Pennsylvania Administrative Code

§ 138d.7. General conditions. (a) Interest rates. The interest rate will be established once a year by the Secretary. (b) Term of loan and rate of payment. The maximum term of a loan may not exceed 7 years. Payments shall be made monthly, quarterly or semi-annually, as determined…

§ 138d.8. Submission of application. An applicant desiring to be considered for a loan under this chapter shall submit to the Department, on a form prepared by the Department, an application for a loan. Applications will be accepted only between October 15 and December 31 each ye…

§ 138d.9. Processing applications. Upon receipt of an application and the required supporting documentation, the Department will review this information for completeness and accuracy. If the application is found to be incomplete or inaccurate, additional data will be requested an…

GENERAL § 138e.1. Purpose. (a) It is the policy of the Commonwealth to conserve and protect agricultural lands. A sound, Statewide farmland preservation program will assure that farmers in this Commonwealth have sufficient agricultural lands to provide farm products for the peopl…

ALLOCATION OF FUNDS § 138e.101. Annual easement purchase threshold. (a) On or before March 1 of each year in which money is available from the Fund, the State Board will meet and determine the annual easement purchase threshold for the current county fiscal year. (b) The annual e…

§ 138e.102. Allocation of funds to counties. (a) On or before March 1 of each year in which money is available from the Fund, the State Board shall determine and announce an allocation of grant funds and State matching funds to eligible counties. (b) An allocation of grant funds …

§ 138e.103. Expenditure of matching funds. (a) State matching funds may be expended in a county only upon the recommendation of the county board. (b) A county board that recommends the expenditure of State matching funds for the purchase of a specific easement shall state the amo…

§ 138e.104. Installment sales. (a) Options. Payment for an agricultural conservation easement may be made in a lump sum, in installments or in another lawful manner of payment. (b) Installment sales with a payment period of 5 years or less. Installment sales in which the final pa…

REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION OFCOUNTY PROGRAM § 138e.11. General requirements. (a) A county program shall demonstrate that the county has fair, equitable, objective, nondiscriminatory procedures for determining easement purchase priorities. (b) A county program shall contain wr…

§ 138e.12. Authorization of program by county governing body. The county governing body shall submit to the State Board a certified copy of the resolution or other official action authorizing administration of the county program by the county board. Source The provisions of this …

§ 138e.13. County board; membership; occupations. (a) The county governing body shall submit to the State Board a list of the members of the county board which shall contain the following information concerning the composition of the county board: (1) The name of each member. (2)…

§ 138e.14. County statement of purpose. The county program shall contain a statement which defines the purpose of the easement purchase program. It shall state the objectives of the program and include the following as the county program’s purposes: (1) To protect viable agricult…

§ 138e.15. Farmland ranking system. (a) System required. The county board shall adopt a farmland ranking system meeting the requirements of this section for use in prioritizing applications for the appraisal of properties meeting the minimum criteria in § 138e.16 (relating to min…

§ 138e.16. Minimum criteria for applications. (a) The county program shall consider the quality of the farmland tract, including the USDA soil classification and productivity. The farmland tract shall: (1) Be one or more of the following: (i) Located in an agricultural security a…

§ 138e.17. Planning and development map. (a) The county board shall, in consultation with the county planning commission, prepare and adopt a map identifying the important agricultural areas of the county. The scale of the map shall be such that it can be used to locate specific …

§ 138e.18. Schedule for submission of applications. The county program shall contain a schedule for the submission of applications to the county board. Source The provisions of this § 138e.18 amended December 26, 1997, effective December 27, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 6782. Immediately prece…

§ 138e.19. Purchasing procedures. The county program shall contain or incorporate by reference the procedures in § § 138e.61—138e.65 (relating to procedure for purchasing an easement) and additional consistent procedures as approved by the State Board. Source The provisions of th…

§ 138e.2. Eligibility. Only a county board that has a county program is eligible to submit recommendations for the purchase of easements to the State Board. Source The provisions of this § 138e.2 amended December 26, 1997, effective December 27, 1997, 27 Pa.B. 6782. Immediately p…

§ 138e.20. Public information. (a) The county board shall publicize the county program. (b) The county program shall set forth the manner in which the county board will publicize the county program. (c) The county board shall be subject to the Sunshine Act (65 P. S. § § 271—286) …

PROCEDURE FOR INSPECTING AND ENFORCINGAN EASEMENT § 138e.201. Responsibility. (a) The county board shall have the primary responsibility for inspecting restricted land and enforcing the following: (1) Agricultural conservation easements that were acquired under authority of the a…

§ 138e.202. Inspections. (a) [Abrogated]. (b) [Abrogated]. (c) [Abrogated]. (Editor’s Note: Subsections (a)—(c) abrogated June 24, 2013 (P.L. 60, No. 19).) (d) Within 10 days of conducting an inspection under subsection (a), the county board shall prepare a written inspection rep…

§ 138e.203. Annual report. The county board shall file the following with the State Board by March 1 of each year: (1) [Abrogated]. (Editor’s Note: Abrogated June 24, 2013 (P.L. 60, No. 19).) (2) An annual report which summarizes the number of inspections, violations detected, vi…

§ 138e.204. Enforcement. (a) The county board shall enforce the terms of each easement purchased within the county under the act, whether it be a local government unit, county, State or joint purchase. (b) The State Board may enforce the terms of State or jointly purchased easeme…

