United States Department of Agriculture 

Office of Inspector General 
What Were OIG’s

Objectives

Our objectives were to review

USDA’s quarterly high-dollar 

reports to assess the level of 

risk associated with the 

applicable programs, 

determine the extent of

oversight warranted, and

provide the agency head with 

recommendations, if any, for 

modifying the agency’s 

recovery and corrective action

plans. 

What OIG Reviewed

We reviewed USDA’s fiscal 

year 2012 quarterly reports on 

high-dollar overpayments, 

interviewed USDA officials,

including officials with the 

7 component agencies 

administering USDA’s 

16 high-risk programs, and 

evaluated supporting 

documents they provided. 

What OIG Recommends

Provide additional oversight 

over component agencies’ 

processes to ensure component 

agencies’ high-dollar 

overpayment reports comply 

with Departmental high-dollar 

reporting guidance.

OIG reviewed information from USDA’s 

fiscal year 2012 quarterly reports on highdollar overpayments made by programs 

susceptible to significant improper 

payments.

What OIG Found

To intensify efforts to eliminate payment error, waste, fraud, and 

abuse in Federal programs, the President issued Executive Order 

13520, “Reducing Improper Payments.” The Executive Order 

requires the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to review the 

Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) quarterly high-dollar 

overpayment reports and make recommendations, as necessary, to 

agencies’ plans to recover and prevent high-dollar overpayments. 

We found that in the third year of reporting, USDA reported more 

comprehensive information about high-dollar overpayments than it 

did in previous years. Specifically, due to improved reporting 

oversight and processes, USDA reported 239 overpayments, totaling 

approximately $20.3 million in fiscal year 2012. This represents an 

increase of 67 percent over the number of overpayments reported the 

previous year. However, we determined that the quarterly reports 

included errors and were published up to 102 days after the due date. 

This occurred because, although agency chief financial officers 

certified that information was accurate and met applicable criteria, 

component agencies’ submissions required substantive review by the 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer to ensure USDA followed the 

high-dollar reporting guidance appropriately and that only payments 

that were supposed to be reported were included. Without accurate

and timely reporting, the effects of USDA’s actions or strategies to 

eliminate the errors causing high-dollar overpayments are not fully 

known.

USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer agreed with our 

recommendation. 

Executive Order 13520,

Reducing Improper Payments—Fiscal Year 2012 

High-Dollar Overpayment Report Reviews

Audit Report 50024-0003-11

United States Department of Agriculture

Office of Inspector General

Washington, D.C. 20250

DATE: August 22, 2013

AUDIT

NUMBER: 50024-0003-11 

TO: Jon M. Holladay

Chief Financial Officer 

Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

ATTN: Kathy Donaldson

Audit Liaison Officer

Planning and Accountability Division

FROM: Gil H. Harden

Assistant Inspector General for Audit

SUBJECT: Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments—Fiscal Year 2012 

High-Dollar Report Review

This report presents the results of the subject audit. Your written response to the official draft report, 

dated August 15, 2013, is included in its entirety at the end of the report. Excerpts from your 

response and the Office of Inspector General’s position are incorporated in the relevant sections of 

the report. 

Based on your response, we accept management decision for the recommendation in the report, and 

no further response to us is necessary. In accordance with Departmental Regulation 1720-1, all final 

actions need to be completed within 1 year of each management decision to preclude them being 

listed in the Department’s annual Agency Financial Report. Please follow your internal agency 

procedures in reporting final action. 

We appreciate the courtesies and cooperation extended to us by members of your staff during our 

audit fieldwork and subsequent discussions. This report contains publically available information 

and will be posted in its entirety to our website (http://www.usda.gov/oig) in the near future. 

Table of Contents

Background and Objectives ................................................................................ 1

Section 1: Compliance with High-Dollar Overpayment Reporting 

Requirements....................................................................................................... 3

Finding 1: USDA Needs to Take Further Actions to Improve Reporting on 

High-Dollar Overpayments ................................................................................. 3

Recommendation 1 .................................................................................... 6

Scope and Methodology....................................................................................... 7

Abbreviations....................................................................................................... 8

Exhibit A: USDA’s Programs Susceptible to Significant Improper Payments 9

Exhibit B: Summary of USDA’s Reported Fiscal Year 2012 High-Dollar 

Overpayments.................................................................................................... 10

Agency's Response ............................................................................................. 11

