Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation

Agriculture Department / Office of the Secretary

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending its regulations to ensure that wetland determinations issued after November 28, 1990, have been and will be certified as sufficient to serve as the basis for determining ineligibility for certain USDA program benefits under the Wetland Conservation provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended. Certification requires notifying the affected person at the time of the determination and informing them of their appeal rights. This interim rule addresses inconsistencies in how wetland determinations certified and issued between November 28, 1990, and July 3, 1996, have been treated. It also responds to a February 22, 2024, Federal court ruling that determined that Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) did not fully meet procedural requirements in its 2020 final rule concerning certification of pre-1996 determinations. This interim rule aligns USDA's regulations with the governing statute, legislative history, and congressional intent.