EZ Certification of Individual's Landholdings

FORM 7-2180EZ
2012 Instructions

INSTRUCTIONS FOR “EZ” CERTIFICATION OF
INDIVIDUAL’S LANDHOLDINGS
(Discretionary Provisions)

(7-11)

Bureau of Reclamation
Do not use this form after December 31, 2012

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 45 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 Office, Code 84-53000, Bureau of Reclamation, PO Box 25007, Denver CO 80225.

GENERAL INFORMATION
“General Information About RRA Forms”
(Form 7-21INFO) provides basic instructions 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 and/or irrigation land.

•

“You” or “your” means the landholder.

•

“We,” “us,” “our,” or “Reclamation” means the Bureau of
Reclamation

Visit www.usbr.gov/rra for more information.
WHO MAY SUBMIT THIS FORM
You may submit an “EZ Certification of Individual’s
Landholdings” (Form 7-2180EZ) if you meet all of the following
conditions:
(1)

You are an individual, an individual with dependent
children, a married couple, or a married couple with
dependent children, and you are a qualified recipient
whose total landholdings are more than the RRA forms
submittal threshold of your district. A category 1
district’s form submittal threshold is 240 acres and a
category 2 district’s threshold is 80 acres for qualified
recipients. You should contact the district in which you
hold land to determine the forms submittal category
since a district’s RRA forms submittal category is
subject to change annually.

(2)

All of your landholdings are subject to acreage
limitation provisions and are located in the same
district.

(3)

You do not hold more than 960 acres of irrigable
and/or irrigation land.

(4)

You hold all your land directly and in your own name
(that is, the land is not owned or leased through any
type of legal entity, such as a corporation, trust, estate,
or partnership; or in the names of your children or other
dependents).

(5)

You are not claimed as a dependent within the meaning
of the Internal Revenue Code.

(6)

Either you or your spouse, if married, is a U.S. citizen
or a resident alien.

If you do not meet all of these conditions you must submit a
“Certification of Individual’s Landholdings” (Form 7-2180).
Fact Sheets 1, 2, and 5 are available at your district office if you
are unsure whether Form 7-2180EZ is the appropriate form for
you to submit.
You are completing the wrong form if you and your spouse,
if married, are both nonresident aliens. Please contact your
district office or the appropriate Reclamation office to obtain the
proper form.
WHERE TO SUBMIT FORMS
Submit this form to the district in which the land is located.
WHAT LAND TO INCLUDE
You must certify all of your land held in this district that is
subject to the acreage limitation provisions. You must provide
an accurate legal description or an assessor’s parcel number for

(b) Enter your mailing address if it is different from your
residential address.

each land parcel. Be sure to break down land parcels as far as
necessary to ensure accurate identification.
IF LANDHOLDINGS CHANGE

5.

You must notify the district in which you hold land within
30 calendar days if your landholdings change during the water
year, and you must submit new certification forms within
60 calendar days of the change. These 30- and 60-day grace
periods do not apply to a new landholder. A new landholder
must submit certification forms prior to receiving Reclamation
irrigation water.

(b) Enter the name of a contact person at that telephone
number, if you are not the person to whom we should
direct our questions.
6.

For more information on landholding changes, see Fact Sheet 11
which is available at your district office.
ANNUAL CERTIFICATION
You must submit Form 7-2180EZ or Form 7-2180 each and
every year prior to the delivery of Reclamation irrigation water
to your land if your landholdings exceed the applicable
RRA forms submittal threshold. However, you may submit a
“Verification of Landholdings” (Form 7-21VERIFY) instead if
your landholdings have not changed since the last standard
certification form you submitted.

It is the responsibility of landowners, sellers of land, and districts
to notify lessees, buyers of land, and new landholders,
respectively, of the RRA forms submittal requirements
associated with the land in question.
7.

Type or print in ink all answers. You must initial and date any
crossouts and corrections. You may attach continuation sheets
to list information. Preprinted continuation sheets are available
for this purpose, or you may make your own. Please contact
your district office or the appropriate Reclamation office if you
have any questions.
ITEM BY ITEM INSTRUCTIONS

2.

Enter your marital status (single, married, divorced, or
widowed).

3.

Enter your spouse's name, if married.

4.

(a) Enter your residential address. You must use the street
address or rural route number, city, state, and ZIP code.
Your attorney's address, relative's address, “c/o”
address, etc., is not acceptable in place of a residential
address. Post office box numbers may be used only if
no other address exists.

