Title 7

SECTION 1955.139

1955.139 Disposition of real property rights and title to real property.

§ 1955.139 Disposition of real property rights and title to real property.

(a) Easements, rights-of-way, development rights, restrictions or the equivalent thereof. The State Director is authorized to convey these rights for conservation purposes, roads, utilities, and other purposes as follows:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, easements or rights-of-way may be conveyed to public bodies or utilities if the conveyance is in the public interest and will not adversely affect the value of the real estate. The consideration must be adequate for the inventory property being released or for a purpose which will enhance the value of the real estate. If there is to be an assessment as a result of the conveyance, relative values must be considered, including any appropriate adjustment to the property's market value, and adequate consideration must be received for any reduction in value.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(3) of this section easements or rights-of-way may be sold by negotiation for market value to any purchaser for cash without giving public notice if the conveyance would not change the classification from program/suitable to NP or surplus, nor decrease the value by more than the price received.

(3) For FSA properties only, easements, restrictions, development rights or similar legal rights may be granted or sold separately from the underlying fee or sum of all other rights possessed by the Government if such conveyances are for conservation purposes and are transferred to a State, a political subdivision of a State, or a private nonprofit organization. Easements may be granted or sold to a Federal agency for conservation purposes as long as the requirements of § 1955.139(c)(2) of this subpart are followed. If FSA has an affirmative responsibility such as protecting an endangered species as provided for in paragraph (a)(3(v) of this section, the requirements in § 1955.139(c) of this subpart do not apply.

(i) Conservation purposes include but are not limited to protecting or conserving the following environmental resources or land uses:

(A) Fish and wildlife habitats of local, regional, State, or Federal importance,

(B) Floodplain and wetland areas as defined in Executive Orders 11988 and 11990,

(D) Important farmland, prime forest land, or prime rangeland as defined in Departmental Regulation 9500-3, Land Use Policy,

(E) Aquifer recharge areas of local, regional or State importance,

(F) Areas of high water quality or scenic value, and

(G) Historic and cultural properties.

(ii) Development rights may be sold for conservation purposes for their market value directly to a unit of local or State governmental or a private nonprofit organization by negotiation.

(iii) An easement, restriction or the equivalent thereof may be granted or sold for less than market value to a unit of local, State, Federal government or a private nonprofit organization for conservation purposes. If such a conveyance will adversely affect the Rural Development's financial interest, the State Director will submit the proposal to the Administrator for approval unless the State Director has been delegated approval authority in writing from the Administrator to approve such transactions based upon demonstrated capability and experience in processing such conveyances. Factors to be addressed in formulating such a request include the intended conservation purpose(s) and the environmental importance of the affected property, the impact to the Government's financial interest, the financial resources of the potential purchaser or grantee and its normal method of acquiring similar property rights, the likely impact to environment should the property interest not be sold or granted and any other relevant factors or concerns prompting the State Director's request.

(iv) Property interests under this paragraph may be conveyed by negotiation with any eligible recipient without giving public notice if the conveyance would not change program/suitable property to NP or surplus. Conveyances shall include terms and conditions which clearly specify the property interest(s) being conveyed as well as all appropriate restrictions and allowable uses. The conveyances shall also require the owner of such interest to permit the Rural Development, and any person or government entity designated by the Rural Development, to have access to the affected property for the purpose of monitoring compliance with terms and conditions of the conveyance. To the maximum extent possible, the conveyance should designate an organization or government entity for monitoring purposes. In developing the conveyance, the approval official shall consult with any State or Federal agency having special expertise regarding the environmental resource(s) or land uses to be protected.

(v) For FP cases except when Rural Development has an affirmative responsibility to place a conservation easement upon a farm property, easements under the authority of this paragraph will not be established unless either the rights of all prior owner(s) have been met or the prior owner(s) consents to the easement. Examples of instances where an affirmative responsibility exists to place an easement on a farm property include wetland and floodplain conservation easements required by § 1955.137 of this subpart or easements designed as environmental mitigation measures for the purpose of protecting federally designated important environmental resources. These resources include: Listed or proposed endangered or threatened species, listed or proposed critical habitats, designated or proposed wilderness areas, designated or proposed wild or scenic rivers, historic or archaeological sites listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, coastal barriers included in Coastal Barrier Resource Systems, natural landmarks listed on national Registry of Natural Landmarks, and sole source aquifer recharge as designated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

(vi) For FP cases whenever a request is made for an easement under the authority of this paragraph and such request overlaps an area upon which Rural Development has an affirmative responsibility to place an easement, that required portion of the easement, either in terms of geographical extent or content, will not be considered to adversely impact the value of the farm property.

(4) A copy of the conveyance instrument will be retained in the County or District Office inventory file. The grantee is responsible for recording the instrument.

(b) Mineral and water rights, mineral lease interests, air rights, and agricultural or other leases. (1) Mineral and water rights, mineral lease interests, mineral royalty interests, air rights, and agricultural and other lease interests will be sold with the surface land and will not be sold separately, except as provided in paragrah (a) of this section and in § 1955.66(a)(2)(iii) of Subpart B of Part 1955 of this chapter. If the land is to be sold in separate parcels, any rights or interests that apply to each parcel will be included with the sale.