Background and Objectives

AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11 1

Background

Executive Order 13520 (Executive Order) is intended to assist Federal agencies in reducing 

improper payments.1

 It provides a comprehensive set of policies and a focus on identifying and 

eliminating the highest improper payments through increased transparency and improved agency 

accountability. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued implementing guidance to 

agencies for reporting high-dollar overpayments.2 Agencies must report quarterly on any highdollar overpayments identified in programs that are susceptible to significant improper payments 

(“high-risk” programs).3 Agencies are to submit the quarterly reports to their respective Office 

of Inspector General (OIG) and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 

Efficiency. OIG is to review them and make recommendations, as necessary, to agencies’ plans 

to recover and prevent high-dollar overpayments.

In fiscal year 2012, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) administered 16 programs OMB 

identified as high risk. Currently, seven component agencies administer these programs: Farm 

Service Agency (FSA), Commodity Credit Corporation, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), 

Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency 

(RMA), and Rural Development. Exhibit A provides a list of the relevant programs by agency. 

Exhibit B lists the number and sum of fiscal year 2012 high-dollar overpayments for each 

applicable program and agency. USDA reported a total of 239 high-dollar overpayments, 

totaling approximately $20.3 million, made through these programs, which is an increase from 

the 143 high-dollar overpayments, totaling approximately $11.7 million, USDA reported for the 

previous year.

To be reportable as a high-dollar overpayment, an overpayment is identified as being made for at 

least 50 percent more than the correct amount, and as exceeding a certain threshold. The 

Executive Order defines the threshold for a reportable overpayment as more than $5,000 in total 

to an individual for the quarter and as more than $25,000 in total to an entity for the quarter. 

Reportable overpayments can be made as a single payment or in cumulative payments for the 

quarter.4

The Secretary of Agriculture has delegated responsibility for coordinating and submitting 

USDA’s high-dollar overpayment reports to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). 

To assist OCFO in meeting reporting requirements, the seven component agencies administering 

USDA’s high-risk programs must submit high-dollar overpayments data, in accordance with 

OMB guidance, for inclusion in the Department-level quarterly reports. In addition to 

submitting the quarterly reports to OIG and to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity 

 

1

74 Federal Register 62201, Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments (November 20, 2009).

2 OMB Memo M-11-16, Issuance of Revised Parts I and II to Appendix C of OMB Circular A-123 (April 14, 2011). 

3 A high-risk program is any program susceptible to significant improper payments based on the criteria outlined in 

OMB Circular A-123, Parts I and II, Appendix C (April 14, 2011).

4 OMB Circular A-123, Parts I and II, Appendix C (April 14, 2011).
and Efficiency, the Department publishes its quarterly high-dollar reports on its website at 

http://www.ocfo.usda.gov/qhd_reporting.html.

2 AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11

Objectives

As required by the Executive Order, we reviewed USDA’s quarterly reports on high-dollar 

overpayments. The objective of our audit was to assess the level of risk associated with the 

applicable programs, determine the extent of oversight warranted, and provide the Secretary of 

Agriculture with recommendations, if any, for modifying USDA’s recovery and corrective action 

plans.
Section 1:  Compliance with High-Dollar Overpayment Reporting 

Requirements

AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11 3

Finding 1: USDA Needs to Take Further Actions to Improve Reporting on High-Dollar 

Overpayments

Although USDA’s fiscal year 2012 reporting delivered more comprehensive information about 

high-dollar overpayments than it did in its first 2 years of reporting, we found that USDA can 

take further steps to improve transparency and agency accountability for identifying and 

eliminating the highest payment errors. We noted that USDA’s fiscal year 2012 quarterly reports 

on high-dollar overpayments and related actions did not always provide accurate and timely 

information; the reports included errors and were published up to 102 days after the due date. 

This occurred because, although agency chief financial officers certified that information was 

accurate and met applicable criteria, component agencies’ submissions required substantive 

review by OCFO to ensure USDA followed the high-dollar reporting guidance appropriately and 

that only payments that were supposed to be reported were included in the Department’s report. 

Without accurate and timely reporting, neither the Department nor OMB can measure the 

effectiveness of USDA component agencies’ actions or strategies to eliminate the errors causing 

high-dollar overpayments.

