Written by M. Sean High
On August 22, 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture (PDA) issued a corrective amendment to the Pennsylvania Code to remedy § 137b.24 of the Preferential
Assessment of Farmland and Forest Land under the Clean and Green Act. The corrective amendment, published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin Volume 45, number34, stated that PDA had “discovered a discrepancy between the agency text of 7
Pa. Code § 137b.24 (relating to ineligible land)…and the official text as
published at 31 Pa.B. 1701 (March 31, 2001)…”
According to the official text published in 31 Pa.B.1701, the first sentence of the Pennsylvania
Code under “ineligible land” should have stated: “A landowner seeking
preferential assessment under the act shall include ineligible land on the
application if the ineligible
land is part of a larger contiguous tract of eligible land, and the use of the
land which causes it to be ineligible exists at the time the application is
filed.” (Emphasis added). Instead, the first
sentence of 7 Pa. Code § 137b.24 “Ineligible land” had stated: “A landowner
seeking preferential assessment under the act shall include ineligible land on
the application if the eligible
land is part of a larger contiguous tract of eligible land, and the use of the
land which causes it to be ineligible exists at the time the application is
filed.” (Emphasis added). The corrective
amendment to Pennsylvania Code §
137b.24 now properly reflects the official text published in 31 Pa.B. 1701.
The corrective amendment to Pennsylvania Code §
137b.24 became effective upon the August 22, 2015 publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
