Usda Should Correct Weaknesses in Regulations and Oversight to Better Ensure Recipients Do Not Circumvent Payment Limitations

By Dyckman, Lawrence J.

Book Id: WPLBN0000109454
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.3 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	Usda Should Correct Weaknesses in Regulations and Oversight to Better Ensure Recipients Do Not Circumvent Payment Limitations
Author:	Dyckman, Lawrence J.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Accountability in government, United States. General Accounting Office
Collections:	Government Library Collection, Government Accountability Integrity Reliability Office Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	United States General Accounting Office (Gao)


Citation APA MLA Chicago Dyckman, L. J. (n.d.). Usda Should Correct Weaknesses in Regulations and Oversight to Better Ensure Recipients Do Not Circumvent Payment Limitations. Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
Government Accountability Integrity Reliability Office Collection

Excerpt
Excerpt: GAO?s survey of USDA?s field offices showed that for the compliance reviews the offices conducted, about 99 percent of payment recipients asserted they met eligibility requirements through active personal management. However, USDA?s regulations to ensure recipients are actively engaged in farming do not provide a measurable standard for what constitutes a significant contribution of active personal management. The figure below shows field offices? views on whether regulations describing active personnel management could be improved. By not specifying such a measurable standard, USDA allows individuals who may have limited involvement with the farming operation to qualify for payments. Moreover, USDA?s regulations lack clarity as to whether certain transactions and farming operation structures that GAO found could be considered schemes or devices to evade, or that have the purpose of evading, payment limitations. Under the 1987 Act, if a person has adopted such a scheme or device, then that person is not eligible to receive payments for the year in which the scheme or device was adopted or the following year. Because it is not clear whether fraudulent intent must be shown to find that a person has adopted a scheme or device, USDA may be reluctant to pursue the question of whether certain farming operations, such as the ones GAO found, are schemes or devices.