USDA Ethics

USDA Ethics Issuance

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - OFFICE OF ETHICS

ETHICS ISSUANCE: Number 02-2 - DATE: November 5, 2002

SUBJECT: DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

1. Purpose

This Ethics Issuance establishes the delegations of authority within the Department of Agriculture (Department or USDA) necessary to ensure consistent implementation of the Ethics Program throughout the Department. Ethics Issuance 99-1, Delegations of Authority and Responsibility, dated April 7, 2000, is hereby abolished and superseded.

2. Authority

Titles II and IV of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended, direct Executive branch departments and Federal agencies to administer an effective ethics program that must include training, counseling, financial disclosure reporting, and other related responsibilities. The program requirements for the ethics programs of executive departments or executive agencies are set out in 5 C.F.R. Part 2638.

3. General

The USDA Ethics Program is to be administered to achieve maximum voluntary compliance with the law and regulations combating public corruption and fostering fair and impartial public service. The Department’s size and variety of programs require that the program be executed by a small but authoritative central office working closely with separate ethics programs within major components of the Department. Under the authority of 5 C.F.R. §§ 2638.201-204, this Ethics Issuance documents the delegation of ethics authority by the Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) and confers the title of Deputy Ethics Official (DEO) upon the administrative heads of these major components, and sets forth the programmatic responsibilities of the Office of Ethics (OE) and of the DEOs throughout USDA. The day-to-day work of running the USDA Ethics Program is performed by ethics advisors throughout the Department. Only in instances in which an ethics advisor lacks authority to compel compliance with ethics regulations, or to approve a particular transaction, shall the ethics advisor present the issue to the DEO for resolution.

4. Definitions

4.1 "Agency" - a component organization within a USDA mission area; not to be confused with the term “executive agency,” as defined at 5 U.S.C. § 105, which includes cabinet departments (e.g., USDA), government corporations and independent establishments.

4.2 "Agency Ethics Advisor" - the person or persons within each USDA component agency responsible for providing the services listed in 4.11 below, but for their respective agencies, in the place of the mission area.

4.3 "Alternate DAEO" - pursuant to 7 C.F.R. § 2.95, the Director, OE, is the Alternate Agency Ethics Official (Alternate DAEO) for USDA.

4.4 "Confidential Filer" - an employee required to file a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450 or OGE Optional Form 450-A) or an Alternative Confidential Disclosure Report (AD-1101) because the employee holds a position of such decision-making authority or sensitivity that it warrants assurance that the employee, the employee’s spouse and dependent children, or the employee’s business partner(s), hold no interests that would conflict, or appear to conflict, with the performance of the employee’s assigned duties.

4.5 "Deputy Ethics Officials" (DEOs) - the persons to whom the DAEO delegates the authority and responsibility over the ethics program within the Department, a mission area, an agency, or a freestanding headquarters element.

4.6 "Designated Agency Ethics Official" (DAEO) - the person designated by the Secretary to manage the USDA Ethics Program in accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 2638.203. Pursuant to 7 C.F.R. § 2.87(a), the DAEO for USDA is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration.

4.7 "Director, OE" - the person who serves as Alternate DAEO and provides the day-to-day management and coordination of the USDA Ethics Program.

4.8 "Ethics Advisors" - persons within each mission area who report to the Mission Area Ethics Advisor for technical and procedural guidance on the administration of the ethics program. These individuals perform the day-to-day requirements of the USDA Ethics Program to include: conducting ethics training (if qualified in accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 2638.702); collecting, reviewing, and certifying confidential financial disclosure reports; and counseling employees with specific ethics questions or issues.

4.9 "Ethics Assistants" - persons providing administrative support to the Ethics Advisors by securely maintaining the disclosure reports in accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 2634.604, maintaining an accurate list of covered employees, recording compliance with annual reporting and training requirements, and otherwise assisting the administration of the program.

4.10 "Mission Area Ethics Advisor" - persons within each mission area responsible for providing services listed in 4.11 below.

4.11 "Mission Area Ethics Offices" - offices located in mission areas that are responsible for: administering ethics regulations and statutes governing employee conduct for their respective mission areas; conducting the confidential financial disclosure reporting program; developing and implementing mission area-specific ethics policies; providing advice and assistance to Ethics Advisors and mission area employees; and training mission area employees on all ethics statutes, regulations and policies.

4.12 "Office of Ethics" (OE) - a separate office within Departmental Administration (DA) that is responsible for: implementing Government-wide ethics program policy at the Departmental level through the promulgation of supplemental ethics regulations and through the development of Department ethics policies, procedures, and program guidance; providing advice and guidance to management and employees on all conflicts of interest, standards of conduct, and political activity issues; overseeing the financial disclosure program for employees in covered positions; conducting the public financial disclosure program for covered employees Department-wide; conducting the confidential financial disclosure program for employees within the Subcabinet, Departmental Administration, and headquarters staff offices; and serving as liaison to the Office of Government Ethics, the Office of Special Counsel, the White House Counsel, the General Accounting Office, and other Executive agencies on Department ethics issues.

