Conservation Practices
Conservation Practice Standards
NRCS conservation practice standards provide guidance for applying
conservation technology on the land and set the minimum acceptable level for
application of the technology.
NRCS issues National conservation practice standards in its National Handbook
of Conservation Practices (NHCP). National standards for each practice are
available.
National Handbook of Conservation Practices
(NHCP)
-
NHCP
Notices – Updated or new National conservation practice standards are
transmitted by notices to the National Handbook of Conservation Practices.
Copies of the most recent NHCP notices are available.
-
National
Conservation Practice Standards – The current National conservation
practice standards are available, both as MS-Word documents and in PDF
format.
NOTICE
- NATIONAL CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARDS SHOULD NOT BE USED TO PLAN,
DESIGN OR INSTALL A CONSERVATION PRACTICE. YOU MUST HAVE THE CONSERVATION
PRACTICE STANDARD DEVELOPED BY THE STATE IN WHICH YOU ARE WORKING TO INSURE THAT
YOU MEET ALL STATE AND LOCAL CRITERIA, WHICH MAY BE MORE RESTRICTIVE THAN
NATIONAL CRITERIA.
State Conservation Practice Standards
Each state determines which National
conservation practice standards are applicable in their state. States add the technical detail needed to effectively use the standards
at the Field Office level, and issue them as state conservation practice
standards. State
conservation practice standards may be found in Section IV of the
Electronic Field Office Technical Guide
(eFOTG).
Copies of state conservation practice standards not available on-line can be
obtained by contacting the appropriate
NRCS
State Office.
Conservation Practice Standards Under Revision
NRCS periodically revises existing NHCP standards or develops new standards. A
table giving the status of all conservation practice standards currently
undergoing revision is located at
ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NHQ/practice-standards/review-status.
Every month a number of draft conservation practice standards are posted for
NRCS review and comment. (See Federal Register Review, below, for draft practice
standards that are available for review and comment by the general public.)
Practice standards currently posted are located at
ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NHQ/practice-standards/standard-development/draft.
These files are in Microsoft Word format.
Federal Register
Review
Before revised or new conservation practice standards are added to the National
Handbook of Conservation Practices, they are advertised in the Federal Register
for review and comment by the general public. All standards currently under
Federal Register review are located at
ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NHQ/practice-standards/federal-register.
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