An appeal is a written request by an NRCS or USDA applicant or participant of any technical determination or decision made by the agency that an applicant or participant might consider to be adverse to their interests. The decisions may include any of the following examples:
Highly Erodible Land Determinations
Wetland Determinations or Violations
Conservation Program Eligibility
Conservation Program Contract Violations
Easement Violations
Non-Compliance with Regulations
Other Program Issues
Appeal Requirements
Any person that receives an adverse technical determination or decision from NRCS must be given rights to appeal the decision. This authority, as set forth in Title II of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, 7 U.S.C. 6995 (Public Law 103-354), and 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 614, provides the NRCS appeals process. The following are the required appeal rights that must be offered by NRCS when issuing an adverse technical determination or program decision.
Preliminary Technical Determinations:
Field review for reconsideration to the local Designated Conservationist in the county where the determination has been made.
Reconsideration by the NRCS State Conservationist.
Mediation.
Request for Expedited Finality.
Final Technical Determinations or Program Decisions:
Appeal to the FSA County Committee or the NRCS State Conservationist for Title XII conservation program final technical determinations or program decisions.
Appeal to the NRCS State Conservationist for non-Title XII conservation program final technical determinations or program decisions.
Mediation, if not previously offered in the preliminary phase of the technical determination.
Appeal to the National Appeals Division (NAD).
NRCS June 2010 NAD Appeals Implementation Report Links
The table below contains the data from the June 2010 Report spreadsheet.
Please note: The links in the NAD Case Number lead to a search page on the NAD website, not directly to the reports. Type the case
number into the text entry field captioned "Enter the case number here".
