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The National Appeals Division reports directly to the Secretary of Agriculture and is independent of other parts of USDA. Its sole mission is to provide fair and timely hearings and appeals to USDA program participants.

Any person who receives an adverse program decision from USDA's Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or the three USDA Rural Development agencies may file an appeal with NAD.

NAD employs a two-stage appeal process. A participant has a right to a hearing in his or her state of residence before a NAD hearing officer. Thereafter, either the appellant or the agency may ask the NAD Director to reverse the hearing officer's determination.

May 20, 27, 2016 - National Appeals Division (NAD) Director Steve Silverman appeared on Mississippi State University Extension’s Farmweek program for an interview with host Artis Ford to explain NAD, the appeals process, rules, timeframe for filing an appeal, and talk about impacts of the new farm bill to NAD. The Farmweek interview aired in two parts.

Part I aired on May 20, begins at the 4:20 mark, ends at the 11:48 mark, and can be viewed here.

Part II aired on May 27, begins at the 18:50 mark, and can be viewed here.

Radio Interview with Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network

April 4-6, 2016 –Steven Silverman, Director of the National Appeals Division, joined the Focus on Agriculture program of the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network to explain the six USDA agencies whose decisions can be appealed to NAD. He also explained the NAD hearing and appeals process that provides a free, independent, and impartial review for farmers and ranchers who have had an adverse decision rendered against them. The interview was done in three parts:

Part I
Part II
Part III

New Equitable Relief Report for 2015

March 2016 – Each year the Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit a report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2015 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

Radio Interview with AgNet West

February 9, 2016 ––Steven Silverman, Director of the National Appeals Division, joined AgNet West’s Farm City Newsday radio show for an interview to discuss NAD’s mission. The interview occurred during the Director’s visit to the World Ag Expo held in Tulare, CA. The podcast of the interview can be heard here.

Radio Interview with Kansas Ag Network

April 2015 – Steven Silverman, Director of the National Appeals Division, joined the Kansas Ag Network for an interview to discuss what the National Appeals Division does and why farmers need to know more about what it can do for farmers. The broadcast of the interview can be heard here.

New Equitable Relief Report for 2014

March 2015 – Each year the Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit a report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2014 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

RECENT PODCAST ABOUT NAD SERVICES

For Dairy Markets and Policy

February 2015 – Recently, Steve Silverman, the NAD Director, had an opportunity to sit down with Mark Stephenson, Ph.D., the Director of Dairy Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin, to discuss the services NAD provides to farmers, ranchers, and participants in USDA programs. The 15-minute discussion covered subjects such as the independence of NAD, the NAD two-step appeals process, the programs and agencies that fall under NAD’s jurisdiction, and, most important, how a farmer can appeal an adverse decision to the National Appeals Division. The podcast of this discussion can be found at http://dairymarkets.org/ and on other parts of the Program on Dairy Markets and Policy website.

New NAD Director Appointment

September 2014 – New NAD Director Steven C. Silverman was appointed as Director of the National Appeals Division in September 2014. Prior to being named Director, Mr. Silverman served for two and a half years as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice. Mr. Silverman has a long a distinguished career in public service. His full biography can be read here

NAD Goes Mobile

July 2014 - NAD Mobile Interface: Those who navigate to the NAD web site from a smartphone will now be able to access the mobile version of the NAD resources available on the site. The mobile version provides participants and the general public the benefit of interaction anytime and anywhere on their smartphone without having to download the app. On your tablet or smartphone, you can now register eFile, receive determinations after they are issued, text search for past NAD decisions, or look up basic NAD legal information. After accessing the mobile site, remember to save it on your device as a favorite. To access the NAD mobile capability, click here

Agency eFile Now Available

July 2014 - Agency eFile Now Available: Agencies that file appeals with NAD can now eFile Director Review and/or Reconsideration requests electronically through our NAD Agency eFile portal. Very similar to the Appellant/Representative eFile portal, which has been in place since the beginning of 2013, the Agency eFile portal is designed specifically for Agency needs. An Agency Representative simply needs to register and activate an eFile account to begin the process. After the agency is registered, the agency can view, add requests, and upload additional information to NAD cases in their jurisdiction. To access the Agency eFile portal, click here

February 2014 – Each year the Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit a report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2013 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

October 2013 – On October 17, 2013, at the conclusion of the government closure due to a lapse of appropriations, Director Klurfeld extended the statutory deadline for holding a hearing and for the issuance of a decision by 30 days each in order to provide proper notice to all parties and to regularize the appeals process. This extension applies to all cases that were active on September 30, 2013.

Director Klurfeld also announced that all deadlines for the submission of appeals to the National Appeals Division that passed during the government closure have been extended until October 17, 2013, the first business day after the end of the closure. Deadlines that occur after te end of the government closure have not been extended.

