U.S. General Accounting Office

Survey Results on USDA's Implementation of Food Security Act Compliance Provisions

Status Review Activities

45. In what months of the year does your field office perform conservation compliance status reviews?
(CHECK ALL THAT APPLY)
1. January
2. February
3. March
4. April
5. May
6. June
7. July
8. August
9. September
10. October
11. November
12. December
46. In your duties as an NRCS employee, how satisfied are you with your responsibilities for monitoring compliance with HEL and wetland conservation provisions?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Very satisfied
2. Generally satisfied
3. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
4. Generally dissatisfied
5. Very dissatisfied
6. No response
47. Please describe the reason for your response below.
48. How do you view HELC provisions in terms of their effect on farm profitability in your county?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Very positive
2. Positive
3. Neither positive nor negative
4. Negative
5. Very negative
6. No response
49. When you are doing a status review, does your supervisor encourage or discourage identifying tracts/fields in violation of conservation compliance provisions?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Strongly encourages
2. Generally encourages
3. Slightly encourages
4. Neither encourages nor discourages
5. Slightly discourages
6. Generally discourages
7. Strongly discourages
8. No response
50. In the normal course of work, does your supervisor encourage or discourage identifying tracts or fields in violation of conservation compliance provisions when you are providing technical assistance?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Strongly encourages
2. Generally encourages
3. Slightly encourages
4. Neither encourages nor discourages
5. Slightly discourages
6. Generally discourages
7. Strongly discourages
8. No response
51. Compared with other activities in NRCS, what priority does NRCS management place on conservation compliance?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Very high
2. Generally high
3. Neither high nor low
4. Generally low
5. Very low
6. No response
52. Since January 1, 1994, how has NRCS management changed the priority for implementing conservation compliance?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Significantly increased
2. Generally increased
3. Neither increased nor decreased
4. Generally decreased
5. Significantly decreased
6. No response
53. In your opinion, how would increasing the number of annual status reviews in your county affect producers' compliance with the conservation provisions?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Very greatly increase compliance
2. Greatly increase compliance
3. Moderately increase compliance
4. Somewhat increase compliance
5. Slightly or not increase compliance
6. No response
54. If a participant doesn't have sufficient crop residue on most of his or her field after planting, how often do you grant an "AM" (minimal or technical effect) variance?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Always or almost always
2. Most of the time
3. About half of the time
4. Some of the time
5. Never or almost never
6. Not applicable--crop residue is not an issue
7. No response
55. During a status review, if you discover that a producer is not applying an important practice in his or her conservation system, how often do you grant an "AM" variance?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Always or almost always
2. Most of the time
3. About half of the time
4. Some of the time
5. Never or almost never
6. No response
56. When performing status reviews, how often do you check for potential wetland conservation violations?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Always or almost always
2. Most of the time
3. About half of the time
4. Some of the time
5. Never or almost never
6. No response
57. Consider the tracts or fields that are granted a variance or exemption based on a status review. How often are these tracts reviewed in the year following the variance or exemption?
(CHECK ONLY ONE ANSWER)
1. Always
2. Almost always
3. Most of the time
4. About half of the time
5. Some of the time
6. Almost never
7. Never
8. No response
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