Legal Status This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily
Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal
Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official
electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.gov.

The documents posted on this site are XML renditions of published Federal
Register documents. Each document posted on the site includes a link to the
corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. This prototype edition of the
daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial
informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal
Register (ACFR) issues a regulation granting it official legal status.
For complete information about, and access to, our official publications
and services, go to About the Federal Register on NARA's archives.gov.

The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable
regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of
establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned
publication in the future. While every effort has been made to ensure that
the material on FederalRegister.gov is accurately displayed, consistent with
the official SGML-based PDF version on govinfo.gov, those relying on it for
legal research should verify their results against an official edition of
the Federal Register. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML
rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not
provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts.

Legal Status

Notice

Changes in Hydric Soils Database Selection Criteria of the United States

A Notice by the Natural Resources Conservation Service on 03/25/2026

• 1.

1.
This document has a comment period that ends in 30 days.
(04/24/2026) View Comment Instructions

Thank you for taking the time to create a comment. Your input is important.

Once you have filled in the required fields below you can preview and/or submit your comment to the Agriculture Department for review. All comments are considered public and will be posted online once the Agriculture Department has reviewed them.

You can view alternative ways to comment or you may also comment via Regulations.gov at /documents/2026/03/25/2026-05787/changes-in-hydric-soils-database-selection-criteria-of-the-united-states.

It appears that you have attempted to comment on this document before
so we've restored your progress.
Start over.
1.
2. Comment * What is your comment about? Upload File(s) Note: You can attach your comment as a file and/or attach supporting
documents to your comment. Attachment Requirements.

Email this will NOT be posted on regulations.gov

Opt to receive email confirmation of submission and tracking number? Tell us about yourself! I am... * An Individual An Organization Anonymous First Name * Last Name * City Region State Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Zip Country Afghanistan Åland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine, State of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Réunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin (French part) Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Phone Organization Type * Company Organization Federal State Local Tribal Regional Foreign U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate Organization Name * You are filing a document into an official docket. Any personal
information included in your comment text and/or uploaded
attachment(s) may be publicly viewable on the web. I read and understand the statement above.

2. Preview Comment Please review the Regulations.gov privacy notice and user notice.
3. Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Agency/Docket Number Docket No. NRCS-2026-0001 Document Citation 91 FR 14521 Document Number 2026-05787 Document Type Notice Pages 14521-14523 (3 pages) Publication Date 03/25/2026 Published Content - Document Details

• PDF Official Content
  • View printed version (PDF) Official Content
• Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Agency/Docket Number Docket No. NRCS-2026-0001 Document Citation 91 FR 14521 Document Number 2026-05787 Document Type Notice Pages 14521-14523 (3 pages) Publication Date 03/25/2026 Published Content - Document Details
• Document Dates Published Content - Document Dates Comments Close 04/24/2026 Dates Text Comments must be received on or before April 24, 2026. Published Content - Document Dates

• Table of Contents Enhanced Content - Table of Contents This table of contents is a navigational tool, processed from the
  headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents.
  This repetition of headings to form internal navigation links
  has no substantive legal effect.

  • AGENCY:
  • ACTION:
  • SUMMARY:
  • DATES:
  • ADDRESSES:
  • FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
  • SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
  • Glossary of Terms Used in Hydric Soils Criteria
  • What's included on the hydric soils lists? Enhanced Content - Table of Contents

• Public Comments Enhanced Content - Public Comments Comments are being accepted - View Comment Instructions.

Enhanced Content - Public Comments
- Regulations.gov Data Enhanced Content - Regulations.gov Data Additional information is not currently available for this document.

Enhanced Content - Regulations.gov Data

- Sharing Enhanced Content - Sharing Shorter Document URL https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-05787 Email Email this document to a friend Enhanced Content - Sharing

• Print Enhanced Content - Print
  • Print this document Enhanced Content - Print
• Other Formats Enhanced Content - Other Formats This document is also available in the following formats:

JSON Normalized attributes and metadata XML Original full text XML MODS Government Publishing Office metadata More information and documentation can be found in our developer tools pages.

Enhanced Content - Other Formats
- Public Inspection Public Inspection This PDF is FR Doc. 2026-05787 as it appeared on Public Inspection on
03/24/2026 at 8:45 am.

It was viewed
9
times while on Public Inspection.

If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you
should verify the contents of the documents against a final, official
edition of the Federal Register. Only official editions of the
Federal Register provide legal notice of publication to the public and judicial notice
to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 1503 & 1507. Learn more here.

Public Inspection
Published Document: 2026-05787 (91 FR 14521) This document has been published in the Federal Register. Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain
the following:

1. the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document
2. the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to
3. the agency docket number / agency internal file number
4. the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details.

Department of Agriculture

Natural Resources Conservation Service

1. [Docket No. NRCS-2026-0001]

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.

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 ( printed 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: cory.owens@usda.gov. 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 ( printed 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]

BILLING CODE 3410-16-P

Published Document: 2026-05787 (91 FR 14521)