312 IAC 25-1-66 "Historically used for cropland" defined

Sec. 66. "Historically used for cropland" means any of the following: (1) Lands that have been used for cropland for any five (5) years or more out of the ten (10) years immediately preceding the acquisition, including purchase, lease, or option, of the land for the purpose of conducting or allowing through resale, lease, or option the conduct of surface coal mining and reclamation operations. (2) Lands that the director determines, on the basis of additional cropland history of the surrounding lands and the lands under consideration, that the permit area is clearly cropland but falls outside the specific 5-years-in-10 criterion, in which case the regulations for prime farmland may be applied to include more years of cropland history only to increase the prime farmland acreage to be preserved. (3) Lands that would likely have been used as cropland for any five (5) out of the last ten (10) years, immediately preceding such acquisition but for the same fact of ownership or control of the land unrelated to the productivity of the land.