[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 6]
[Revised as of January 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR650.25]

[Page 524-528]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
   CHAPTER VI--NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                               AGRICULTURE
 
PART 650_COMPLIANCE WITH NEPA--Table of Contents
 
                Subpart B_Related Environmental Concerns
 
Sec. 650.25  Flood-plain management.

    Through proper planning, flood plains can be managed to reduce the 
threat to human life, health, and property in ways that are 
environmentally sensitive. Most flood plains are valuable for 
maintaining agricultural and forest products for food and fiber, fish 
and wildlife habitat, temporary floodwater storage, park and recreation

[[Page 525]]

areas, and for maintaining and improving environmental values. NRCS 
technical and financial assistance is provided to land users primarily 
on non-Federal land through local conservation districts and other State 
and local agencies. Through its programs, NRCS encourages sound flood-
plain management decisions by land users.
    (a) Policy--(1) General. NRCS provides leadership and takes action, 
where practicable, to conserve, preserve, and restore existing natural 
and beneficial values in base (100-year) flood plains as part of 
technical and financial assistance in the programs it administers. In 
addition, 500-year flood plains are taken into account where there are 
``critical actions'' such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, 
utilities, and facilities producing or storing volatile, toxic, or 
water-reactive materials.
    (2) Technical assistance. NRCS provides leadership, through 
consultation and advice to conservation districts and land users, in the 
wise use, conservation, and preservation of all land, including flood 
plains. Handbooks, manuals, and internal memoranda set forth specific 
planning criteria for addressing flood-plain management in NRCS-assisted 
programs. The general procedures and guidelines in this part comply with 
Executive Order (E.O.) 11988, Floodplain Management, dated May 24, 1977, 
and are consistent with the Water Resources Council's Unified National 
Program for Floodplain Management.
    (3) Compatible land uses. The NRCS Administrator has determined that 
providing technical and financial assistance for the following land uses 
is compatible with E.O. 11988:
    (i) Agricultural flood plains that have been used for producing 
food, feed, forage, fiber, or oilseed for at least 3 of the 5 years 
before the request for assistance; and
    (ii) Agricultural production in accordance with official State or 
designated area water-quality plans.
    (4) Nonproject technical and financial assistance programs. The NRCS 
Administrator has determined that NRCS may not provide technical and 
financial assistance to land users if the results of such assisted 
actions are likely to have significant adverse effects on existing 
natural and beneficial values in the base flood plain and if NRCS 
determines that there are practicable alternatives outside the base 
flood plain. NRCS will make a case-by-case decision on whether to limit 
assistance whenever a land user proposes converting existing 
agricultural land to a significantly more intensive agricultural use 
that could have significant adverse effects on the natural and 
beneficial values or increase flood risk in the base flood plain. NRCS 
will carefully evaluate the potential extent of the adverse effects and 
any increased flood risk.
    (5) Project technical and financial assistance programs. In planning 
and installing land and water resource conservation projects, NRCS will 
avoid to the extent possible the long and short-term adverse effects of 
the occupancy and modification of base flood plains. In addition, NRCS 
also will avoid direct or indirect support of development in the base 
flood plain wherever there is a practicable alternative. As such, the 
environmental evaluation required for each project action (Sec. 650.5 
of this part) will include alternatives to avoid adverse effects and 
incompatible development in base flood plains. Public participation in 
planning is described in Sec. 650.6 of this part and will comply with 
section 2(a)(4) of E.O. 11988. Flood-plain management requires the 
integration of these concerns into NRCS's National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) process for project assistance programs as described in 
Section 650 of this part.
    (6) Real property and facilities under NRCS ownership or control. 
NRCS owns or controls about 30 properties that are used primarily for 
the evaluation and development of plant materials for erosion control 
and fish and wildlife habitat plantings (7 CFR Part 613, Plant Materials 
Centers, 16 U.S.C. 590 a-e, f, and 7 U.S.C. 1010-1011). If NRCS real 
properties or facilities are located in the base flood plain, NRCS will 
require an environmental evaluation when new structures and facilities 
or major modifications are proposed. If it is determined that the only 
practicable alternative for siting the proposed action may adversely 
affect the base flood plain, NRCS will design or modify its

