As used in this part, the term
(a)
Public lands means any lands and interest in lands owned by the United States and administered by the Secretary through the Bureau of Land Management except:
(1)
Lands located on the Outer Continental Shelf;
(2)
Lands held for the benefit of Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos.
(b)
Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(c)
Authorized officer means any employee of the Bureau of Land Management who has been delegated the authority to perform the duties described in this part.
(d)
Act means the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 ).
(e)
Family sized farm means the unit of public lands determined to be chiefly valuable for agriculture, and that is of sufficient size, based on land use capabilities, development requirements and economic capability, to provide a level of net income, after payment of expenses and taxes, which will sustain a family sized agribusiness operation above the poverty level for a rural farm family of 4 as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, for the calender year immediately preceeding the year of the proposed sale under the regulations of this part. The determination of the practical size is an economic decision to be made on a local area basis considering, but not limited to, factors such as: Climatic conditions, soil character, availability of irrigation water, topography, usual crop(s) of the locale, marketability of the crop(s), production and development costs, and other physical characteristics which shall give reasonable assurance of continued production under proper conservation management.