(a) Director. Provides executive direction for NAD. The Director is responsible for developing and implementing nationwide plans, policies, and procedures for the timely and orderly hearing and disposition of appeals filed by individuals or entities in accordance with subpart A of this part. The Director will respond to all FOIA requests concerning appeal decisions and case records maintained by NAD.

(b) Deputy Director for Hearings and Administration. Responsible for all administrative functions of NAD, including budget, correspondence, personnel, travel, equipment, and regulation review and development.

(c) Deputy Director for Planning, Training, and Quality Control. Responsible for NAD strategic planning, including the organization's compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act, Pub. L. 103-62, employee training, and the establishment and maintenance of a quality assurance program.

(d) Assistant Directors for Regions. Responsible for oversight of the adjudication process for cases filed in the NAD regional offices. Assistant Directors ensure statutory and administrative time frames are met, and oversee the administrative functions, training, and supervision of the support staff located in the regional offices and the large dispersed staff of professional hearing officers located throughout the regions. The three regional offices serve as the custodian for all NAD determinations and case records.

Subpart C-Availability of Information to the Public

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 301 and 552; 7 CFR 1.1

1.16.

SOURCE: 63 FR 44774, Aug. 21, 1998, unless otherwise noted.

§ 11.30 General statement.

This subpart implements the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture at 7 CFR 1.1 through 1.16 concerning FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552). The Secretary's regulations, as implemented by the regulations in this part, govern the availability of the records of NAD to the public.

$11.31 Public inspection and copying.

Section 1.5 of this title requires that certain materials be made available by each USDA agency for public inspection and copying in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 522(a)(2). Members of the public wishing to gain access to these NAD records should write to the appropriate address shown in Appendix A of this subpart.

§ 11.32 Initial requests for records.

(a) Requests for NAD records should be in writing and addressed to the NAD official having custody of the records desired as indicated in §11.22(d). Addresses are found in Appendix A of this subpart. In his or her petition, the requester may ask for a fee waiver if there is likely to be a charge for the requested information. The criteria for waiver of fees are found in section 6 of appendix A, subpart A of part 1 of this title. All requests for records shall be deemed to have been made pursuant to FOIA, regardless of whether FOIA is specifically mentioned. To facilitate processing of a request, the phrase "FOIA REQUEST" should be placed in capital letters on the front of the envelope.

(b) A request must reasonably describe records to enable NAD personnel to locate them with reasonable effort. Where possible, a requester should supply specific information, such as dates, titles, appellant name or appeal number, that may help identify the records. If the request relates to a matter in pending litigation, the court and its location should be identified.

(c) If NAD determines that a request does not reasonably describe the records, it shall inform the requester of this fact and extend the requester an opportunity to clarify the request or to confer promptly with knowledgeable NAD personnel to attempt to identify the records he or she is seeking. The

"date of receipt" in such instances, for purposes of §1.12(a) of this title, shall be the date of receipt of the amended or clarified request.

(d) Nothing in this subpart shall be interpreted to preclude NAD from honoring an oral request for information, but if the requester is dissatisfied with the response, the NAD official involved shall advise the requester to submit a written request in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section. The "date of receipt" of such a request for purposes of §1.12(a) of this title shall be the date of receipt of the written request. For recordkeeping purposes, the NAD official responding to an oral request for information may ask the requester to also submit his or her request in writing.

(e) If a request for records or a fee waiver under this subpart is denied, the person making the request shall have the right to appeal the denial. Requesters also may appeal NAD decisions regarding a requester's status for purposes of fee levels under section 5 of Appendix A, subpart A of part 1 of this title. All appeals must be in writing and addressed to the official designated in §11.33. To facilitate processing of an appeal, the phrase "FOIA APPEAL" should be placed in capital letters on the front of the envelope.

(f) NAD shall develop and maintain a record of all written and oral FOIA requests and FOIA appeals received by NAD, which shall include, in addition to any other information, the name of the requester, brief summary of the information requested, an indication of whether the request or appeal was denied or partially denied, the FOIA exemption(s) cited as the basis for any denials, and the amount of fees associated with the request or appeal.

§ 11.33 Appeals.

Any person whose initial FOIA request is denied in whole or in part may appeal that denial to the Director, National Appeals Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3101 Park Center Drive, Suite 1113, Alexandria, Virginia 22302. The Director will make the final determination on the appeal.

APPENDIX A TO SUBPART C-LIST OF ADDRESSES

This list provides the titles and mailing addresses of officials who have custody of NAD records. This list also identifies the normal working hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, during which public inspection and copying of certain kinds of records is permitted.

