The article provides an analysis of the main legal acts regulating relations in the field of allocation of especially valuable lands. Various inconsistencies in the legislative framework were identified, the result of which is the lack of a unified approach when classifying agricultural land as especially valuable productive agricultural land (hereinafter referred to as EVPAL), the use of which for other purposes is not allowed without transfer. On the example of several regions of the Russian Federation, an analysis of approaches to state and regional regulation of the use of EVPAL is given. On the example of the Krasnodar region, the issue of using information on the soil characteristics of lands when classifying them as EVPAL in the region was studied. Options for eliminating gaps in land legislation in the field of conservation and improvement of soil fertility are proposed, taking into account the criteria for classifying lands EVPAL, as well as qualitative characteristics of soils and limiting factors of perennial crops.