Selection of Full-Cost Land

FORM 7-21FC
2008 Instructions
(7-07)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SELECTION OF FULL-COST LAND
(For Landholders Subject to Certification and Reporting Requirements
of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982)

Bureau of Reclamation
Do not use this form after December 31, 2008

OMB Control No.: 1006-0005

Paperwork Reduction Act
This information is being collected to establish landholder compliance with Federal reclamation law. Response to this request is
mandatory in accordance with Public Law 97-293 and 43 CFR 426.18. Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average
30 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the
form. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. Direct comments regarding the burden estimated or any other
aspect of these forms to Manager, Land Resources, Code 84-53000, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225.

• An entity who agrees to select some land as full-cost
when a part owner is over the applicable nonfull-cost
entitlement. Your entity’s part owners do not have to
submit Form 7-21FC if your entity selects full-cost land
but the part owner still does not exceed his/her/its
nonfull-cost entitlement (including all indirectly held
land).

GENERAL INFORMATION
“General Information About RRA Forms” (Form 7-21INFO)
provides basic information on using Reclamation Reform
Act of 1982 (RRA) forms. Ask your district office for this
form each year to keep current. Refer to the definitions at
the end of Form 7-21INFO whenever the meaning of a term
is not clear to you. Please note, some terms such as
“irrigable land,” “irrigation land,” and “irrigation water”
have special definitions when used in these forms which
differ from their common meaning. Other terms and
corresponding definitions that are specific to the RRA forms
are:

• Any party attributed with the land held (directly or
indirectly owned or leased) by a trust or estate who
exceeds the applicable nonfull-cost entitlement. In this
instance, the trust or estate must select full-cost land even
though trusts and estates do not have a set nonfull-cost
entitlement to exceed.

• “Land” or “acres” means irrigable or irrigation land.

WHERE TO SUBMIT FORMS

• “You” or “your” means all types of landholders -individuals, entities, religious or charitable organizations,
trusts, estates, etc.

If you must complete a Form 7-21FC, then you must submit
a Form 7-21FC along with your standard form to each
district in which you hold land subject to the acreage
limitation provisions. You must submit the original form to
one district and may submit copies to the others if you hold
land in more than one district.

• “We,” “us,” “our,” or “Reclamation” means the Bureau
of Reclamation.
As used in the RRA forms, the term “actual acres” refers to
all irrigable and irrigation acres with no adjustment applied
for Class 1 equivalency. The term “Class 1 equivalent
acres” refers to the resulting number of acres when an
adjustment is made to actual acres for Class 1 equivalency.

WHAT LAND TO INCLUDE
When you select land parcels that are to receive Reclamation
irrigation water at the full-cost rate, you must also select
which land parcels will receive such water at the nonfull-cost
rate. The amount of land you may select to receive
Reclamation irrigation water at the nonfull-cost rate depends
on many factors, such as your status under the law, the
application of Class 1 equivalency factors, etc. You may
select only directly owned or directly leased land as
nonfull-cost, up to your nonfull-cost entitlements.

Visit www.usbr.gov/rra for more information.

WHO MUST SUBMIT THIS FORM
You must submit a “Selection of Full-Cost Land”
(Form 7-21FC) if you are:
• A landholder (individual or entity) who exceeds your
nonfull-cost entitlement, whether you want to irrigate
your land or not.

You cannot change the land you select as nonfull-cost and
full-cost once you receive Reclamation irrigation water on
your land until the next year. Note: You must list your
irrigable land not receiving irrigation water even though it
1

does not count against your nonfull-cost entitlement, but
does establish your nonfull-cost selection for this water year.
You may want to work with your district office(s) or the
appropriate Reclamation office to complete this form
properly.

you still exceed your nonfull-cost entitlement, then apply
one of the following:

You must provide an accurate legal description or an
assessor's parcel number for each land parcel you list. Be
sure you break down land parcels as far as necessary to
ensure accurate identification. Group the parcels by district
if you are listing parcels located in more than one district.

(1)

If you hold land both directly and indirectly, then
apply the Class 1 equivalency to your directly held
land.