Director, National Appeals Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 3101 Park Center Drive, Suite 1113, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Regional Assistant Director, Eastern Region. National Appeals Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3500 DePauw Boulevard, Suite 2052, Indianapolis, Indiana 46268, Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Regional Assistant Director, Southern Region. National Appeals Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 7777 Walnut Grove Road, LLB-1, Memphis, Tennessee 38120, Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Regional Assistant Director, Western Region, National Appeals Division, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 755 Parfet Street, Suite 494, Lakewood, Colorado 80215-5506, Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

(a) Scope. This part sets forth the terms and conditions under which a person who produces an agricultural commodity on highly erodible land or designates such land for conservation use, plants an agricultural commodity on a converted wetland, or converts a wetland shall be determined to be ineligible for certain benefits provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and agencies and instrumentalities of USDA.

(b) Purpose. The purpose of the provisions of this part are to remove certain incentives for persons to produce agricultural commodities on highly erodible land or converted wetland and to thereby

(1) Reduce soil loss due to wind and water erosion;

(2) Protect the Nation's long-term capability to produce food and fiber;

(3) Reduce sedimentation and improve water quality; and

(4) Assist in preserving the functions and values of the Nation's wetlands.

$12.2 Definitions.

(a) General. The following definitions shall be applicable for the purposes of this part:

Agricultural commodity means any crop planted and produced by annual tilling of the soil, including tilling by one-trip planters, or sugarcane.

CCC means the Commodity Credit Corporation, a wholly-owned government corporation within USDA organized under the provisions of 15 U.S.C. 714 et seq.

Conservation District (CD) means a subdivision of a State or local government organized pursuant to the applicable law to develop and implement soil and water conservation activities or programs.

Conservation plan means the document that

(1) Applies to highly erodible cropland;

(2) Describes the conservation system applicable to the highly erodible cropland and describes the decisions of the person with respect to location, land use, tillage systems, and conservation treatment measures and schedules; and

(3) Is approved by the local soil conservation district in consultation with the local committees established under section 8(b)(5) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act (16 U.S.C. 590h(b)(5)) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for purposes of compliance with this part.

Conservation system means a combination of one or more conservation measures or management practices that

are

(1) Based on local resource conditions, available conservation technology, and the standards and guidelines contained in the NRCS field office technical guides (available from NRCS State offices); and

(2) Designed for purposes of this part to achieve, in a cost-effective and technically practicable manner, a substantial reduction in soil erosion or a substantial improvement in soil conditions on a field or group of fields containing highly erodible cropland when compared to the level of erosion or soil conditions that existed before the application of the conservation measures and management practices.

Conservation use or set aside means cropland that is designated as conservation-use acreage, set aside, or other similar designation for the purpose of fulfilling provisions under any acreage-limitation or land-diversion program administered by the Secretary of Agriculture requiring that the producer devote a specified acreage to conservation or other non-crop production

uses.

Creation of a wetland means the development of the hydrologic, geochemical, and biological components necessary to support and maintain a wetland where a wetland did not previously exist. Any wetland established on a non-hydric soil will be considered a created wetland.

CSREES means the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, an agency of USDA which is generally responsible for coordinating the information and educational programs of USDA.

Department means the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Enhancement of a wetland means the alteration of an existing wetland to increase its specific functions and values. Enhancement actions include new capabilities, management options, structures, or other actions to influence one or several functions and values.

Erodibility inder means a numerical value that expresses the potential erodibility of a soil in relation to its soil loss tolerance value without consideration of applied conservation practices or management.

FSA means the Farm Service Agency, an agency of USDA which is generally responsible for administering commodity production adjustment and certain conservation programs of USDA.

Field means a part of a farm that is separated from the balance of the farm by permanent boundaries such as fences, roads, permanent waterways, or other similar features. At the option of the owner or operator of the farm, croplines may also be used to delineate a field if farming practices make it probable that the croplines are not subject to change. Any highly erodible land on which an agricultural commodity is produced after December 23, 1985, and is not exempt under § 12.5(a), shall be considered part of the field in which the land was included on December 23, 1985, unless, to carry out this title, the owner and FSA agree to modify the boundaries of the field.

Highly erodible land means land that has an erodibility index of 8 or more.

Hydric soils means soils that, in an undrained condition, are saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during a growing season to develop an anaerobic condition that supports the growth and regeneration of hydrophytic vegetation.

