The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Proposes to Amend PA Clean and Green Act

On August 3, 2013, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture proposed rulemaking under the Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act of 1974, 72 PA. STAT. ANN. §§ 5490.1-5490.13, also known as the Clean and Green Act. The Clean and Green Act (“Act”) allows owners of agricultural, agricultural reserve, or forest reserve land to apply for preferential assessment of their land to receive an assessment based upon the land’s use rather than the market value.

The proposed rulemaking adds new definitions and makes revisions to implement the recent amendments to the Act (a total of six amendments since 2004). It adds language to clarify the administration of the Act by defining several commonly used terms and providing further information for how “farmstead land” is to be enrolled and assessed. It also addresses the types of recreational activities that are acceptable on enrolled land without adverse financial consequences to the owner and corrects mistakes in the description of the roll-back tax calculation process.

For further information concerning the proposed amendments and recent acts that modify the Clean and Green Act, as well as the text of the Act, please visit the PA Bulletin website. For more information on Clean and Green generally, please see our Clean and Green Resource Area.

Written by Sarah L. Doyle - Research Assistant
The Agricultural Law Resource and Reference Center
@PSUAgLawCenter
August 8, 2013