(2)

If you hold no land directly (or you do not want to
select such land as full-cost) and the direct landholder
does not exceed the applicable entitlement, then use
the applicable Class 1 factors to determine how much
land to request the direct landholder to select as fullcost land. Once the direct landholder has completed
Form 7-21FC, obtain a copy of that form and indicate
the same acreage as full-cost as the direct landholder.

TO CHANGE SELECTION MIDYEAR
You may reselect land as full-cost or nonfull-cost during a
water year only if the following conditions are met:

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
(1)

You have not already received Reclamation irrigation
water this water year on westwide landholdings that
equal or exceed your applicable nonfull-cost
entitlement.

(2)

The land you want to reselect as nonfull-cost or fullcost has not yet received Reclamation irrigation water
this water year. Your original selection will stand if
the district office is unable to verify that the land in
question has not yet been irrigated with such water.

(3)

You have completed and submitted a new
Form 7-21FC.

Type or print in ink all answers. You must initial and date
any crossouts and corrections. You may attach continuation
sheets to list information. District name abbreviation(s) used
on this form must be spelled out on the form where the
abbreviation is used for the first time, or on a separate sheet
attached to this form. Please contact your district office or
the appropriate Reclamation office if you have any
questions.

ITEM BY ITEM INSTRUCTIONS
Landholder Information

WHEN THIS FORM IS REQUIRED
You must submit Form 7-21FC each and every year that you
submit new standard forms, as well as each and every year
you want to change the selections from those specified on
the previously submitted Form 7-21FC. However, if you are
eligible to submit a “Verification of Landholdings”
(Form 7-21VERIFY), you do not need to submit a new
Form 7-21FC for that year unless your selection of full-cost
land changes. You may submit a Form 7-21VERIFY to
verify the standard form and a new Form 7-21FC if you want
to change the selection of your full-cost land.
Your entity must select enough land to attribute to the part
owner the number of acres equal to what the part owner
needs to select as full-cost land. For example, a part owner
owns 50 percent of a legal entity and he needs to select
50 acres as full-cost land. The part owner asks the legal
entity to select full-cost land. The entity must select
100 acres as full-cost land in order for the part owner to have
50 full-cost acres attributed to him.

1.

Enter the landholder’s name.

2.

Enter the spouse’s name if the landholder is married.

3.

(a)

Enter the landholder’s, trustee’s, executor’s, or
administrator’s street address or rural route
number, city, state, and ZIP code. An attorney’s
address, “c/o” address, etc., is not acceptable in
place of a street address. Post office box
numbers may be used only if no other address
exists.

(b)

Enter the landholder’s mailing address if it is
different from the street address.

(a)

Enter the telephone number where questions can
be directed.

(b)

Enter the name of a contact person at that
telephone number.

4.

If you are an indirect landholder, you may apply Class 1
equivalency to your selection of nonfull-cost land if the
direct landholder has already utilized Class 1 equivalency on
his/her/its Form 7-21FC. You should obtain a copy of the
direct landholder’s form, and indicate the same acreage as
full-cost as the direct landholder. If after taking that action
2

5.

Check the box that best identifies the landholder’s
nonfull-cost entitlement. Fill in the number of acres
on the line provided if you check “Other.” Check the
box marked “Trust or Estate” instead of checking an
entitlement if you are completing this form for a trust
or estate.

6.

(a)

For entities only: Enter the name(s) of the part
owner(s) causing the entity to complete this
FORM 7-21FC (2008)

form. Your entity may not exceed its nonfullcost entitlement, but it may complete this form
solely because one (or more) of its part owners
exceeds his/her/its nonfull-cost entitlement and
your entity has agreed to select all or part of its
land as full cost.
(b)

please contact your district office or the
appropriate Reclamation office.
(d)

If appropriate, enter the Class 1 equivalency
factor for the district in which the land parcel is
located. You may use this column only if you
are subject to the discretionary provisions and
only for land you hold in those districts listed in
column 7(a) that have Class 1 equivalency
factors. Leave this column blank if you are not
subject to the discretionary provisions or if none
of the districts listed in column 7(a) have
Class 1 equivalency factors. Again, Class 1
equivalency can only be applied to acres in
those districts that have Class 1 equivalency
factors.