The Executive Order requires agencies to report on high-dollar overpayments by submitting 

reports on identified overpayments to OIG within 30 days of the quarter’s end.5 OMB set 

specific thresholds for reportable high-dollar overpayments. OMB also requires that the quarterly 

reports: list all high-dollar overpayments the agency identified during the quarter; and include 

information on overall agency actions and strategies to recover and prevent the overpayments, 

along with other specific information.6 OCFO provides Departmental guidance to agencies on 

preparing and submitting the quarterly high-dollar overpayment report.

Our review identified that component agencies provided OCFO with inaccurate information 

related to high-dollar overpayments and that USDA published inaccurate information from four 

component agencies: FSA, NRCS, Rural Development, and RMA. Further, six out of the seven 

component agencies continued to struggle with report timeliness. The following sections 

provide further details. 

USDA Reported Incorrect Information About High-Dollar Overpayments

OCFO’s review, comment, and response process significantly minimized the amount of 

inaccurate information that USDA published. However, OCFO cannot identify and 

prevent all errors that arise in component agencies’ administrative processes. USDA 

ultimately published inaccurate information related to some overpayments because the 

administrative processes of four component agencies (FSA, NRCS, Rural Development, 

and RMA) did not always ensure that the agencies applied OCFO guidance correctly and 

 

5

74 Federal Regulation 62201, Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments (November 20, 2009).

6 OMB Circular A-123, Appendix C, Part III, Requirements for Implementing Executive Order 13520: Reducing 

Improper Payments, M-10-13 (March 22, 2010).
adequately reviewed information for accuracy before officials certified agency 

submissions. 

For instance, FSA did not adequately review information, including its supporting 

documentation, before submitting its certified reports to OCFO. Our review of 

documents related to OCFO’s review process disclosed that in at least 16 instances, FSA 

submitted inaccurate information related to overpayments. For example, FSA submitted

payments that did not meet the criteria, payments individually that should have been 

reported cumulatively, and reports with calculation errors. OCFO and FSA addressed 

these issues during the review process and did not publish these errors. However, when 

OIG reviewed a sample of documents supporting FSA’s reported overpayments, we 

found that at least ten were published inaccurately.

4 AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11

7

 For eight of these reported 

overpayments, personnel at field offices entered information into the accounting system 

that indicated to headquarters personnel that FSA had made overpayments to both entities 

and associated individuals. However, FSA had not made overpayments to the individuals 

and should not have included them on the high-dollar report. Additionally, FSA 

inaccurately reported 2 overpayments of $45,096 each. For these two, the Departmental 

report indicated that the payments should not have been made, when in fact, the 

recipients should each have been paid $2,048. FSA stated that, with the revised and 

robust internal controls process in place, FSA’s administrative review process should 

mitigate these types of incidents in the future. 

Also, NRCS did not adequately review its supporting documentation related to highdollar overpayments. Our review of NRCS’ supporting documents disclosed that NRCS 

did not always apply OCFO high-dollar overpayment reporting guidance correctly.8

 For 

example, NRCS did not combine three overpayments (of $176,883, $176,883, and 

$109,558) made to the same entity as cumulative payments of $463,324. Further, in at 

least two instances, NRCS did not accurately report its actions. In one instance, although 

NRCS had granted a cost recovery waiver to a recipient in the amount of $8,658, NRCS 

proceeded to report that it had sent the recipient a demand letter. In another instance, 

NRCS reported the same overpayment of $11,172 twice. This occurred because NRCS’ 

internal reviews did not adequately validate information before submitting it to OCFO. 

Additionally, we noted issues related to Rural Development’s reporting on high-dollar 

overpayments. For example, we noted that in one instance, Rural Development 

submitted an item that should not have been reported. OCFO informed Rural 

Development that the item did not meet the high-dollar threshold. Also, during our 

review of supporting documents, we identified that in two instances the overpayment 

amounts that Rural Development reported did not correspond with supporting 

documentation.

9

 These errors occurred because Rural Development did not yet have 

formal processes fully in place for its high-dollar overpayment reporting during the 

period of our review. As identified in our audit of fiscal year 2011 high-dollar reporting, 

Rural Development had not established a process for reporting high-dollar overpayments 

 

7 We reviewed a non-statistical sample of 49 out of FSA’s 95 total reported high-dollar overpayments.

8 We reviewed a non-statistical sample of 26 out of NRCS’ 53 total reported high-dollar overpayments.

9 We reviewed a non-statistical sample of 9 out of Rural Development’s 18 total reported high-dollar overpayments.
because it had considered the payments to individual participants to fall below the highdollar threshold.

AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11 5

10

 Rural Development concurred with our conclusion that it should 

establish a process, and began reporting high-dollar overpayments during fiscal year 

2012. Rural Development stated that it was refining its process to identify and report 

high-dollar overpayments and noted that the decentralized nature of Rural Development’s 

administrative structure impacts the complexity of the process.

Finally, we noted an inaccuracy in RMA’s high-dollar overpayment reporting. Our 

review of supporting documents identified that USDA’s report included a 

$70,560 overpayment that was not, in fact, made.11

 At the time RMA initially pulled data 

used to identify the high-dollar overpayment amount, there was a compliance reporting 

system data entry error that the responsible staff subsequently corrected in the database. 

RMA emphasizes that it routinely reminds its offices of the importance of data accuracy, 

and has allocated resources to try to preclude as many of these kinds of errors as possible.

USDA Continued to Struggle with Report Timeliness

As in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, although required to submit reports to OIG within 

30 days after the end of the quarter, USDA did not submit its fiscal year 2012 quarterly

reports on high-dollar overpayments timely. We received the reports from 24 to 102 days 

after the required due date: specifically, 24 days for the first quarter, 52 days for the 

second, 102 days for the third, and 94 days for the fourth. This occurred because six of 

the component agencies submitted reports to OCFO late. With agencies submitting up to 

164 days after the OCFO-required due date, and, given that submissions then required 

substantive OCFO reviews, USDA overpayments were not reported during the 

appropriate quarters.

When we discussed report timeliness with agencies, officials in the component agencies 

generally stated that budget constraints, resource limitations, and the demands of other 

improper payment and financial statement reporting requirements impacted their 

reporting on high-dollar overpayments. We emphasize that untimely reporting may not 

fully reflect USDA’s intensified efforts to eliminate the highest improper payments in its 

programs through increased accountability and transparency over high-dollar 

overpayments.

Overall, we generally attributed USDA’s inaccurate and untimely reporting to issues related to 

the inherent challenges of managing technical reporting processes that involve different levels of 

personnel across different and decentralized reporting structures, or to maintaining accurate data 

across a large and diverse organization. In fiscal year 2013, OCFO revised Departmental 

guidance to provide additional clarification on reporting cumulative payments, provided training 

on reporting high-dollar overpayments, and requested agencies to provide their documented 

high-dollar reporting process to OCFO for review. OCFO stated it plans to review and provide 

feedback to agencies on their reporting processes, and that it plans to formulate a strategy to 

 

10 Audit report 50024-0002-11, Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments – Fiscal Year 2011 HighDollar Report Review (September 28, 2012). 

11 We reviewed a non-statistical sample of 10 out of RMA’s 70 total reported high-dollar overpayments.
meet the report requirements timely. We are not, therefore, making recommendations to 

individual agencies on the accuracy and timeliness of reporting. OCFO stated that, in addition to 

these changes, it can work with agency chief financial officers to reduce the need for extensive 

OCFO reviews. To improve the accuracy and timeliness of reporting, OCFO should also work 

with agencies to document their reporting processes and identify areas for improvement.

Recommendation 1

Provide additional oversight over component agencies’ processes to ensure component agencies’ 

high-dollar overpayment reports comply with Departmental high-dollar reporting guidance.

Agency Response

OCFO officials concurred with this recommendation and stated that OCFO sent a memorandum 

to the agency chief financial officers with high risk programs requesting each agency to 

document and certify its process for identifying and reporting high-dollar overpayments, and 

provide the documented process to OCFO for review and approval.

OIG Position 

We accept OCFO’s management decision.

6 AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11
Scope and Methodology

AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11 7

Our review was for the limited purpose described in the objectives and would not necessarily 

identify all deficiencies in internal controls for determining high-dollar overpayments. We 

reviewed USDA’s fiscal year 2012 quarterly reports on high-dollar overpayments. To 

accomplish our objectives, we met with OCFO officials in Washington, D.C., and held 

teleconferences with officials from the 7 component agencies administering the 16 high-risk 

programs responsible for reporting high-dollar overpayments. We interviewed these officials 

and evaluated a non-statistical sample of supporting documentation they provided. Fieldwork 

for this review was performed between December 2012 and June 2013. We followed applicable, 

generally accepted government auditing standards in performing this review, and we believe the 

evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our conclusions, based on our objectives.
Abbreviations

8 AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11

Executive Order Executive Order 13520

FNS Food and Nutrition Service

FSA Farm Service Agency

NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service

OCFO Office of the Chief Financial Officer

OIG Office of Inspector General

OMB Office of Management and Budget

RMA Risk Management Agency

USDA Department of Agriculture
Exhibit A:  USDA’s Programs Susceptible to Significant Improper 

Payments

AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11 9

USDA’s 16 current high-risk programs, by the 7 component agencies that administer them.