(2) Lease or royalty interests not passing by deed will be assigned to the purchaser when property is sold. The County Supervisor or District Director, as applicable, will notify the lessee or payor of the assignment. A copy of this notice will be furnished to the purchaser.

(3) The value of such rights, interests or leases will be considered when the property is appraised.

(c) Transfer of FSA inventory property for conservation purposes. (1) In accordance with the provisions of this paragraph, FSA may transfer, to a Federal or State agency for conservation purposes (as defined in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section), inventory property, or an interest therein, meeting any one of the following three criteria and subject only to the homestead protection rights of all previous owners having been met.

(i) A predominance of the land being transferred has marginal value for agricultural production. This is land that NRCS has determined to be either highly erodible or generally not used for cultivation, such as soils in classes IV, V, VII or VIII of NRCS's Land Capability Classification, or

(ii) A predominance of land is environmentally sensitive. This is land that meets any of the following criteria:

(A) Wetlands, as defined in Executive Order 11990 and USDA Regulation 9500.

(B) Riparian zones and floodplains as they pertain to Executive Order 11988.

(D) Areas supporting endangered and threatened wildlife and plants (including proposed and candidate species), critical habitat, or potential habitat for recovery pertaining to the Endangered Species Act.

(E) Fish and wildlife habitats of local, regional, State or Federal importance on lands that provide or have the potential to provide habitat value to species of Federal trust responsibility (e.g., Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Anadromous Fish Conservation Act).

(F) Aquifer recharges areas of local, regional, State or Federal importance.

(G) Areas of high water quality or scenic value.

(H) Areas containing historic or cultural property; or

(iii) A predominance of land with special management importance. This is land that meets the following criteria:

(A) Lands that are in holdings, lie adjacent to, or occur in proximity to, Federally or State-owned lands or interest in lands.

(B) Lands that would contribute to the regulation of ingress or egress of persons or equipment to existing Federally or State-owned conservation lands.

(C) Lands that would provide a necessary buffer to development if such development would adversely affect the existing Federally or State-owned lands.

(D) Lands that would contribute to boundary identification and control of existing conservation lands.

(2) When a State or Federal agency requests title to inventory property, the State Executive Director will make a preliminary determination as to whether the property can be transferred.

(3) If a decision is made by the State Executive Director to deny a transfer request by a Federal or State agency, the requesting agency will be informed of the decision in writing and informed that they may request a review of the decision by the FSA Administrator.

(4) When a State or Federal agency requests title to inventory property and the State Executive Director determines that the property is suited for transfer, the following actions must be taken prior to approval of the transfer:

(i) At least two public notices must be provided. These notices will be published in a newspaper with a wide circulation in the area in which the requested property is located. The notice will provide information on the proposed use of the property by the requesting agency and request any comments concerning the negative or positive aspects of the request. A 30-day comment period should be established for the receipt of comments.

(ii) If requested, at least one public meeting must be held to discuss the request. A representative of the requesting agency should be present at the meeting in order to answer questions concerning the proposed conservation use of the property. The date and time for a public meeting should be advertised.

(iii) Written notice must be provided to the Governor of the State in which the property is located as well as at least one elected official of the county in which the property is located. The notification should provide information on the request and solicit any comments regarding the proposed transfer. All procedural requirements in paragraph (c) (3) of this section must be completed in 75 days.

(5) Determining priorities for transfer or inventory lands.

(i) A Federal entity will be selected over a State entity.

(ii) If two Federal agencies request the same land tract, priority will be given to the Federal agency that owns or controls property adjacent to the property in question or if this is not the case, to the Federal agency whose mission or expertise best matches the conservation purposes for which the transfer would be established.

(iii) In selecting between State agencies, priority will be given to the State agency that owns or controls property adjacent to the property in question or if that is not the case, to the State agency whose mission or expertise best matches the conservation purpose(s) for which the transfer would be established.

(6) In cases where land transfer is requested for conservation purposes that would contribute directly to the furtherance of International Treaties or Plans (e.g., Migratory Bird Treaty Act or North American Waterfowl Management Plan), to the recovery of a listed endangered species, or to a habitat of National importance (e.g., wetlands as addressed in the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act), priority consideration will be given to land transfer for conservation purposes, without reimbursement, over other land disposal alternatives.

(7) An individual property may be subdivided into parcels and a parcel can be transferred under the requirements of this paragraph as long as the remaining parcels to be sold make up a viable sales unit, suitable or surplus.

[50 FR 23904, June 7, 1985, as amended at 51 FR 13479, Apr. 21, 1986; 53 FR 27838, July 25, 1988; 53 FR 35781, Sept. 14, 1988; 57 FR 36592, Aug. 14, 1992; 62 FR 44403, Aug. 21, 1997; 68 FR 61332, Oct. 28, 2003; 82 FR 19320, Apr. 27, 2017]