(e)

If you completed column 7(d), enter the Class 1
equivalent acres by dividing item 7(c) by item
7(d) if your Class 1 equivalency factor is more
than 1.0, or by multiplying item 7(c) by
item 7(d) if your Class 1 equivalency factor is
less than 1.0.

For trusts or estates only: Identify the
attributed direct or indirect landholder(s) who
exceeds his/her/its nonfull-cost entitlement,
causing the trust or estate to complete this form.

Directly Held Nonfull-Cost Land
7.

Complete this section if you directly hold land and
either a portion or all of that land is to be selected as
nonfull-cost. Identify which parcels of the directly
held land will receive Reclamation irrigation water at
the nonfull-cost rate.
If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Provide an accurate legal description or an
assessor’s parcel number. Be sure to break
down land parcels as far as necessary to ensure
accurate identification. Group the parcels by
district if you are listing parcels located in more
than one district.

(c)

Number of actual acres in the land parcel.

Example: If you have 1,400 actual Class 2
acres with a Class 1 equivalency factor of 0.8,
you will enter 960 acres in column 7(e) because
application of Class 1 equivalency to 1,200 of
your actual 1,400 Class 2 acres results in 960
acres (1,200 x 0.8 = 960). However, you must
still select the remainder of your actual Class 2
acres (200 acres) as full-cost in item 14. To do
this, you must re-convert all class 1 equivalent
acres to actual acres. Please refer to the
example provided in item 14.
The total acres in column 7(e) cannot exceed
your nonfull-cost entitlement.

For direct landholders with a Class 1
equivalency factor: The following instructions
explain how to calculate the maximum number
of acres you may select as nonfull-cost.

This column can be used only by landholders
subject to the discretionary provisions and only
for those districts listed in column 7(a) that have
Class 1 equivalency factors. Leave this column
blank if you are not subject to the discretionary
provisions or if none of the districts listed in
column 7(a) have Class 1 equivalency factors.

If all of your land is of one class other than
Class 1 and has a Class 1 equivalency factor of
less than 1.0, you can divide your nonfull-cost
entitlement by that equivalency factor to
determine the number of acres you may select as
nonfull-cost. If your equivalency factor is more
than 1.0 you will need to multiply your nonfullcost entitlement by that equivalency factor.

All land you directly hold must be selected as
either nonfull-cost or full-cost, or identified as
not receiving Reclamation irrigation water. You
can verify this by adding the total of column
7(c), item 13, and item 15. This total should
equal the total number of directly owned and
directly leased acres on your standard form.

Example: If you own 1,200 acres and if your
nonfull-cost entitlement is 960 acres and all
your land is Class 2 with a Class 1 equivalency
factor of 0.8, you will enter 1,200 nonfull-cost
acres in column 7(c) (960 ÷ 0.8 = 1,200).
If you have multiple classes of land and need
assistance completing this item on your form,

Indirectly Held Nonfull-Cost Land
8.

3

Complete this section if you exceed your nonfull-cost
entitlement and you are a part owner, beneficiary,
FORM 7-21FC (2008)

trustee, or grantor who is attributed with land held by
an entity, trust, or estate and a portion of such
indirectly held land is selected to receive Reclamation
irrigation water at the nonfull-cost rate by the direct
holder of such land. Only direct landholders can
select nonfull-cost land.

equivalency is used, on the direct landholder’s
Form 7-21FC.
(d)

What type of acres were included in item 8(c):
actual acres or Class 1 equivalent acres. You
must indicate “actual acres” if the acreage you
are using was obtained from item 7(c) of the
direct landholder’s Form 7-21FC. You must
indicate “Class 1 equivalent acres” if the
acreage you are using was obtained from
item 7(e) of the direct landholder’s
Form 7-21FC.

(e)

The percentage of interest in the entity, trust, or
estate that is attributed to you.