[[Page 526]]

action to minimize potential harm to or within the flood plain and will 
prepare and circulate a notice explaining why the action is proposed to 
be located in the base flood plain. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) flood insurance maps, other available maps, 
information, or an onsite analysis will be used to determine whether the 
proposed NRCS action is in the base flood plain. Public participation in 
the action will be the same as described in Sec. 650.6 of this part.
    (b) Responsibility. NRCS provides technical and financial assistance 
to land users primarily through conservation districts, special purpose 
districts, and other State or local subdivisions of State government. 
Acceptance of this assistance is voluntary on the part of the land user. 
NRCS does not have authority to make land use decisions on non-Federal 
land. NRCS provides the land user with technical flood hazard data and 
information on flood-plain natural values. NRCS informs the land user 
how alternative land use decisions may affect the aquatic and terrestial 
ecosystems, human safety, property, and public welfare. Alternatives to 
flood-plain occupancy, modification, and development are discussed 
onsite with the land user by NRCS.
    (1) NRCS National Office. (Sec. 600.2 of this part). The NRCS 
Administrator, state conservationist, and district conservationist are 
the responsible Federal officials in NRCS for implementing the policies 
expressed in these rules. Any deviation from these rules must be 
approved by the Administrator. The Deputy Administrator for Programs has 
authority to oversee the application of policy in NRCS programs. 
Oversight assistance to state conservationists for flood-plain 
management will be provided by the NRCS technical service centers (Sec. 
600.3 of this part).
    (2) NRCS state offices. (Sec. 600.4 of this part). Each state 
conservationist is the responsible Federal official in all NRCS-assisted 
programs administered within the State. He or she is also responsible 
for administering the plant materials centers within the State. The 
state conservationist will assign a staff person who has basic knowledge 
of landforms, soils, water, and related plant and animal ecosystems to 
provide technical oversight to ensure that assistance to land users and 
project sponsors on the wise use, conservation, and preservation of 
flood plains is compatible with national policy. For NRCS-assisted 
project actions, the staff person assigned by the state conservationist 
will consult with the local jurisdictions, sponsoring local 
organizations, and land users, on the basis of an environmental 
evaluation, to determine what constitutes significant adverse effects or 
incompatible development in the base flood plain. The state 
conservationist is to prepare and circulate a written notice for NRCS-
assisted actions for which the only practicable alternative requires 
siting in a base flood plain and may result in adverse effects or 
incompatible development. The NRCS NEPA process will be used to 
integrate flood-plain management into project planning and consultations 
on land use decisions by land users and project sponsors.
    (3) NRCS field offices. The district conservationist (Sec. 600.6 of 
this part) is delegated the responsibility for providing technical 
assistance and approving financial assistance to land users in 
nonproject actions, where applicable, and for deciding what constitutes 
an adverse effect or incompatible development of a base flood plain. 
This assistance will be based on official NRCS policy, rules, 
guidelines, and procedures in NRCS handbooks, manuals, memoranda, etc. 
For NRCS-assisted nonproject actions, the district conservationist, on 
the basis of the environmental evaluation, will advise recipients of 
technical and financial assistance about what constitutes a significant 
adverse effect or incompatible development in the base flood plain.
    (c) Coordination and implementation. All planning by NRCS staffs is 
interdisciplinary and encompasses the six NEPA policy statements, the 
WRC Principles and Standards, and an equivalent of the eight-step 
decisionmaking process in the WRC's February 1978 Floodplain Management 
Guidelines. NRCS internal handbooks, manuals, and memoranda provide 
detailed information and guidance for NRCS planning and environmental 
evaluation.

