PART 600—ORGANIZATION Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6962. Source: 65 FR 14781, Mar. 20, 2000, unless otherwise noted. § 600.1 General. (a) The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) was authorized by the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-354, 7 U.S.C. 6901 note) and established by Secretary's Memorandum 1010-1 (2.b.6), Reorganization of the Department of Agriculture, (1) Soil and water conservation; (2) Natural resource surveys including soil surveys, resources inventory, snow surveys, and water supply forecasting; and (3) Community resource protection and management including watershed projects, river basin studies and investigations, resource conservation and development areas, land evaluation and site assessment, and emergency watershed protection. In addition, NRCS has leadership for the Wetlands Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, Farmland Protection Program, Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Forestry Incentives Program, and Conservation Farm Option. NRCS provides technical support for the Conservation Reserve Program. (b) The NRCS organization consists of a National Headquarters located in Washington, DC; six regional offices; 50 state offices and two equivalent offices in the Caribbean Area and the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific Basin Area; approximately 2,500 field offices and 300 specialized offices; 26 plant materials centers; 17 major land resource area soil survey offices; nine national centers; and seven national institutes. A Chief who reports to the USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment heads NRCS. § 600.2 National headquarters. (a) Chief. (b) Deputy chiefs. (1) Deputy Chief for Management. (2) Deputy Chief for Strategic Planning and Accountability. (3) Deputy Chief for Programs. (4) Deputy Chief for Soil Survey and Resource Assessment. (5) Deputy Chief for Science and Technology. (c) National Science and Technology Consortium. (1) Centers. (2) Institutes. (3) Cooperating Scientists. (d) Civil Rights. (e) Legislative Affairs. (f) Conservation Communications. (g) Strategic Natural Resource Issues. § 600.3 Regional offices. Each regional office is under the direction and supervision of a regional conservationist. Regional offices are responsible for (1) Providing agency leadership, guidance, coordination, and partnering for solutions to regional resource issues; (2) Program implementation, consistency, and accountability; (3) Region-wide strategic planning, performance measurement, and operations management; (4) Administrative operations and support; (5) Fund integrity and accountability; (6) Technical quality of work; and (7) All NRCS activities in the region. Regional offices are located in Beltsville, Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; Fort Worth, Texas; Madison, Wisconsin; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Sacramento, California. § 600.4 State offices. Each office is under the direction and supervision of a State conservationist. Each State conservationist is responsible for NRCS programs in a State. The Pacific Basin Area Office, under the direction and supervision of a director, serves the U.S. Trust Territories in that area. The Caribbean Area Office, under the direction and supervision of a director, serves the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Directors of the Pacific Basin and Caribbean areas have the same responsibility and authority as a State conservationist. All references to State conservationists in this chapter include the directors of the Pacific Basin and Caribbean areas. § 600.5 Area offices. Each area office is under the direction and supervision of an area conservationist or assistant State conservationist for field operations who is responsible for NRCS activities in the geographical area served by the area office. Usually the geographical area includes multiple field offices and counties. Many area offices now consist of teams working on a watershed or other geopolitical basis. § 600.6 Field offices. Each field office is under the direction and supervision of a district conservationist who is responsible for NRCS activities in the geographical area served by the field office. Usually the geographical area of a field office includes one or more conservation districts and one or more counties. Field offices are generally collocated with other USDA agencies in USDA Service Centers. § 600.7 Specialized field offices. Other field offices serve specialized activities, such as watershed protection and flood reduction projects, construction projects, resource conservation and development areas, and soil survey activities. State conservationists designate direction and supervision of these offices. § 600.8 Plant materials centers. Plant materials centers (PMC) assemble and test plant species for conservation uses. Usually a PMC serves two or more States, and is under the jurisdiction of the State conservationist where the center is located. Each PMC is directed and supervised by a manager who is responsible to a State office specialist/manager as designated by the State conservationist. § 600.9 Major land resource area soil survey offices. The United States is divided into 17 major land resource areas (MLRA) for the purpose of soil survey production. Major land resource area soil survey offices (MO) provide the technical leadership, coordination, and quality assurance for all soil survey project activities within the respective MLRA. Each MO serves two or more States (except for the MO in Alaska), and is under the jurisdiction of the State conservationist where the office is located. Each MO is directed and supervised by a leader who is designated by the State conservationist.