(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).
Notes
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 7/27/1991, 21 Pa.B. 3316; amended March 13,
2020, effective 3/14/2020, 50
Pa.B. 1508.
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).
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).
