[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 10]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR1491.22]

[Page 797]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
  CHAPTER XIV--COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 1491_FARM AND RANCH LANDS PROTECTION PROGRAM--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart B_Cooperative Agreements and Conservation Easement Deeds
 
Sec. 1491.22  Conservation easement deeds.

    (a) Under FRPP, a landowner grants an easement to an eligible entity 
with which NRCS has entered into an FRPP cooperative agreement. The 
easement shall require that the easement area be maintained in 
accordance with FRPP goals and objectives for the term of the easement.
    (b) Pending offers by an eligible entity must be for acquiring an 
easement in perpetuity, except where State law prohibits a permanent 
easement.
    (c) The conveyance document or conservation easement deed used by 
the eligible entity may be reviewed and approved by the NRCS National 
Office and Office of the General Counsel (OGC) before being recorded.
    (d) The conservation easement deed must identify the United States 
as a grantee with rights as set forth in the deed. Among the rights that 
the United States acquires in each conservation easement is the right to 
enforce the terms of the easement under specified conditions and the 
right to assume sole title to the conservation easement should the 
grantee abandon or attempt to terminate the conservation easement.
    (e) As a condition for participation, a conservation plan will be 
developed by NRCS in consultation with the landowner and implemented 
according to the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide and approved by the 
local conservation district. The conservation plan will be developed and 
managed in accordance with the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, 7 
CFR part 12 or subsequent regulations, and other requirements as 
determined by the State Conservationist. To ensure compliance with this 
conservation plan, the easement will grant to the United States, through 
NRCS, its successors or assigns, a right of access to the easement area.
    (f) The cooperating entity shall acquire, hold, manage and enforce 
the easement. The cooperating entity may have the option to enter into 
an agreement with governmental or private organizations to carry out 
easement stewardship responsibilities if approved by NRCS.
    (g) Prior to fund disbursement, NRCS must sign the conservation 
easement, concurring with the terms of the conservation easement and 
accepting its interest in the conservation easement deed.
    (h) All conservation easement deeds acquired with FRPP funds must be 
recorded. Proof of recordation shall be provided to NRCS by the 
cooperating entity.
    (i) Impervious surfaces shall not exceed 2 percent of the FRPP 
easement area, excluding NRCS-approved conservation practices. However, 
the NRCS State Conservationist may waive the 2 percent impervious 
surface limitation on a parcel-by-parcel basis, provided no more than 
six percent of the easement area is covered by impervious surfaces. The 
NRCS State Conservationist must consider, at a minimum, population 
density, the ratio of open prime and important soil versus impervious 
surfaces on the easement area, and parcel size when deciding whether to 
waive the two percent limitation. All FRPP easements must include 
language limiting the amount of impervious surfaces within the easement 
area.

[68 FR 26474, May 16, 2003, as amended at 71 FR 42572, July 27, 2006]

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