NB_440_23_17 - NB 440-23-17 PGM - Required Review and Update of National Easement Staging Tool Data Associated with Less than Permanent Easements and 30-Year Contracts
NB 440-23-17 PGM - Required Review and Update of National Easement Staging Tool Data Associated with Less than Permanent Easements and 30-Year Contracts
National
Bulletin:
440-23-17
Date:
May 11, 2023
Subject:
PGM - Required Review and Update of National Easement Staging Tool Data Associated with Less than Permanent Easements and 30-Year Contracts
Action Required By:September 15, 2023
Purpose. This national bulletin provides guidance for data review and required updates associated with less than permanent easements and 30-year contracts in the National Easement Staging Tool (NEST).
Expiration Date. September 30, 2023
Background. To prepare for the migration of records from NEST to Conservation Desktop (CD), the Easement Programs Division (EPD) recently updated NEST functionality. As a result, EPD identified gaps in the existing enrollment records, including incomplete data for less than permanent easements and 30-year contracts. To address these gaps, states and the Easement Acquisition Branch (EAB) must review and update NEST records as explained in this bulletin. This review will enable NRCS to accurately represent all enrollments and use the full functionality of CD when it becomes the system of record for easement programs.
Explanation. It is imperative that states and EAB finish reviewing and updating less than permanent easement and 30-year contract NEST records no later than September 15, 2023.
To complete the task, states and EAB must review the agreement data for all less than permanent easements and 30-year contracts to ensure that all applicable data elements are complete and accurate. The review must include the following:
Landowner, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and NRCS contract signature dates as appropriate.
In addition, for all 30-year easements that were converted to permanent easements, states and EAB must review the NEST record to ensure the conversion was documented correctly. Attachment A, “Conversion of Easements, Whole and Partial Conversions Steps,” provides instructions for documenting whole (i.e., full) and partial conversions.
States and EAB may use the “Agreement Detail Nightly” report in NEST to identify less than permanent easements and 30-year contracts. To identify easements that have been converted from 30-year to permanent, states may use the search page in NEST to select “memo to file” and reason equal to “conversion.”
The migration of NEST information to CD will not be successful without this record review and update. To avoid the future workload associated with correcting CD, the review and update of these records must be completed no later than September 15, 2023.
Contact. Direct questions regarding this bulletin to NEST support at NESTsupport@usda.gov.