with subsection (b).
Authority The provisions of this § 88.32 amended under section 5 of The Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. § 691.5); sections 4(a) and 4.2 of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act (52 P.S. § § 1396.4(a) and 1396.4b); section 3.2 of the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act (52 P.S. § 30.53b); section 7(b) of The Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (52 P.S. § 1406.7(b)); and section 1920-A of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 510-20).
Source The provisions of this § 88.32 adopted January 4, 1985, effective immediately upon the approval by the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior and publication thereof in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, 15 Pa.B. 13; amended June 15, 1990, 20 Pa.B. 3383, effective July 27, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 3316; amended March 13, 2020, effective March 14, 2020, 50 Pa.B. 1508. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (239647) to (239648).
Cross References This section cited in 25 Pa. Code § 86.37 (relating to criteria for permit approval or denial); 25 Pa. Code § 86.261 (relating to program services); 25 Pa. Code § 88.61 (relating to prime farmlands); 25 Pa. Code § 88.129 (relating to revegetation: standards for successful revegetation); 25 Pa. Code § 88.217 (relating to vegetation: standards for successful vegetation); 25 Pa. Code § 88.330 (relating to revegetation: standards for successful revegetation); and 25 Pa. Code § 88.381 (relating to general requirements).
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