4.13 "Public Filer" - an employee required to file a Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF 278) because the employee is either a non-career appointee, a Senior Executive (or equivalent) regardless of career status, or an administrative law judge.

4.14 "Senior Ethics Specialist" - an ethics specialist permanently assigned to OE and working at the full performance level.

4.15 "U.S. Office of Government Ethics" (OGE) - an independent Executive branch agency responsible for establishing Executive branch-wide regulations and overseeing the manner in which executive agencies administer their own ethics programs.

5. Delegations

5.1 Mission Areas (see attached organization chart)

The principal purpose of these delegations is to assign ethics authority and responsibility to program managers at the highest practical level, by making them Deputy Ethics Officials (DEOs). A DEO has the same authority as the DAEO within his/her mission area or agency responsibility, except the DEO may not certify the financial disclosure report of a Presidential Nominee awaiting the Advice and Consent of the Senate or other public filer. In general, the Department’s primary line programs are administered by agencies1 which are grouped by mission areas. Mission areas are headed by Under Secretaries, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Generally, agencies are headed by Administrators2 who normally are non-career Senior Executives.3. From this level down, organizational structures begin to vary among the mission areas - - some are centralized and others are broken down into major regional structures. To effect a rational assignment of ethics authority, a measure of flexibility must be afforded each mission area so that the DEO function resides at the highest management level consistent with the manner in which an agency administers its program(s).

The DEO authority is hereby delegated to each Under Secretary. The Under Secretary, at his or her discretion, may delegate the full DEO authority downward no more than two echelons. Unless otherwise specifically stated by the Under Secretary in his or her delegation document, each successive delegation is made to the next lower echelon. For example, the Under Secretary may delegate DEO authority to his or her Agency Administrators, and thence to Program Deputy Administrators at the next lower echelon. In some agencies, directors of major field installations and/or regional directors are key program managers; and if it requires delegation to one additional echelon to reach them with the necessary ethics authority, that too is permissible. It is, therefore, left to the discretion of the Under Secretary and his or her Administrators how best to effect this chain of authority and responsibility while keeping the assignment of authority and responsibility within the echelons described above. Each mission area must inform OE in writing how it has delegated the DEO authority.

Each DEO also has the discretion of determining where to place the Mission Area Ethics Advisor and the Ethics Advisors who perform day-to-day training, disclosure, and counseling work in support of the DEO. Wherever placed, OE will provide standard position descriptions, standard operating procedures, and training to maximize the services provided by Mission Area Ethics Advisors and Ethics Advisors throughout the Department.

5.2 Headquarters Elements

Staff programs are administered by separate "Staff Offices" and the component elements of Department Administration (DA). Each head of a major headquarters element, regardless of title4 , is delegated the role of DEO for the staff within that organization. The Assistant Secretary for Administration is the DEO for all units within DA. DEOs within headquarters are supported by the Senior Ethics Specialists within OE for financial disclosure and training of public and confidential filers.

5.3 Senior Ethics Specialists

Each "Senior Ethics Specialist" in OE also serves as DEO with Department-wide authority. Only DEOs within OE may certify financial disclosure reports of public filers.

6. Program Responsibilities

6.1. Secretary

As mandated by 5 C.F.R. § 2638.202, the agency head (Secretary, USDA) is responsible for exercising personal leadership in establishing, maintaining, and carrying out the agency’s ethics program. The Secretary makes available to the ethics program sufficient resources (including investigative, audit, legal, and administrative staff as necessary) to enable the agency to administer its program in a positive and effective manner. This authority includes the selection of the DAEO and Alternate DAEO.

6.2. Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO)

The DAEO is responsible for the coordination and management of the USDA Ethics Program. The DAEO is authorized to assign the daily coordination and management of the USDA Ethics Program to the Alternate DAEO.

6.3. Alternate DAEO (Director, OE)

To this end, the Director, OE, pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 2638.203, with the assistance of a staff of Senior Ethics Advisors and an Ethics Assistant will do the following:

    (1) Serve as Departmental Liaison with OGE;
    (2) Review and certify all public financial disclosure reports filed within the Department;
    (3) Review and certify all confidential financial disclosure reports filed by employees serving in offices and components listed in Section 4.12;
    (4) Initiate and maintain ethics education and training programs on the Departmental level;
    (5) Provide orientation and annual ethics training to all filers in (3) and (4) above;
    (6) Oversee the administration of mission area ethics programs by:
      a. Providing programmatic guidance and direction;
      b. Providing advice and counsel on substantive ethics issues;
      c. Coordinating/providing ethics training for/to mission area ethics personnel;
      d. Serving as a clearinghouse for information concerning developments in government ethics; and Conducting programmatic reviews of mission area programs.

6.4. Office of Ethics

The Office of Ethics directly provides the Secretary and his or her immediate office (OSEC) and the Under Secretaries and their respective offices the full range of ethics services (training, disclosure reporting, and counseling). OE gives all public filers within OSEC, the Subcabinet, Staff Offices, and DA, and all confidential filers within those offices, ethics orientation, annual training and exit briefings. OE manages financial disclosure reporting by public filers on a Department-wide basis and confidential filers within the offices identified at 4.12 above. In addition, OE drafts policies of general applicability for the Department, works with the mission areas on crafting supplemental regulations specific to their programs, and assists mission area or agency ethics programs through training and technical assistance.

