Forms
Public Filers: Senate-confirmed Presidential appointees, all SES employees (and equivalent) and most Schedule C staff are required to file public financial disclosure reports (SF-278s) within 30 days of entering and leaving a position at USDA, as well as annually while serving in a covered position. Annual reports, covering the previous calendar year, are due between January 1st and May 15th each year.
Confidential Filers: Career staff below the SES level may be required to file confidential financial disclosure reports (OGE Form 450 or OGE Optional Form 450-A) if they make decisions or recommendations that can have a financial impact on the Department's contractors or the commercial interests USDA services or regulates. New Entrant reports are due within 30 days of entering a covered position. Annual reports now cover a calendar year and are due each year by February 15.
Form Formats for Public Filers: A savable Excel spreadsheet version of the 278 form is available at this location (and is vastly more convenient than filling the form out by hand). However, knowing that eGovernment initiatives will eventually mandate on-line-reporting, the Office of Ethics has teamed up with the National Finance Center to web-enable the 278 filing process. The process is easy and secure (residing on the NFC’s servers alongside our Personal Pages and TSP data), so we provide "Online Reporting" as an option (see links below under SF 278).
Filers who prefer to stick with the spreadsheet or Acrobat downloadable formats of the SF 278 as opposed to the online version may continue to do so. (Warning: the Acrobat version of the SF 278 does not store information; it is a printable template similar to a paper form. We recommend against using this version of the 278 form if you have anything other than a simple report.) Please refer to the Help Page if you require assistance in downloading/using those alternatives.
Form Formats for Confidential Filers: We make it easy. You must use the new (approved in 2006) Adobe OGE 450 Form for reporting. The only exception is using the 450-A form, which requires that you have no new reportable information from your last report. We have also included a section 508 compliant accessible form, courtesy of OGE. The "Add Page" feature of the form does not work, so we have included extra pages as separate Adobe .pdf files.
in 2009—
NEW FILING LOCATIONS
The USDA Office of Ethics has changed a lot in the past year. While 278 Public Financial Disclosure filers will continue to file their reports with the OE Headquarters Office, beginning in 2009 those that submit OGE Form 450 Confidential Financial Disclosure Reports should file based on the following:
Who: Employees from FAS, RMA, DA, OBPA, ASCR, OC, OCIO, CPRC, OGC, OO, OPPM, OALJ, OES, OHCM, OSDBU, Homeland Security, OCE, OSS and OMS.
File With: OE Headquarters Office
Room 347-W, JL Whitten Building
1400 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20250
Contact: Andrew Tobin, Ethics Specialist
(202) 720-2251
Who: Employees from Research Education & Economics (REE) Agencies - ARS, CSREES, ERS & NASS;
Forest Service (FS) - Research and Development; (Rocky Mountain Research Station, Southern Research Station, Northern Research Station, Forest Product Lab, Pacific Northwest Region, Pacific Southwest Research Station); Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - Soil Survey and Resource Assessment (SSRA) & Science and Technology (S&T) Divisions.
File With: Science Branch
5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Rm. 2-2290
Beltsville, MD 20705-5620
Contact: Sue Sheridan, Branch Chief
(301) 504-4414
Who: All career personnel in the Farm Service Agency, NRCS (other than those serviced by OE-Science), and the Rural Development mission area.
File With: Farm, Conservation and Rural Programs Branch
Room 6840, South Building
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250
Contact: Ed Peterman, Branch Chief
(202) 205-2061
****For those individuals outside of the Washington DC region you will receive specific instructions from your Ethics Contact regarding the appropriate location to submit your OGE Form 450.
Who: All career personnel in the Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Food Safety, and Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services mission areas.
File With: Marketing, Regulatory and Nutrition Branch
Room 5913, South Building
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250
Contact: Mary Royster, Branch Chief
(202) 720-0020
Who: All career FS employees, other than those served by OE-Science.
File With: Forest Service Branch
RPC 6 HCM
1601 North Kent Street
Arlington, VA 22209-2137
Contact: Jennifer Cron Hepler, Branch Chief
(202) 720-2251
• The Optional Form 450-A is authorized for the 2009 filing season and is available for download.
• The Public Form (SF-278) indicates on Schedule B, Gifts, that filers should report gifts totaling more than $260. Note that a new form has not been approved for release, but the threshold for gift reporting has been raised to $305.
• The new OGE 450 form requires Adobe Reader 7.0 or higher. Click here to upgrade your Adobe Reader. (Call your help desk if you have problems.)
| FORM # | FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS | AVAILABLE FORMATS | |||
| SF-278 | Public Financial Disclosure Form for use by Presidential Appointees, Schedule C employees, SES members or others schedules that pay more than 120% of the minimum pay for a GS-15. USDA employees may fax an advance copy of their report to (202) 690-2642, but must follow-up with a signed original to USDA Office of Ethics, Stop 0122, 1400 Independence Ave S.W., Washington D.C. 20250-0122. Instructions (Word) Instructions (Acrobat) |
MS Word | MS Excel | Adobe PDF | Online reporting: Sign on or register with NFC |
| OGE Form 450 | Confidential Financial Disclosure Form for use by employees below the SES level occupying positions of such sensitivity that they have been so designated. Annual filers and new entrant filers who file after January 1, 2009 must use the 2008 version. Annual reports are due by February 15, 2009 but may not filed before January 1, 2009. Links to OGE training and FAQs are also below. |
PDF (2008) | 508 Compliant Electronically Fillable PDF Version | OGE Form 450 Continuation Pages - 508 Compliant Part I (PDF) Parts II and III (PDF) Parts IV and V (PDF) |
Optional Form OGE 450-A (should ONLY be filed by employees who have no new reportable information from their last report) |
| AD-1202— USDA | Confidential Conflict of Interest Certification short form for use in lieu of the OGE-450 in FSIS, AMS and GIPSA. |
MS Word | |||
| FORM # | REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTS | AVAILABLE FORMATS | |||
| OGE-201 | Request for Copy of a Completed Public Disclosure Report | ||||
| FORM # | TRAVEL | AVAILABLE FORMATS | |||
| AD-1101 | Approval and Report of Travel Funds Received from Non-Federal Sources for use by a prospective traveler. |
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| SF-326 | Semi-annual Report of Payments Accepted from a Non-Federal Source for use by ethics official charged with documenting travel assistance accepted under 31 U.S.C. 1353. |
MS Excel | |||
| FORM # | AWARDS & DEGREES | AVAILABLE FORMATS | |||
| Review / Approval of Outside Awards | |||||
| Review / Approval of Honorary Degrees | |||||
| FORM # | OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT | AVAILABLE FORMATS | |||
| Review/Approval of Non-Federal Employment or Activity Form for use with USDA Supplemental Ethics Regulation, 5 CFR Part 8301. Prior to submitting a request for non-Federal employment, view guidance under Rules of the Road, specifically the Standards of Ethical Conduct (5 CFR 2635.401-.403; .501-.503; .701-.705; and .801-809). |
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| FORM # | OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS | AVAILABLE FORMATS | |||
| Appointment as Agency Liaison Memorandum | |||||
USDA Ethics Webmaster
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Last Updated: December 4, 2009