UnknownEvidence insufficient to rate; an information request is listed
Why
Presence unknown
Worst case
Not above the rating
Evidence
Missing
Cited claims
5
Requirements
0
Requests
3
Rating
UnknownEvidence insufficient to rate; an information request is listed
The rule
Code computed the rating from the assessor's inputs:
present=unknown -> Unknown (abstain)
Set by the rule
Decision
Abstained (information request)
Evidence state
Missing · no evidence in hand
Conclusion withheld
Question
Does the site contain prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance, agricultural easements or preferential tax program enrollment, or drainage tile or regulated drains?
Missing evidence
No claims show a soil survey or farmland classification review, drainage tile survey or drainage district records, or title or tax program information.
Consequence
Farmland protection, tile repair and tax recoupment exposure cannot be rated; a binding easement or legal drain could materially change the risk.
Information request
NRCS soil map unit and farmland classification report, landowner tile maps, County Surveyor regulated drain records, title commitments and county ag tax program enrollment records for the 22 parcels.
Blocks the decision
No
Revision
First verdict
weakened
First critique
Abstention is appropriate given silent evidence. The comment's 1,050-acre site figure conflicts with the 1,356-acre project fact. It also overstates what the data room lacks. Next steps could add federal-nexus and legal-drain checks.
Revised once after the first critique. Rating unchanged.
The five inputs
Present: unknown
Claims show row-crop land cover (C-f9e7a3aa8c), leased farmland (C-0ebae50e80) and A-1 Agricultural zoning (C-d8361ea2dc). Ordinary cropland and zoning are not by themselves a protected resource. No claim documents prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance, program enrollment, easements or drainage tile/legal drains. Tributaries draining western fields (C-d993df0dfd) are surface streams; whether any is a regulated drain is not shown. Upland soils on Parcel 7 (C-58cb5b6f6c) say nothing about farmland classification. No claim states these resources are absent, so presence is unknown. The critic's view that prime farmland and tile are likely in Indiana row-crop land is not evidenced here, so presence stays unknown.
Presence of a protected farmland designation, program or drainage infrastructure is not documented, so extent cannot be assessed (C-f9e7a3aa8c, C-0ebae50e80).
No claim shows soil classification, easement, tax program or drainage records, so avoidability is not established. Conversion of undesignated cropland alone would be the project's purpose (C-f9e7a3aa8c).
Land cover is predominantly row crops (corn and soybeans), and parcels are zoned A-1 Agricultural. The overview cites approximately 1,050 acres of leased farmland, against a 1,356-acre project area. No soil classification, drainage tile, drain, easement or tax program information is shown; review of these would settle the row.
Critique
Verdict
upheld
Suggested direction for the rating
same
Summary
Abstention is appropriate, because no claim documents prime farmland, easements or drain records. The remaining issues are minor: the rationale includes meta-commentary about a prior critique, the avoidability wording is loose, and a few next steps are missing. The category should stay Unknown.
Critic model
Luminol
Issues
Severity minor · Kind unsupported_statement
The present rationale refers to "The critic's view that prime farmland and tile are likely in Indiana row-crop land". That is meta-commentary about a prior critique. It is not evidence, and it does not belong in the rationale.
The comment says the 1,050 leased acres are "against a 1,356-acre project area". The 1,356 acres is a project fact, so it is supported. The "overview" attribution is loose, and the comparison implies a mismatch that nothing explains. The comment's wording is minor.
The avoidable rationale says conversion of cropland "would be the project's purpose". That is a judgment and not an evidence-based statement of avoidability. It is also tangled with the placeholder impact_likely=no. Abstention on presence is defensible, because no claim documents prime soils. Even so, row-crop land on 1,356 acres makes farmland conversion plausible, and the assessment should mark this as a high-probability open item. The 'no' placeholder for impact_likely could be misread as a finding.
