As pressure for change in use on historically agricultural lands continues unabated, state and local governments and agricultural stakeholders wrestle with the extent prime soils classification may legally factor into development plans and permitting decisions to discourage changes in surface use. Prime farmland soils are generally defined by USDA, under authority of the Farmland Protection Policy Act (FPPA) via 7 CFR § 657.5, as possessing the optimal physical and chemical characteristics for high-yield food and fiber production. Prime soils have renewed focus as a policy matter at the intersection of utility-scale solar development and agricultural production, with efforts to limit their non-farm use and mitigate their impact.
As a matter of federal policy, the FPPA requires federal agencies (such as the FAA or HUD) to minimize the “unnecessary and irreversible conversion” of prime soils to non-agricultural uses. Designation manifests through the Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) system, which scores potential sites. Projects exceeding a specific threshold are flagged, theoretically forcing agencies to consider alternative locations that spare high-quality soils.
State governments have used prime soils (sometimes designated as soils of statewide importance) to positively score conservation easements applications, though prime soils as a factor in restricting development patterns (e.g. housing densities) and permitting decisions may draw more challenges. In Virginia, prime soils designation has found policy footing in the solar development realm with a new statutory and regulatory mitigation requirement for disturbed prime soils in solar development, requiring a 1:1 ratio of land to be protected under conservation easement (or a fee in lieu to fund conservation easement protection) for each acre developed, as a permitting requirement. It is yet to be seen what legal challenges lie ahead for that mitigation policy. Beyond the solar development realm, one may continue to expect local governments in some states to factor in prime soils as a land attribute that guides development, and perhaps legal challenges may illustrate whether such actions amount to impermissible land use regulations under constitutional takings standards.
Branan, Robert Andrew. “Prime Soils Mitigation for Solar Development.” Southern Ag Today 6(9.5). February 27, 2026. Permalink
