USDA Seeks Comments on Increasing Land Access Programmatic Environmental Assessment

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced the availability of a Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program.

In August 2022, USDA announced up to $300 million in funding to support projects that increased underserved producers access to land, capital, and markets. As provided in the American Rescue Plan Act Section 1006, as amended by Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this program was part of a broader investment to help ensure underserved producers have the resources, tools, programs, and technical support they need to succeed. FSA expects to announce the final selected projects this spring. 

These tentatively selected projects will likely result in the purchase of land, construction of farm infrastructure, and other activities that could have potential impacts on environmental resources. FSA has developed the programmatic environmental assessment to evaluate the overarching environmental impacts of the program as they relate to the National Environmental Policy Act. 

The draft programmatic environmental assessment is available online for public review. FSA is requesting comments on the program’s potential impact on the environment. The feedback will be incorporated into the final programmatic environmental assessment, as appropriate, prior to a decision.

FSA will consider comments received by Friday, July 14, 2023, at 5 p.m. EST. Comments received after that date will be considered to the extent possible.

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