Next steps omit a request for the NRCS Web Soil Survey. They also omit screening for Indiana's Drainage Board and the state ag-related requirements, such as the Indiana Drainage Code. The rationale also leaves out the lease or landowner farm program enrollment, such as CRP. These are minor additions. The listed next steps are otherwise adequate.
Checks
Passed
rating_has_evidence · blocking
Passed
abstention_not_contradicted · blocking
Passed
numbers_grounded · not blocking
Passed
agencies_grounded · not blocking
Passed
cutoff_respected · blocking
Passed
abstention_complete · not blocking
Passed
critic_not_refuted · blocking
Evidence (5)
Each claim the row cites: the statement in the assessor's words, then the quote the engine found on the page.
Arrow keys move the selection. A middle-click opens the claim's own page.
The project covers approximately 1,050 acres of leased farmland.
Quote check Exact · Placed verbatim · The quote occurs on the page exactly as written. · Read as docx
Brook Hollow Solar Project Overview
Date: March 15, 2023
SYNTHETIC TEST FIXTURE - FICTIONAL PROJECT
Brook Hollow Solar is a proposed 120 MWac (approximately 160 MWdc) single-axis tracker solar project located in Fixture County, Indiana, Quote starts. on approximately 1,050 acres of leased farmland Quote ends..
The Project will interconnect at the Elm Grove 138 kV substation owned by Prairie Electric, under MISO queue position J1234. Target commercial operation date is December 2025.
An existing 138 kV transmission line crosses the eastern portion of the Project Area. Site control consists of option-to-lease agreements with 14 landowners covering 22 parcels.
Land cover is predominantly row crops (corn and soybeans) with scattered woodlots along Sugar Run.
This document has no page picture (only PDF and image documents have one).
C-0ebae50e80
The project covers approximately 1,050 acres of leased farmland.
The requirements the assessor tied to this row, by level. Each quote from dated law is shown with its source.
No requirement is tied to this row.
Also in the permit matrix for this row: F-FPPA, S-08
Information requests
IR-847cfb1cc8 · High priority
Provide the soil survey or farmland classification review for the project area, or confirm none exists.
Missing evidence
Soil survey or farmland classification review
Consequence
Soils and Agricultural Resources is rated on no evidence without it.
Blocks the decision
Yes
Raised by
completeness
IR-23415860b5 · High priority
Provide the drainage tile survey or drainage district records for the project area, or confirm none exists.
Missing evidence
Drainage tile survey or drainage district records
Consequence
Soils and Agricultural Resources is rated on no evidence without it.
Blocks the decision
Yes
Raised by
completeness
IR-69f418ce2f · Medium priority
Does the site contain prime farmland or farmland of statewide importance, agricultural easements or preferential tax program enrollment, or drainage tile or regulated drains?
Missing evidence
No claims show a soil survey or farmland classification review, drainage tile survey or drainage district records, or title or tax program information.
Consequence
Farmland protection, tile repair and tax recoupment exposure cannot be rated; a binding easement or legal drain could materially change the risk.
Blocks the decision
No
Raised by
abstention
Next steps
Obtain NRCS farmland classification for all parcels; confirm whether any federal nexus exists (FPPA/AD-1006).
Interview landowners on tile; request County Surveyor regulated drain records, including Sugar Run tributaries.
Check title and tax records for ag easements or program enrollment.
Agencies
NRCS
Indiana DNR
County Drainage Board
County Surveyor
Cost and impact
Impact
None given.
Potential cost level
N/A
Why
Presence unknown; no cost exposure can be assessed.
Impact: C = cost, S = schedule. Potential cost level: L, L-M, M, M-H, H (relative to a utility-scale solar budget).
Comments
Land cover is predominantly row crops (corn and soybeans), and parcels are zoned A-1 Agricultural. The overview cites approximately 1,050 acres of leased farmland, against a 1,356-acre project area. No soil classification, drainage tile, drain, easement or tax program information is shown; review of these would settle the row.