§7996 Equitable Relief From Ineligibility for Loans, Payments, or Other Benefits

Summary

Lets the Secretary of Agriculture forgive or restore loans, payments, or other benefits for a producer who is found not to have followed the rules of a covered program, when the producer either relied in good faith on the Secretary’s action or advice to their harm, or tried in good faith but still failed to meet the rules. It defines a few short terms: agricultural commodity — any commodity, food, feed, fiber, or livestock covered by the programs; covered program — price or income support, loss or production help, or conservation programs (but not farm credit or Federal crop insurance programs); participant — someone in a covered program; State Conservationist — the NRCS State Conservationist; State Director — the FSA State Executive Director. The Secretary can let a participant keep or continue to get loans, payments, contract participation, reenroll land in a conservation program, or give other fair relief, and may require steps to fix the problem. A State Director or State Conservationist can grant relief under the same rules if each new relief award is under $20,000, past relief to that person was not more than $5,000, and total relief to similarly situated people is not more than $1,000,000. Their decision needs approval from the Department’s Office of General Counsel, can be reversed only by the Secretary, and does not apply to certain payment limits, conservation program administration, or highly erodible land and wetland rules. These discretionary decisions are final and not reviewable under chapter 7 of title 5. The Secretary must report by February 1 each year to the House and Senate agriculture committees on the number and outcome of equitable relief requests under this rule and under section 6998(d). The authority here is in addition to any other legal authority.