(f)

Multiply item 8(c) by item 8(e) in decimal form.
This is the number of indirectly held nonfullcost acres attributable to you by the entity, trust,
or estate.

Determine which of the following situation applies to
you:
• If you have asked a direct landholder to complete a
Form 7-21FC and the landholder has done so, or
the direct landholder has completed a
Form 7-21FC for other reasons, you must use the
direct landholder’s Form 7-21FC to complete this
section. Any applicable Class 1 equivalency
calculations will be performed on the direct
landholder’s Form 7-21FC.
• OR, if the direct landholder has not completed a
Form 7-21FC, then all land you indirectly hold
through that landholder must be included here.

9.

If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.

(a)

An indirect landholder who meets the following
criteria must also note in column 8(b) what action was
taken (e.g., I am not over my nonfull-cost entitlement
because when the available Class 1 equivalency factor
is used I only have ____ Class 1 equivalent acres) if
the indirect landholder:
1.

(a)
(b)

(c)

Only holds land through entities that are
under their entitlements; and

3.

Finds that when Class 1 equivalency is
available in the district(s) and applied by
the direct landholder, it results in the
indirect landholder also being under
entitlement.

Total column 7(c) for those
land parcels where Class 1
equivalency is not applicable,
or. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9(a) _______

Total column 7(e) for those
land parcels where Class 1
equivalency is applicable. . .

9(b) _______

(c)

Total column 8(f). . . . . . .

9(c) _______

(d)

Add the totals you calculated
above. This is the number of
acres westwide that you select
to receive Reclamation
irrigation water at the nonfullcost rate. Enter this total in
9(d) _______
item 9 on the form. . . . . .

(b)

Exceeds his/her/its nonfull-cost
entitlement;

2.

For calculation purposes only, please complete the
steps specified below and enter your total for each step
in the space provided to the right of the written
instruction:

Total acres in item 9 cannot exceed your nonfull-cost
entitlement.

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

10.

Name of the direct landholder (i.e., the entity
that owns or leases land in which you own an
interest, or the name of the trust or estate in
which the land is held).
Number of actual or Class 1 equivalent acres
selected as nonfull-cost by the direct landholder
(entity, trust, or estate). You must obtain this
number from item 7(c) if no Class 1 equivalency
factor is used, or item 7(e) if Class 1

Please provide an explanation if the total nonfull-cost
acreage you entered in item 9 on the form exceeds
your nonfull-cost entitlement (e.g., land held under
recordable contract, land involuntarily acquired, etc.).

Land Not Receiving Reclamation Irrigation Water
11.

4

Enter the landholder’s name again. (These forms are
often photocopied, so it is necessary to have the
landholder identified on each page.)

FORM 7-21FC (2008)

12.

Directly Held Full-Cost Land

Complete this section for directly or indirectly held
land that is not receiving Reclamation irrigation water.
You must list land subject to an extended recordable
contract in this section, or in item 14 or item 16.

14.

If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Provide an accurate legal description of the land
parcel or an assessor’s parcel number for
directly held land that is not receiving
Reclamation irrigation water. Leave this
column blank if you are the indirect landholder
of the land that is not receiving Reclamation
irrigation water.

(c)

If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.

Name of the direct landholder (i.e., the entity
that owns or leases irrigable and/or irrigation
land in which you own an interest, or the name
of the trust or estate in which the land is held).
Leave this column blank if you are the direct
landholder of the listed land parcel.

(d)

For indirectly held land, provide the actual
acres that the direct landholder selected as not
receiving Reclamation irrigation water. Leave
this column blank if you are the direct
landholder of the listed land parcel.

(e)

Provide the percentage of interest you have in
the actual acres attributed to you as an indirect
landholder. Leave this column blank if you are
the direct landholder of the listed land parcel.

(f)

Check this column if the land is not currently
being irrigated.

(g)

Check this column if the land is being irrigated,
but is receiving water from a source other than
a Reclamation irrigation project.

(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Provide an accurate legal description of the land
parcel or an assessor’s parcel number.

