[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 25, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14521-14523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05787]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation Service
[Docket No. NRCS-2026-0001]
Changes in Hydric Soils Database Selection Criteria of the United
States
AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of changes to the National Soil Information System
(NASIS) Database Selection Criteria for Hydric Soils of the United
States.
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SUMMARY: The National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils (NTCHS) has
updated the hydric criteria used to select map unit components for the
hydric soils list. The former database selection criteria created to
select soils that may meet the definition of hydric soils did not
include subaqueous soils. As required by 7 CFR 12.31, NRCS is hereby
providing notice of the changes to the selection criteria for hydric
soils as set forth in the NTCHS publication ``Hydric Soils of the
United States,'' Miscellaneous Publication 1491, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, June 1991 (see also 60 FR
10349). These changes will add soil components that represent
subaqueous landforms to the list of hydric soils and reflect
refinements in knowledge of the soils of the United States as
subaqueous soils are now mapped in previously unmapped areas. These
soils have always met the hydric definition, whether identified by the
criteria or not, and thus represent an insignificant change in acreage
of hydric soils.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 24, 2026.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments in response to this notice.
You may submit your comments through one of the following methods
below:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search
[[Page 14522]]
for Docket ID NRCS-2026-0001. Follow the online instructions for
submitting comments; or
Mail: Cory Owens, National Resource Soil Scientist; active
Chairperson for NTCHS, Soil and Plant Science Division, NRCS, USDA,
1201 NE Lloyd Blvd. Ste. 900, Portland, OR 97232. In your comment,
please specify the Docket ID NRCS-2026-0001.
All comments received will be made publicly available on https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cory Owens, National Resource Soil
Scientist; active Chairperson for NTCHS, Soil and Plant Science
Division, NRCS, USDA, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd. Ste. 900, Portland, OR 97232;
telephone: (503) 414-3261; email: [email protected]. Individuals who
require alternative means for communication should contact the USDA
TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and text telephone (TTY)) or
dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text
telephone users can initiate this call from any telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRCS is responsible for developing database
selection criteria, maintaining official lists, and implementing
procedures to identify and list hydric soils under the Food Security
Act. These criteria and approved lists of potentially hydric soil map
unit components are developed in consultation with the NTCHS and made
available to the public on the NTCHS national web page: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/soil/national-technical-committee-for-hydric-soils#criteria. The lists of
hydric soils are created by using National Soil Information System
(NASIS) database selection criteria. These criteria are selected soil
properties documented in ``Soil Taxonomy'' (Soil Survey Staff, 1999).
The NTCHS has updated the criteria to include the taxonomic subgroup
Wassents to accurately represent newly mapped subaqueous soils.
Hydric soil lists have a number of agricultural and nonagricultural
applications. These include assistance in land-use planning,
conservation planning, and assessment of potential wildlife habitat.
These activities potentially interface with wetland functions and the
environmental services they provide, including potential direct
benefits to both urban and rural populations and wildlife habitat.
Hydric soils lists play a critical role in environmental planning and
wetland identification.
The changes to the criteria were thoroughly discussed and approved
by the NTCHS at the annual business meeting in May 2024 in Charlotte,
North Carolina. This decision was part of formal deliberations recorded
in the meeting minutes as posted on the NRCS Hydric Soils web page,
found at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/soil/hydric-soils. The changes have also been
addressed and acknowledged at several of the Hydric Soils Committee
meetings during the 2024 Regional Conferences of the National
Cooperative Soil Survey held in respective regions of the United
States. As shown below, criteria 1 is updated to include the subgroup
of Wassents.
The updated criteria, with changes underlined, are as follows:
(1) All Histels except Folistels, all Histosols except Folists, and
all Wassents; or
(2) Map unit components in Aquic suborders, great groups, or
subgroups, Albolls suborder, Historthels great group, Histoturbels
great group, or Andic, Cumulic, Pachic, or Vitrandic subgroups that:
(a) Based on the range of characteristics for the soil series, will
at least in part meet one or more field indicators of hydric soils in
the United States, or
(b) Show evidence that the soil meets the definition of a hydric
soil;
(3) Map unit components that are frequently ponded for long
duration or very long duration during the growing season that:
(a) Based on the range of characteristics for the soil series, will
at least in part meet one or more field indicators of hydric soils in
the United States, or
(b) Show evidence that the soil meets the definition of a hydric
soil; or
(4) Map unit components that are frequently flooded for long
duration or very long duration during the growing season that:
(a) Based on the range of characteristics for the soil series, will
at least in part meet one or more field indicators of hydric soils in
the United States, or
(b) Show evidence that the soils meet the definition of a hydric
soil.
Glossary of Terms Used in Hydric Soils Criteria
Anaerobic means a situation in which molecular oxygen is virtually
absent from the environment.
Artificial hydric soil means a soil that meets the definition of a
hydric soil as a result of an artificially induced hydrologic regime
and did not meet the definition before the artificial measures were
applied.
Drained means a condition in which ground or surface water has been
removed by artificial means.
Flooded means a condition in which the soil surface is temporarily
covered with flowing water from any source, such as streams overflowing
their banks, runoff from adjacent or surrounding slopes, inflow from
high tides, or any combination of sources.
Frequently flooded, ponded, saturated is a frequency class in which
flooding, ponding, or saturation is likely to occur often under usual
weather conditions (more than 50 percent chance in any year, or more
than 50 times in 100 years).
Hydric soil means a soil that formed under conditions of
saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season
to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part. This definition
includes soils that developed under anaerobic conditions in the upper
part but no longer experience these conditions due to hydrologic
alteration such as those hydric soils that have been artificially
drained or protected (e.g., ditches or levees).
Long duration means a duration class in which inundation for a
single event ranges from 7 days to 1 month.
Map unit means a collection of areas defined and named the same in
terms of their soil components or miscellaneous areas or both.
Map unit components means the collection of soils and miscellaneous
areas found within a map unit.
Phase, map unit means a subdivision of a map unit based on features
that affect its use and management (e.g., slope, surface texture,
stoniness, and thickness).
Ponded means a condition in which water stands in a closed
depression. The water is removed only by percolation, evaporation, or
transpiration.
Very long duration means a duration class in which inundation for a
single event is greater than 1 month.
What's included on the hydric soils lists?
``Hydric Soils of the United States'' is a compilation of all map
units with either a major or minor component that is at least in part
hydric. This could include components that are soil series, components
that are classified at categories higher than the series level in Soil
Taxonomy, and miscellaneous land types. Because the list includes both
major and minor (small) percentages for map units, in some cases most
of the map unit may not be hydric. Also, some components may be phases
of soil series
[[Page 14523]]
that have a range of characteristics that both meet and do not meet
hydric indicator requirements; therefore, only a portion of that
component's concept (or range in characteristics) may in fact be
hydric. The list is useful in identifying map units that may contain
hydric soils.
The NRCS Hydric Soil List is available as a full national list or
by state using the State Soil Data Access Hydric Soil List web report:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/publications/query-by-state.html; or by soil
survey area using the Soil Data Access Hydric Soils List web report:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/publications/query-by-ssa.html.
Colton Buckley,
Associate Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-05787 Filed 3-24-26; 8:45 am]
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