Notice2026-01705
Proposed Revisions to Section 1 of the Field Office Technical Guide for Kansas, Nebraska, and New Jersey
Primary source
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Published
January 28, 2026
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentNatural Resources Conservation Service
Abstract
NRCS is giving notice that it is proposing to revise Section 1--General Resource References of the Field Office Technical Guide for Kansas, Nebraska, and New Jersey to include State Off-Site Methods (SOSM) for Food Security Act Wetland Identification. The proposed changes will replace existing procedures in Kansas and Nebraska, and add new procedures in New Jersey. The revisions are needed to clarify procedures and improve consistency in application. SOSM are used in completing wetland determinations for USDA program eligibility purposes.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 28, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3706-3707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-01705]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation Service
[Docket No. NRCS-2025-0170]
Proposed Revisions to Section 1 of the Field Office Technical
Guide for Kansas, Nebraska, and New Jersey
AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of availability, request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NRCS is giving notice that it is proposing to revise Section
1--General Resource References of the Field Office Technical Guide for
Kansas, Nebraska, and New Jersey to include State Off-Site Methods
(SOSM) for Food Security Act Wetland Identification. The proposed
changes will replace existing procedures in Kansas and Nebraska, and
add new procedures in New Jersey. The revisions are needed to clarify
procedures and improve consistency in application. SOSM are used in
completing wetland determinations for USDA program eligibility
purposes.
DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by February 27, 2026.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments in response to this notice.
You may submit your comments through:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> and search for Docket ID NRCS-2025-0170. Follow the
online instructions for submitting comments.
All comments received will be made publicly available on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>.
[[Page 3707]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The appropriate NRCS State
Conservationist as listed below:
<bullet> Kansas: David Doctorian; telephone: (785) 823-4500; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f3b3e29363b713b303c2b302d363e311f2a2c3b3e71383029"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ed898c9b8489c389828e99829f848c83ad989e898cc38a829b">[email protected]</span></a>;
<bullet> Nebraska: Robert Lawson; telephone: (402) 437-5300; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3e4c515c5b4c4a10525f494d51507e4b4d5a5f10595148"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ddafb2bfb8afa9f3b1bcaaaeb2b39da8aeb9bcf3bab2ab">[email protected]</span></a>; and
<bullet> New Jersey: Julie Hawkins: (732) 573-6040; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#244e51484d410a4c45534f4d4a5764515740450a434b52"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="462c332a2f23682e27312d2f2835063335222768212930">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Guidance contained in each state's SOSM will
be part of the technical documents and procedures that NRCS uses to
determine if wetlands are present on agricultural land as required by
16 U.S.C. 3822. NRCS is required by 16 U.S.C. 3862 to make available
for public review and comment all proposed revisions to standards and
procedures used to carry out highly erodible land and wetland
provisions of the law.
NRCS is proposing revisions to include SOSM in Section 1--General
Resource References of the Field Office Technical Guide for Kansas,
Nebraska, and New Jersey. The proposed SOSM will replace the following
existing procedures:
<bullet> For Kansas and Nebraska, the SOSM will replace ``Northern
Plains Region Wetland Determination and Delineation Procedure'' (March
1998).
<bullet> New Jersey does not have a current procedure to be
replaced.
The revisions to the Field Office Technical Guide are needed to
clarify procedures and improve consistency in application. SOSM are
used in completing wetland determinations for USDA program eligibility
purposes.
There are separate SOSM documents for each state. To fully
understand the proposed revisions, commenters are encouraged to compare
the SOSM with state procedures for the states listed above, as shown in
Section 1 of the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide at <a href="https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/#/">https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/#/</a>. For example, from the site, select the state
(Kansas or Nebraska), select ``Document Search,'' search for ``Northern
Plains Region'' to find the documents being replaced: ``Northern Plains
Region Wetland Determination and Delineation Procedure.''
The electronic copies of each state's SOSM are available through
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> by accessing Docket ID NRCS-2025-0170.
Requests for paper versions or inquiries may be directed to the
specific State Conservationist as identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section above.
In general, all documents have similar language and technical
methodologies with some variations based on the natural resource
information available and state-specific considerations.
All comments will be considered. If no comments are received,
guidance contained in each state's SOSM will be considered final at the
end of the comment period for this notice.
Colton Buckley,
Associate Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-01705 Filed 1-27-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P
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