(c)

Number of actual full-cost acres in the land
parcel. Note: Any Class 1 equivalent acres
must be reconverted to actual acres.
Using the example provided for item 7(e):
Example: If you have 1,400 actual
Class 2 acres with a Class 1 equivalency factor
of 0.8, you entered 960 acres in column 7(e)
because 1,200 acres x 0.8 = 960. However, you
must select the remainder of your land (200
acres) as full-cost because you applied Class 1
equivalency to only a 1,200-acre portion of your
1,400-acre landholding.
The actual acres included in items 7 and 14
must equal the total directly owned and leased
land reported on your standard RRA form.
Land reported on your standard RRA form is
based on actual acres, not Class 1 equivalent
acres. Therefore, if you use the Class 1
equivalent acres from item 7(e) to calculate the
number of acres that must be selected as fullcost acres, you will arrive at a total number of
acres that is less than the total owned and leased
land reported on your standard RRA form.

(h)

13.

Complete this section if you directly hold land and all
or a portion of that land is to be selected as full cost.
You must list land subject to an extended recordable
contract in this section, or in item 12 or item 16. In
this section, identify which parcels of directly held
land will receive Reclamation irrigation water at the
full-cost rate.

Number of actual acres in the land parcel. For
indirectly held land, multiply item d and item e
to obtain the correct number of actual acres (i.e.,
the percentage of actual acres attributed to you).
Note: Any Class 1 equivalent acres must be
reconverted to actual acres. Please refer to the
example provided in item 14.
Total column 12(h). This is the number of actual acres
held westwide that are not receiving Reclamation
irrigation water.

15.

Total column 14(c). This is the number of directly
held actual acres westwide that you select to receive
Reclamation irrigation water at the full-cost rate.
Indirectly Held Full-Cost Land
16.

5

Complete this section if you exceed your nonfull-cost
entitlement and you are a part owner, beneficiary,
trustee, or grantor who is attributed with land held by
an entity, trust, or estate and all or a portion of your
indirectly held land is selected to receive Reclamation
irrigation water at the full-cost rate by the direct holder
FORM 7-21FC (2008)

Signatures

of such land. You must list land subject to an
extended recordable contract in this section or in
item 12 or item 14. Using information obtained from
the direct landholder’s Form 7-21FC, you must
identify which parcels of your indirectly held land will
receive Reclamation irrigation water at the full-cost
rate.

19.

If you are unsure of the meaning of the terms “actual
acres” or “Class 1 equivalent acres,” please see the
“GENERAL INFORMATION” section of these
instructions and the definitions provided in
Form 7-21INFO.
(a)

Name of district in which the land parcel is
located.

(b)

Name of the direct landholder (i.e., the entity
that owns or leases irrigable and/or irrigation
land in which you own an interest, or the name
of the trust or estate in which the land is held).

(c)

Number of actual acres selected as full-cost by
the entity, trust or estate. Since only direct
landholders can select full-cost land, you must
obtain this number from the direct landholder’s
Form 7-21FC, item 14(c).

(d)

The percentage of interest in the entity, trust, or
estate that is attributed to you.

(e)

Multiply item 16(c) by item 16(d) in decimal
form. This is the number of indirectly held
full-cost acres attributable to you by the entity,
trust, or estate.

17.

Total column 16(e). This is the number of acres you
indirectly hold westwide for which the full-cost rate
will be paid.

18.

Total item 15 and item 17. This is the total number of
acres held westwide that you select to receive
Reclamation irrigation water at the full-cost rate.

6

Sign the form in ink. Both you and your spouse, if
married, must sign the form. This requirement applies
even if the land is not jointly held. All partners, joint
tenants, or co-tenants must sign the form if the
landholder is a partnership, joint tenancy, or
tenancy-in-common. However, you may use a written
signature authorization to permit one spouse to sign
for the couple, or to permit one natural person to sign
for the entity, and a copy must be submitted to each
district you submit RRA forms. All trustees,
executors, or administrators must sign this form unless
the trust or a power of attorney authorizes one
individual to sign for the trust or estate. The district
office must keep any signature authorizations on file.

FORM 7-21FC (2008)