, B-291241, October 8, 2002

B-291241 Oct 08, 2002 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Sec. 714i (known as the section 11 cap) apply to Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds used for technical assistance provided the WRP and FPP as authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill)? (2) Is the Department of Agriculture's Conservation Operations appropriation available for technical assistance for the WRP and the FPP? and (3) Did the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) July 18. (2) the Conservation Operations appropriation is not an available funding source for the WRP and the FPP operations and associated technical assistance. (3) OMB's failure to initially apportion WRP and FPP funds was a programmatic delay and did not constitute an impoundment under the Impoundment Control Act. View Decision Funding for Technical Assistance for Conservation Programs Enumerated inSection 2701 of the 2002 Farm Bill, B-291241, October 8, 2002 The Honorable Herb Kohl Chairman The Honorable Thad Cochran Ranking Minority Member Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, & Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations United States Senate The Honorable Henry Bonilla Chairman, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA & Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives This responds to your letters of August 30, 2002 (from Chairman Bonilla) and September 16, 2002 (from Chairman Kohl and Ranking Minority Member Cochran) requesting our opinion on several issues relating to funding technical assistance for the wetlands reserve program (WRP) and the farmland protection program (FPP). You asked for our views on the following issues: (1) Does the annual limit on fund transfers imposed by 15 U.S.C. Sec. 714i (known as the section 11 cap) apply to Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds used for technical assistance provided the WRP and FPP as authorized by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill)? (2) Is the Department of Agriculture's Conservation Operations appropriation available for technical assistance for the WRP and the FPP? and (3) Did the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) July 18, 2002, decision not to apportion funds for technical assistance for the WRP and the FPP violate the Impoundment Control Act. /1/ For the reasons given below, we conclude that: (1) the section 11 cap does not apply to funds for technical assistance provided for the conservation programs enumerated in section 3841, title 16, U.S.C., as amended by section 2701 of the 2002 Farm Bill; (2) the Conservation Operations appropriation is not an available funding source for the WRP and the FPP operations and associated technical assistance; and (3) OMB's failure to initially apportion WRP and FPP funds was a programmatic delay and did not constitute an impoundment under the Impoundment Control Act. Further, since OMB has approved recently submitted apportionments for these two programs, and since budget authority for both the WRP and the FPP was made available for obligation, there was no impoundment of funds in fiscal year 2002. BACKGROUND Section 2701 of the 2002 Farm Bill, Pub. L. No. 107-171, 116 Stat. 278, 279 (enacted on May 13, 2002) (codified at 16 U.S.C. Secs. 3841 and 3842) amended section 1241 of the Food Security Act of 1985, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 3841, to provide that the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) shall use the funds of the CCC to carry out seven conservation programs, including the provision of technical assistance to, or on behalf of, producers. The WRP and the FPP are among the conservation programs named in the 2002 Farm Bill that are to be funded with CCC funds. In its June 19, 2002, apportionment request, the Department of Agriculture (Agriculture) asked OMB to apportion a total of $587,905,000 in CCC funds to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for both financial and technical assistance related to section 3841 conservation programs. SF 132, Apportionment and Reapportionment Schedule for Farms Security and Rural Investment Programs, Account No. 1221004, July 18, 2002. Of the amount requested, Agriculture designated $68.7 million for technical assistance to be provided under the conservation programs. In its July 18, 2002, apportionment, OMB apportioned all of the funds for financial and technical assistance requested for the conservation programs, except $22.7 million designated for WRP and FPP technical assistance. Id. OMB reports that it did not apportion funds for WRP and FPP technical assistance at that time, because OMB believed that the section 11 cap, 15 U.SC. Sec. 714i, limited the amount of funds that could be transferred from CCC to other government agencies for technical assistance associated with the section 3841 conservation programs, and that CCC funding of WRP and FPP technical assistance would exceed the section 11 cap. Letter from Philip J. Perry, General Counsel, OMB, to Susan A.