This section requests information regarding land
that you directly own. Include land leased from a public
entity here instead of including it as leased land in
item 10 because it counts against the lessee's ownership
entitlement (pursuant to Public Law 91-310). In that
situation, write the land is leased from a public entity
and include the name of that public entity after the legal
description of the land parcel. Enter the following for
each land parcel:
(a) Provide an accurate legal description of the land parcel
or an assessor’s parcel number. For each lessee,
sublessee, or operator entered in item 7(c) [or for
yourself if you check “self” in item 7(b)], there is space
to list four land parcels (one parcel per line) if all
parcels are operated by the same natural person or
entity in the same district. You may list more than one
parcel per line if all parcels have the same lease
information.

Landholder Information
Enter your name.

Check the box(es) to indicate if you and your spouse, if
married, are U.S. citizens, resident aliens, or nonresident
aliens. Please indicate your country of citizenship if you
check “nonresident alien.” You are completing the wrong
form if you and your spouse, if married, are both
nonresident aliens. Please contact your district office for
guidance.

Land You Own

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1.

(a) Enter the telephone number where questions can be
directed.

(b) Who primarily operates the land parcel: you (self); a
lessee or sublessee under a lease (lessee/sublessee); or
an operator under any other type of farm operating
arrangement (other).
(c) Name, address, and telephone number of each lessee,
sublessee, or other type of operator. Skip this column
and go to item 7(f) if you are the primary operator of
the land parcel.

2

FORM 7-2180EZ (2012)

Remember, leases cannot exceed 10 years except with
our approval for perennial crops, which are determined
on a crop-by-crop basis but cannot exceed 25 years.

(d) Starting date of the lease. This is the date the lease first
became effective. Enter the date the lease was signed if
no effective date was specified in the lease.
Remember, leases cannot exceed 10 years except with
our approval for perennial crops, which are determined
on a crop-by-crop basis but cannot exceed 25 years.

(e) Ending date of the lease. This is the date on which the
current lease will terminate, including all exercisable
options.

(e) Ending date of the lease. This is the date on which the
current lease will terminate, including all exercisable
options.

(f) Number of acres in the land parcel. Do not list acres
that you sublease to others in this column because they
are attributed to the sublessee.

(f) Number of acres in the land parcel. If you lease land
from a public entity and then sublease it to another
landholder, do not list those acres in this column
because they are attributed to the sublessee.
8.

11. Total column 10(f). This is the total number of acres you
directly lease (and sublease). Include in this total any
directly leased (and subleased) acres listed on continuation
sheets or attachments.

Total column 7(f). This is the number of acres that you
directly own. Include in this total any directly owned
acres listed on continuation sheets or attachments.

12. Total item 8 and item 11. This is the total number of acres
you own and lease.
Basis for Eligibility for Discretionary Provision
Entitlements

Land You Lease From Another Party
Landholders that lease land to or from other landholders should
inform the lessees and lessors of their obligation to also submit
RRA forms. If either the lessee or lessor fails to submit
RRA forms, the eligibility of the land to receive Reclamation
irrigation water will be jeopardized.
9.

13. Check the box next to the one statement that best describes
how you became subject to the discretionary provisions.
Provide the requested information for that statement. Please
contact your district office if you do not know which
statement applies to you.

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

Signatures
14. Read the attestation statements carefully and sign and date
the form in ink. The statements concerning the reporting of
changes in information, the rent paid on irrigation land,
written leases, the terms of such leases, and holdings of your
spouse, if married, are requirements of Federal reclamation
law. Both you and your spouse, if married, must sign the
form. This requirement applies even if the land is not
jointly held. However, you may use a written signature
authorization to permit one spouse to sign for the couple.
The district office must keep any such spousal signature
authorizations on file.

10. This section requests information regarding land that you
directly lease from another party. Do not include land
leased from a public entity here; instead, include it in item 7.
Include information regarding any land that you sublease to
others here. Enter the following for each land parcel:
(a) Provide an accurate legal description of the land parcel
or an assessor’s parcel number.
(b) Who primarily operates the land: you (self) or another
party (other).
(c) Natural person or entity that directly owns the land that
you lease. Enter the sublessee’s name as well as the
landowner’s name if you sublease the land to another
landholder. If you sublease the land from another
landholder, enter the sublessor’s name and the
landowner’s name. Include the farm operator’s name if
the land is operated by a farm operator.
(d) Starting date of the lease. This is the date the lease first
became effective. Enter the date the lease was signed if
no effective date was specified in the lease.
3

FORM 7-2180EZ (2012)