6.5. Mission Area DEO

6.5.1. General.

As set forth in Section 5.1, the DEO for each mission area has the same authority as the DAEO within his/her mission area or agency responsibility, except that the DEO may not certify the financial disclosure report of a Presidential Nominee awaiting the Advice and Consent of the Senate or other public filers.

6.5.2. Specific Responsibilities.

In order to meet the responsibilities placed upon the DEO through this delegation and in order to ensure the effectiveness and integrity of the ethics program within USDA, the DEO is responsible for, and his/her delegation is contingent upon, his/her ensuring that:

    (1) All ethics delegations issued by the DEO be personal delegations of authority issued in writing and that OE receive a copy of such delegation within 14 days of issuance;
    (2) The Mission Area Ethics Advisor and the Agency Ethics Advisor authority are delegated only to employees who are qualified to meet the DEO responsibilities, including those responsibilities listed in (4) below, and who, at a minimum:
      a. Attend, prior to commencing ethics-related duties, an ethics orientation course presented or approved by OE;
      b. Attend, annually, at least 10 hours of continuing ethics training (certification of such training to be provided to OE) - such training to include attendance at Inter-Agency Ethics Council meetings and classes offered by OGE;
      c. Attend, at least every third year, the Office of Government Ethics Annual Conference and/or the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) Annual Conference; and
      d. Has administration of the Mission Area/Agency Ethics Program included as a critical element of his/her annual performance plan;
    (3) OE receives written notice of the termination of any such delegation within 14 days of the termination; and
    (4) The Mission Area/Agency Ethics Program:
      a. Has an effective system and procedure for collecting, filing, reviewing, and maintaining confidential financial disclosure reports filed by its employees;
      b. Establishes, in consultation with OE, an annual ethics training plan for subordinate mission area agency ethics personnel (plan to be reviewed by OE biannually; attendance lists to be provided to OE annually;
      c. Has an ethics education program for mission area/agency employees concerning all ethics and standards of conduct matters, developed and conducted in accordance with subpart G, Executive Agency Ethics Training Programs, of 5 C.F.R. Part 2638;
      d. Has a counseling program for agency employees concerning all ethics and standards of conduct matters including post employment matters, as well as a system of records on advice rendered, where appropriate;
      e. Maintains, and keeps in proper order, the following additional records (not to include documents on individual public financial disclosure report filers, whose records are maintained in OE):
        i. Ethics violations and actions taken to remedy violations;
        ii. Financial report filing violations;
        iii. Actions ordered, including divestiture and disqualification, and actions taken to comply with those orders;
        iv. Mission area/agency ethics regulations, policies, and procedures;
        v. Internal reviews, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audits, and OGE audits;
        vi. Employee requests for, and actions upon, approval for non-Federal employment;
        vii. A current list of those persons to whom ethics authority has been assigned pursuant to Section 5.1 of this Issuance;
        viii. Reports for expenses for travel accepted from non-Federal sources under 31 U.S.C. § 1353; and
        ix. Requests for information made by OGE and responses thereto.
      f. Provides timely reports to and responds timely to requests for information from OGE and/or OE;
      g. Issues ethics policies and procedures that comply with 5 C.F.R. Parts 2635 and 2638; and
      h. Cooperates fully with OE in the conduct of ethics reviews.

                                                  John Surina
                                                  Designated Agency Ethics Official

 

ETHICS ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Delegations of Ethics Authority and Responsibilities within Mission Areas
Attachment to Office of Ethics Policy Issuance 02-2

 Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
 
Designated Agency Ethics Official1
Director, Office of Ethics2
Mission Area Ethics Advisors3 and Ethics Advisors Mission Area Under Secretaries
Agency Administrators4
USDA Employees

 

1 The Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration.

2 The Director, Office of Ethics, is the Alternate DAEO, responsible for the duties in 5 C.F.R. § 2638.203-204.

3 Mission Area staffs that handle confidential financial disclosure and ethics training and counseling for the various agencies receive technical assistance and support from the Office of Ethics, but report to Mission Area management. They counsel staff in all component agencies within their mission areas. Confidential filers within the Subcabinet, Departmental Administration, and headquarters staff offices are serviced by the Office of Ethics.

4 Among the line organizations, the authority to enforce an ethics agreement or to direct an employee either to take action or to refrain from taking action based upon the Executive Branch-wide Standards of Conduct or USDA Supplemental Ethics Regulations, is delegated to the Under Secretaries and thence further delegated to Agency Administrators. This assignment recognizes their key role in line program management. In this capacity, Agency Administrators or their designees serve as Deputy Ethics Officials (DEOs). Among headquarters staff elements, the Assistant Secretary for Administration serves as DEO for all of Department Administration, the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations is DEO for that staff, and the head of each headquarters Staff Office is the DEO for his or her staff.