View all text of Part 614 [§ 614.1 - § 614.17]

§ 614.4 - Decisions not subject to informal appeal procedures.

(a) Decisions that are not appealable under this part include:

(1) Any general program provision, program policy, or any statutory or regulatory requirement that is applicable to all similarly situated participants, such as:

(i) Program application ranking criteria;

(ii) Program application screening criteria;

(iii) Published soil surveys; or

(iv) Conservation practice technical standards included in the local field office technical guide or the electronic FOTG (eFOTG).

(2) Mathematical or scientific formulas established under a statute or program regulation and a program decision or technical determination based solely on the application of those formulas;

(3) Decisions made pursuant to statutory provisions or implementing regulations that expressly make agency program decisions or technical determinations final;

(4) Decisions that are based on technical information provided by another Federal or State agency, e.g., lists of endangered and threatened species;

(5) Corrections by NRCS of errors in data entered on program contracts, easement documents, loan agreements, and other program documents; or

(6) Decisions issued by the Office of the General Counsel, in the exercise of authority delegated to it by the Attorney General, concerning the application of real property title standards issued by the Attorney General.

(b) Complaints involving discrimination in program delivery are not appealable under this part and are handled under the existing USDA civil rights rules and regulations.

(c) Appeals related to contractual issues that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals are not appealable under the procedures within this part.

(d) Where NRCS is unable to fund an application for program participation due to a lack of funds. The agency may not deny appeal of the underlying computations used to rank and prioritize the application.