Hydrophytic vegetation means plants growing in water or in a substrate that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen during a growing season as a result of excessive water content.

Landlord means a person who rents or leases farmland to another person.

Local FSA office means the county office of the Farm Service Agency serving the county or a combination of counties in the area in which a person's land is located for administrative purposes.

NRCS means the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency within USDA which is generally responsible for providing technical assistance in matters of natural resources conservation and for administering certain conservation programs of USDA.

Operator means the person who is in general control of the farming operations on the farm during the crop year.

Owner means a person who is determined to have legal ownership of farmland and shall include a person who is purchasing farmland under contract.

Person means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, cooperative, estate, trust, joint venture, joint operation, or other business enterprise or other legal entity and, whenever applicable, a State, a political subdivision of a State, or any agency thereof, and such person's affiliates as provided in § 12.8 of this part.

Restoration of a wetland means the reestablishment of wetland conditions, including hydrologic condition or native hydrophytic vegetation, to an area where a wetland had previously existed.

Secretary means the Secretary of USDA.

Sharecropper means a person who performs work in connection with the production of a crop under the supervision of the operator and who receives a share of such crop for such labor.

Soil map unit means an area of the landscape shown on a soil map which consists of one or more soils.

State means each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Tenant means a person usually called a "cash tenant", "fixed-rent tenant", or "standing rent tenant" who rents land from another for a fixed amount

of cash or a fixed amount of a commodity to be paid as rent; or a person (other than a sharecropper) usually called a "share tenant" who rents land from another person and pays as rent a share of the crops or proceeds therefrom. A tenant shall not be considered the farm operator unless the tenant is determined to be the operator pursuant to this part and 7 CFR part 718.

Wetland, except when such term is a part of the term "converted wetland", means land that

(1) Has predominance of hydric soils; (2) Is inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions; and

(3) Under normal circumstances does support a prevalence of such vegetation, except that this term does not include lands in Alaska identified as having a high potential for agricultural development and a predominance of permafrost soils.

Wetland determination means a decision regarding whether or not an area is a wetland, including identification of wetland type and size. A wetland determination may include identification of an area as one of the following types of wetland

(1) Artificial wetland is an area that was formerly non-wetland, but now meets wetland criteria due to human activities, such as:

(i) An artificial lake or pond created by excavating or diking land that is not a wetland to collect and retain water that is used primarily for livestock, fish production, irrigation, wildlife, fire control, flood control, cranberry growing, or rice production, or as a settling pond; or

(ii) A wetland that is temporarily or incidentally created as a result of adjacent development activity;

(2) Commenced-conversion wetland is a wetland, farmed wetland, farmed-wetland pasture, or a converted wetland on which conversion began, but was not completed, prior to December 23, 1985.

(3) Converted wetland is a wetland that has been drained, dredged, filled, leveled, or otherwise manipulated (including the removal of woody vegetation or any activity that results in im

pairing or reducing the flow and circulation of water) for the purpose of or to have the effect of making possible the production of an agricultural commodity without further application of the manipulations described herein if:

(i) Such production would not have been possible but for such action, and

(ii) Before such action such land was wetland, farmed wetland, or farmedwetland pasture and was neither highly erodible land nor highly erodible cropland;

(4) Farmed wetland is a wetland that prior to December 23, 1985, was manipulated and used to produce an agricultural commodity, and on December 23, 1985, did not support woody vegetation and met the following hydrologic criteria:

(i) Is inundated for 15 consecutive days or more during the growing season or 10 percent of the growing season, whichever is less, in most years (50 percent chance or more), or

(ii) If a pothole, playa, or pocosion, is ponded for 7 or more consecutive days during the growing season in most years (50 percent chance of more) or is saturated for 14 or more consecutive days during the growing season in most years (50 percent chance or more);

(5) Farmed-wetland pasture is wetland that was manipulated and managed for pasture or hayland prior to December 23, 1985, and on December 23, 1985, met the following hydrologic criteria:

(i) Inundated or ponded for 7 or more consecutive days during the growing season in most years (50) percent chance or more), or

(ii) Saturated for 14 or more consecutive days during the growing season in most years (50 percent chance or more); (6) Not-inventoried land, is an area for which no evaluation of soils, vegetation, or hydrology has been conducted to determine if wetland criteria are met;

(7) Non-wetland is;

(i) Land that under natural conditions does not meet wetland criteria,

or

(ii) Is converted wetland the conversion of which occurred prior to December 23, 1985, and on that date, the land Idid not meet wetland criteria but an