1. (a) The natural heritage bureau shall assign exemplary natural community types a quality rank, ranging from A to D, a measure of ecological integrity, based upon:

   1. (1) Size;
   2. (2) Ecological condition; and
   3. (3) Landscape context.

2. (b) The natural heritage bureau shall designate natural communities based on an ecological integrity assessment as exemplary natural communities if they are:

   1. (1) Fair or better quality occurrences of less common natural communities; or
   2. (2) High quality examples of more common natural communities.
3. (c) Any exemplary natural community found to comply with (a) and (b) above, for which a petition conforming to Ncr 306 has been submitted, shall be designated as an exemplary natural community.

Source. (See Revision Note at chapter heading for Ncr 300) #12980, eff 1-24-20