§ 138e.205. Notification to owner. (a) Within 10 days of the discovery of a violation of the terms of an easement, the county board shall send written notice of the violation to the owner of the restricted land, the county governing body and the State Board. (b) The written notic…

§ 138e.206. Enforcement actions. (a) Sixty days after the mailing of a notice of violation under § 138e.205 (relating to notification to owner), the county board shall commence and pros-ecute an action in the court of common pleas of the county in which the restricted land is loc…

§ 138e.207. County board’s duties with respect to change of ownership. (a) The county board is encouraged to provide the State Board with a copy of any proposed deed under which an ownership interest in restricted land is to be conveyed prior to execution of the deed. The county …

§ 138e.21. Inspection and enforcement of an easement. The county program shall contain or incorporate by reference the procedures for inspecting and enforcing an easement in § § 138e.201—138e.207 (relating to procedure for inspecting and enforcing an easement) and additional, con…

RESPONSIBILITY OF OWNER § 138e.221. Permitted acts. During the term of the easement, the restricted land shall be used solely for agricultural production or other uses permitted by the act. Source The provisions of this § 138e.221 amended December 26, 1997, effective December 27,…

§ 138e.222. Conservation plan. (a) The county board shall require the owner of land being considered for agricultural conservation easement purchase to do the following: (1) Before the county board recommends approval of the easement purchase to the State Board, obtain a conserva…

§ 138e.223. Construction of buildings; changes in use. (a) New buildings or structures. The construction or use of a building or other structure on the restricted land other than a building or structure existing on the date of the granting of the easement is prohibited, except th…

§ 138e.224. Construction of one additional residential structure. (a) General. In addition to the structures existing on the restricted land on the date of the granting of the easement, one additional residential structure may be constructed on the restricted land if the followin…

§ 138e.225. Subdivision of restricted land. (a) Authority to prohibit subdivision. A county program may prohibit the subdivision of restricted land if the landowner can accomplish the construction and use of a principal residence or housing for seasonal or full-time farm employes…

§ 138e.226. Procedure for review of request to subdivide restricted land. A landowner may obtain review of a request for approval to subdivide a tract of restricted land in accordance with the following procedure: (1) The landowner shall submit an application to the county board,…

§ 138e.227. Landowner’s duties with respect to change of ownership. (a) A deed conveying an interest in the restricted land shall set forth the language of the easement restrictions verbatim. (b) Within 30 days of a change in ownership of the restricted land, the prior owner shal…

DEED OF AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATIONEASEMENT § 138e.241. Deed clauses. The Deed of Agricultural Conservation Easement delivered in connection with the purchase of an easement shall identify the owner of the farmland tract as grantor and either the Commonwealth or the county, or both…

LAND TRUST REIMBURSEMENT GRANT PROGRAM § 138e.251. Program in general. Section 14.5(a)(3) of the act (3 P. S. § 914.5(a)(3)) authorizes the expenditure of up to $500,000 from the Supplemental Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Account to reimburse eligible land trusts fo…

§ 138e.252. Eligibility of a land trust to register for reimbursement grants. To be eligible to register with the State Board in accordance with § 138e.253 (relating to registration of eligible land trust) and to receive reimbursement grants under the Land Trust Reimbursement Gra…

§ 138e.253. Registration of eligible land trust. (a) Registration required. An eligible land trust seeking reimbursement grants under the Land Trust Reimbursement Grant Program shall register with the State Board. Registration shall be accomplished by delivering a registration le…

§ 138e.254. Applying for a reimbursement grant. (a) Application for reimbursement grant; timing. If an eligible land trust is registered in accordance with § 138e.253 (relating to registration of eligible land trust), and seeks a reimbursement grant with respect to the acquisitio…

§ 138e.255. State Board review of applications. (a) Department’s responsibility. The Department will stamp or otherwise identify every complete reimbursement grant application form to record the date it is received and the relative order in which these applications are received. …

§ 138e.256. Decision of the State Board. The State Board will, within 10 days of completing its review, mail a reimbursement grant applicant written notice as to whether the reimbursement grant application is approved. If the application is not approved, the written notice will s…

§ 138e.3. Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: Act—The Agricultural Area Security Law (3 P. S. § § 901—915). Agreement or agreement of sale—A document executed by a land…

STATE BOARD REVIEW OF COUNTY PROGRAM § 138e.41. Application for review of county program. A county board seeking State Board review, certification and approval of its county program shall submit one copy of its county program and its bylaws to the State Board at the following add…

§ 138e.42. Review, certification and approval of a county program. (a) The State Board will acknowledge receipt of the county program and may request additional information. (b) Within 60 days of receipt of a complete county program, the State Board will approve or disapprove the…

§ 138e.43. Revision of county program. (a) Following initial approval by the State Board, a county program may be revised in accordance with this section. (b) A county board seeking review of a proposed revision to its county program shall submit one copy of the proposed revision…

§ 138e.44. Periodic recertification of county programs. (a) Responsibilities of the State Board. (1) The State Board will review a county program and approve or disapprove the recertification of that county program in accordance with this section and section 14.1(b)(4) of the act…

PROCEDURE FOR PURCHASING AN EASEMENT § 138e.61. Application. (a) A separate application shall be required for each farmland tract offered for easement purchase. The application shall consist of a completed application form, locational maps and a soils report form. A copy of a soi…