Application Process And Scoring

(1) Applications for participation in the program are scored by assigning point values to various characteristics specific to the parcel and to an owner, identified in the application, relative to commercial production of farm products or nursery stock. (2) The department will tailor scoring criteria to evaluate parcel alignment with departmental goals for efficient and equitable distribution of the fund and for preservation of agricultural and forest land within the state. In setting scoring criteria, the department will consider for each application: development pressure in surrounding areas, population increases in surrounding areas, parcel size, estate and management planning, soil quality, proximity to other protected lands, suitability for agricultural and forestry production, production experience of current parcel owners, and other criteria as necessary for the program to serve and administer the purpose of the Act. (3) The department will score applications on a scale not to exceed 200 points. Applications with greater sums of scored points will be considered more competitive than applications with lesser scored points. The department will score each application based on information submitted at the time of application and will reject for participation in the program any application that does not receive a score of at least 130 points. (4) When any criterion is scored relative to a parcel’s county, for parcels located in multiple counties characteristics specific to the parcel are scored as to the one county for each criterion that may afford an application the greatest number of points. (5) When any criterion is scored relative to a parcel’s owner, for parcels owned by multiple owners characteristics specific to the owner are scored as to the one or first owner identified in the application for the program. (6) The department may conduct only one application period for the program per year, which shall be opened on September 1 in any fiscal year in which appropriations are made to the FARMLAND PRESERVATION CHAPTER 0080-01-04 fund by the General Assembly or in which the balance of the fund exceeds five million dollars. The department may limit the application period to any definite amount of time, provided that its period and the scoring criteria that will be applied to applications are publicly noticed more than 30 days prior to the beginning of the period and that the period shall be held open for at least ten consecutive business days. (7) For any applications not selected during an application period, the department may hold those applications for two years to be considered for future participation in the program; provided, however, that before consideration in any subsequent application period, the applicants shall update any information required by the department for continued consideration of the application. (8) Prior to close of sale on a program easement, the department may deny any application that is not completed in full or that is not completed in conformance with the Act or this chapter of rules. (9) If at any time prior to close of sale on a program easement an owner or holder identified in an application request in writing that the application be withdrawn, the department will void the application. The department will not hold over for consideration in subsequent application periods any application that is withdrawn by its applicant. (10) For any fiscal year in which an application period is opened, the department will submit an annual report to the chairs of the joint government operations committee detailing the scoring criteria used for evaluation of applications, the number of applications received, the number of applications that received an offer under the program, the total maximum funding for the application period allowed by this chapter of rules, an estimate of the number of acres accepted into the program, a list of counties in which parcels were accepted into the program (all annual totals specific to the application period occurring immediately prior to the report), and total funds expended and acreage enrolled during the history of the program.