[[Page 527]]

    (1) Steps for nonproject technical and financial assistance 
programs. (i) NRCS assistance programs are voluntary and are carried out 
through local conservation districts (State entities) primarily on non-
Federal, privately owned lands.
    (ii) After the land user decides the type, extent, and location of 
the intended action for which assistance is sought, the district 
conservationist will determine if the intended action is in the base 
flood plain by using HUD flood insurance maps, and other available maps 
and information or by making an onsite determination of the approximate 
level of the 100-year flood if maps or other usable information are 
lacking.
    (iii) If the district conservationist determines that the land 
user's proposed location is outside the base flood plain, and would not 
cause potential harm within the base flood plain, NRCS will continue to 
provide assistance, as needed.
    (iv) If the district conservationist determines that the land user's 
proposed action is within the base flood plain and would likely result 
in adverse effects, incompatible development, or an increased flood 
hazard, it is the responsibility of the district conservationist to 
determine and point out to the land user alternative methods of 
achieving the objective, as well as alternative locations outside the 
base flood plain. If the alternative locations are determined to be 
impractical, the district conservationist will decide whether to 
continue providing assistance. If the decision is to terminate 
assistance for the proposed action, the land user and the local 
conservation district, if one exists, will be notified in writing about 
the decision.
    (v) If the district conservationist decides to continue providing 
technical and financial assistance for a proposed action in the base 
flood plain, which is the only practicable alternative, NRCS may require 
that the proposed action be designed or modified so as to minimize 
potential harm to or within the flood plain. The district 
conservationist will prepare and circulate locally a written notice 
explaining why the action is proposed to be located in the base flood 
plain.
    (2) Steps for project assistance programs. (i) NRCS project 
assistance to local sponsoring organizations (conservation districts and 
other legal entities of State government) and land users is carried out 
primarily on non-Federal land in response to requests for assistance. 
NRCS helps the local sponsoring organizations prepare a plan for 
implementing the needed resource measures.
    (ii) NRCS uses an interdisciplinary environmental evaluation (Sec. 
650.6 of this part) as a basis for providing recommendations and 
alternatives to project sponsors. Flood-plain management is an integral 
part of every NRCS environmental evaluation. NRCS delineates the base 
flood plain by using detailed HUD flood insurance maps and other 
available data, as appropriate, and provides recommendations to sponsors 
on alternatives to avoid adverse effects and incompatible development in 
base flood plains. NRCS will develop, as needed, detailed 100-year and 
500-year flood-plain maps where there are none.
    (iii) NRCS's NEPA process (part 650 of this chapter) is used to 
integrate the spirit and intent of E.O. 11988 Sections 2(a) and 2(c) 
into agency planning and recommendations for land and water use 
decisions by local sponsoring organizations and land users.
    (iv) NRCS will terminate assistance to a local sponsoring 
organization in project programs if it becomes apparent that decisions 
by land users and local jurisdictions concerning flood-plain management 
would likely result in adverse effects or incompatible development and 
the environmental evaluation reveals that there are practicable 
alternatives to the proposed project that would not cause adverse 
effects on the base flood plain.
    (v) In carrying out the planning and installation of land and water 
resource conservation projects, NRCS will avoid, to the extent possible, 
the long-term and short-term adverse effects associated with the 
occupancy and modification of base flood plains. In addition, NRCS will 
also avoid direct or indirect support of development in the base flood 
plain wherever there is a

[[Page 528]]

practicable alternative. Where appropriate, NRCS will require design 
modifications to minimize harm to or within the base flood plain. NRCS 
will provide appropriate public notice and public participation in the 
continuing planning process in accordance with NRCS NEPA process.
    (vi) NRCS may require the local government to adopt and enforce 
appropriate flood plain regulations as a condition to receiving project 
financial assistance.
    (3) Actions on property and facilities under NRCS ownership or 
control. For real property and facilities owned by or under the control 
of NRCS, the following actions will be taken:
    (i) Locate new structures, facilities, etc., outside the base flood 
plain if there is a practicable alternate site.
    (ii) Require public participation in decisions to construct 
structures, facilities, etc., in flood plains that might result in 
adverse effects and incompatible development in such areas if no 
practicable alternatives exist.
    (iii) New construction or rehabilitation will be in accordance with 
the standards and criteria of the National Flood Insurance Program and 
will include floodproofing and other flood protection measures as 
appropriate.

[44 FR 44462, July 30, 1979]

                           PART 651 [RESERVED]