NAD LAUNCHES EFILE
Electronic Appeals and FOIA Requests
See Below

January 2013–Efile: Participants and their representatives can now file all NAD appeals electronically through this web site. An appellant sets up a NAD Efile account and then simply follows the prompts to request an appeal on a new adverse decision or to follow the next stage of an appeal for an existing case. The public can also make a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request through Efile. The NAD Efile application accepts 7 types of NAD-related requests via eFile: 1) Appealability; 2) Appeal; 3) Director Review; 4) Reconsideration of Director Review; 5) EAJA; 6) EAJA Petition for Review; and 7) FOIA. NAD EFile has a comprehensive help menu and many onscreen aids to assist in the NAD EFile process. It is available by clicking here. Other information about filing an appeal is available at the first link at the top right hand side of the “I want to” part of this web page.

And remember, as always, the public can still search previous NAD decisions at the Search NAD Decisions link. To access NAD Decisions on the Web, click here.

Each year the Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit a report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2012 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

August 2012–On July 18, 2012, Director Klurfeld and Deputy Director Murray presented a webinar to employees of the Rural Development mission area. Director Klurfeld talked about the statutory process that NAD follows, while Deputy Director Murray explained how to present a case to a NAD Hearing Officer. The audio part of the webinar was recorded, and you can listen to it by clicking here. The audio recording is a 14.5 meg file and plays for just over two hours.

February 2012– Each year the Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit a report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2011 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

May 2011– United State Department of Agriculture's report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2010 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

September 2010– The public can now select “EAJA” as a type of determination on the Search NAD Determinations page. Secretary Vilsack amended NAD's rules of procedure to provide that the Equal Access to Justice Act and other provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act generally applicable to agency adjudications apply to NAD proceedings. The rule was effective November 6, 2009. A copy of the rule is available by clicking here . The Equal Access to Justice Act (at section 504 of title 5, United States Code) provides for an award of reasonable attorney fees and expenses to eligible prevailing parties (other than the United States ) in qualifying agency adjudications. USDA has implemented the Act in regulations codified at 7 C.F.R. Part 1, Subpart J. Those regulations may be viewed by going to the “Laws and Regulations” page of NAD's website and clicking on the right, “I want to . . . File an Application for Fees.”

February 2010– Each year the Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit a report to Congress describing the number of requests for equitable relief that producers filed pursuant to sections 1613(b) and (e) and section 278(d) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 during the previous calendar year and their disposition. The report for calendar year 2009 has been sent to Congress and may be viewed here.

October 2008 – The National Appeals Division has revised the NAD Guide. The guide sets forth NAD's policies and procedures for activities from appealability reviews through hearings and reconsiderations to Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) reviews. It outlines policies and procedures for employee conduct, managing the hearing process, preparing determinations, and ensuring the quality and consistency of correspondence and determinations. It is available to the public by clicking here.

September 2008 – Director Klurfeld and staff member Steven Placek have recently published an article in a peer-reviewed legal writing journal, the Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. According to the Association’s web site, the Journal’s fall 2008 edition “will publish articles about the ‘best practices’ of legal writing in contexts other than the traditional litigation setting. Although much valuable legal writing scholarship has focused on the memoranda and briefs that are produced in connection with lawsuits, many lawyers are engaged in other kinds of writing: they draft transactional documents, legislation, rules, and regulations; they write formal and informal opinions and correspondence; they produce essays and articles for legal scholars and practicing lawyers.”

The Association's web site is http://www.alwd.org/, and you can find the article at http://www.alwd.org/lcr/archives/fall-2008/klurfeld-placek/This article went through a very thorough process of scholarly peer-review panels and editing, and it is our hope that its final publication validates some of the writing program initiatives NAD have taken and continues to implement.

June 2008 – On June 4, 2008, Secretary Edward T. Schafer reappointed Roger Klurfeld to a second six-year term as Director of the National Appeals Division, effective June 16, 2008.  In his reappointment letter, Secretary Schafer said, “The Director's position is an extremely important one, and I am convinced that the Division's record of independent and effective adjudication will continue under your direction.”

In reporting his reappointment to NAD employees, Mr. Klurfeld noted that the reputation recognized by the Secretary had been achieved through the efforts of all NAD employees.

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Los informes Nacionales de la División de Atracciones directamente al Secretario de la Agricultura y es independiente de otras partes de USDA. Su única misión es de proporcionar justo y audiciones y apelaciones oportunas a participantes de programa de USDA.

Las personas que reciban decisiones adversas de un programa por parte de la Agencia de Servicios Agrícolas, de la Agencia de Manejo de Riesgos, del Servicio de Conservación de los Recursos Naturales o de las tres agencias de Desarrollo Rural del USDA, podrán presentar una apelación ante la NAD.

La NAD utiliza un proceso de apelación en dos etapas. Los participantes tienen derecho a una audiencia en el estado en que residen ante un funcionario de audiencias de la NAD. A partir de entonces, el apelante o la agencia puede solicitar al Director de la NAD que revoque la decisión del funcionario de audiencias.

Presentación y solicitud de apelaciones.

Last Modified: 08/09/2012