Selection of Full-Cost Land

FORM 7-21FC
2016 Instructions
(7-15)

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, 2016

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, Reclamation Law Administration Division, Code 84-55000, Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225.

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:
•

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

•

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

•

“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.
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.

•

An entity who agrees to select some land as full-cost when
a part owner is over the applicable nonfull-cost
entitlement.

•

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.

WHERE TO SUBMIT FORMS
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.
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.
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
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 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.

full-cost as the direct landholder. If after taking that action
you still exceed your nonfull-cost entitlement, then apply one
of the following:
(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 full-cost 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:
(1) You have not already received Reclamation irrigation
water this water year on westwide landholdings that equal
or exceed your applicable nonfull-cost entitlement.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
(2) The land you want to reselect as nonfull-cost or full-cost
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.

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.

(3) You have completed and submitted a new Form 7-21FC.
WHEN THIS FORM IS REQUIRED

ITEM BY ITEM INSTRUCTIONS
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.

Landholder Information
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.

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

(a) Enter the telephone number where questions can be
directed.
(b) Enter the name of a contact person at that telephone
number.

5.

2

Check the box that best identifies the landholder’s
nonfull-cost entitlement. Fill in the number of acres on
FORM 7-21FC (2016)

factor is more than 1.0 you will need to multiply your
nonfull-cost entitlement by that equivalency factor.

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.
Your entity may not exceed its nonfull-cost
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) 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.

If you have multiple classes of land and need
assistance completing this item on your form, 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
directly own and/or lease 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.

Directly Owned and Leased Nonfull-Cost Land
7.

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).

Complete this section if you directly own and/or lease
land and either a portion or all of that land is to be
selected as nonfull-cost. Identify which parcels of the
directly owned and/or leased 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.

(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.

(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.

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.

The total acres in column 7(e) cannot exceed your
nonfull-cost entitlement.

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

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
3

FORM 7-21FC (2016)

1. Exceeds his/her/its nonfull-cost entitlement;

none of the districts listed in column 7(a) have
Class 1 equivalency factors.

2. Only owns and/or leases land through entities
that are under their entitlements; and

All land you directly own and/or lease 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.

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.
(a) Name of district in which the land parcel is located.

Indirectly Owned and Leased Nonfull-Cost Land
8.

(b) 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).

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 directly owned
and/or leased by an entity, trust, or estate and a portion of
such 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.

(c) 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 equivalency is used, on the direct
landholder’s Form 7-21FC. If the direct landholder
has not completed a Form 7-21FC, include all land
directly owned and/o r leased by that direct
landholder.

Determine which of the following situations 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.

(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.

OR, if the direct landholder has not completed a Form
7-21FC, then information about all land you
indirectly own and/or lease through that landholder
must be included here.

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

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.

(f) Multiply item 8(c) by item 8(e) in decimal form.
This is the number of indirectly owned and/or leased
nonfull-cost acres attributable to you by the entity,
trust, or estate.

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:

4

9.

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

FORM 7-21FC (2016)

(a) Total column 7(c) for those land
parcels where Class 1 equivalency is
not applicable, or . . . . . . . . . . . 9(a) _____
(b) 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 nonfull-cost rate.
Enter this total in item 9 on the form. . . . 9(d) _____
Total acres in item 9 cannot exceed your nonfull-cost
entitlement.

(c) 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 owned and/or leased 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.

10. 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.).

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

Land Not Receiving Reclamation Irrigation Water
11. Enter the landholder’s name again. (These forms are
often photocopied, so it is necessary to have the
landholder identified on each page.)
12. Complete this section for directly or indirectly owned
and/or leased 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.
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.

(h) Number of actual acres in the land parcel. For
indirectly owned and/or leased 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.
13. Total column 12(h). This is the number of actual acres
held westwide that are not receiving Reclamation
irrigation water.
Directly Owned and Leased Full-Cost Land
14. Complete this section if you directly own and/or lease
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
owned and/or leased land will receive Reclamation
irrigation water at the full-cost rate.

(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
owned and/or leased 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.

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.
5

FORM 7-21FC (2016)

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.
(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):

(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).

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.

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

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
full-cost 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.

(e) Multiply item 16(c) by item 16(d) in decimal form.
This is the number of indirectly owned and/or leased
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 own and/or lease westwide for which the
full-cost rate will be paid.

15. Total column 14(c). This is the number of directly owned
and/or leased actual acres westwide that you select to
receive Reclamation irrigation water at the full-cost rate.

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.

Indirectly Owned and Leased Full-Cost Land
Signatures
16. 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 directly owned
and/or leased by an entity, trust, or estate and all or a
portion of such land is selected to receive Reclamation
irrigation water at the full-cost rate by the direct holder 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 owned and/or leased land will
receive Reclamation irrigation water at the full-cost rate.

19. 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.

6

FORM 7-21FC (2016)