USDA Component 

Agency High-Risk Program

FSA

Conservation Reserve Program 

is a voluntary program available to agricultural producers to help them use environmentally 

sensitive land for conservation benefits.

Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program 

provides payments based on yields and market prices to eligible producers on farms.

Loan Deficiency Payments Service 

is available to eligible participants who do not want to participate in the MAL Marketing 

Assistance Loan Program.

Milk Income Loss Contract Program 

compensates dairy producers when domestic milk prices fall below a specified level.

Miscellaneous Disaster Programs 

provide assistance through various programs to participants when there are disasters.

Noninsured Assistance Program 

provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of 

inventory, or prevented planting occur due to a natural disaster.

FNS 

Child and Adult Care Food Program 

provides nutritious meals to participants in day care facilities, such as child care centers, day care 

homes, and adult day care centers.

National School Lunch Program

provides cash subsidies and donated foods from USDA for each meal schools serve.

School Breakfast Program 

is a federally assisted meal program where participating school districts receive cash subsidies 

for each breakfast they serve.

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children 

provides supplemental foods and other health services to low-income participating women and 

children up to the age of 5 years.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

provides low income families benefits to purchase food from approved retailers.

Forest Service Wildland Fire Suppression Management

protects life, property, and natural resources on National Forest System, State, and private lands.

FSA and 

Commodity Credit 

Corporation 

Marketing Assistance Loan Program

provides an influx of cash when market prices are low, which allows the producer to delay the 

sale of the commodity until more favorable market conditions emerge.

NRCS

Farm Security and Rural Investment Act Programs

provide products and services that enable people to be good stewards of the Nation’s soil, water, 

and related natural resources on non-Federal lands.

RMA Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Program Fund

provides insurance and risk management strategies to American producers.

Rural Development 

Rental Assistance Program

provides an additional source of support for households in rural areas with income too low to pay 

the basic rent from their own resources.
Exhibit B:  Summary of USDA’s Reported Fiscal Year 2012 HighDollar Overpayments

10 AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11

Exhibit B lists the number and sum of high-dollar overpayments reported in fiscal year 2012, by 

component agency and high-risk program.

USDA Agency High-Risk Program(s)

Number of 

Reported HighDollar 

Overpayments

Sum of 

Reported 

High-Dollar

Overpayments

1. Forest Service

Wildland Fire Suppression 

Management Program 3 $174,809

2. FSA

Direct and Counter-Cyclical 

Program 17 $335,939

3. FSA Miscellaneous Disaster Programs 46 $1,187,109

4. FSA Noninsured Assistance Program 24 $584,481

5. FSA/Commodity 

Credit 

Corporation

Marketing Assistance Loan 

Program 8 $434,964

6. FNS12

Five total programs, including 

Child and Adult Care Food 

Program; National School Lunch 

Program; School Breakfast 

Program; Special Supplemental 

Nutrition Program for Women, 

Infants, and Children; and 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program

0 $0

7. NRCS

Farm Security and Rural 

Investment Programs 53 $2,787,032

8. RMA

Federal Crop Insurance 

Corporation Program Fund 70 $14,651,081

9. Rural 

Development

Rental Assistance Program 18 $138,196

TOTAL 239 $20,293,611

 

12 FNS submitted statements certifying that it did not identify any high-dollar overpayments meeting the criteria 

outlined in the Quarterly High Dollar Overpayments Report Guidance and was therefore providing a negative report. 
Agency's Response

AUDIT REPORT 50024-0003-11 11

USDA’S

OFFICE OF THE 

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER’S

RESPONSE TO AUDIT REPORT

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

 August 15, 2013

TO: Gil H. Harden

 Assistant Inspector General

 for Audit

FROM: Jon M. Holladay -S- Jon M. Holladay - 

 Deputy Chief Financial Officer

 

SUBJECT: Management Response to Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper PaymentsFiscal Year 2012 High-Dollar Report Review, Audit No. 50024-0003-11 

This responds to your request for management’s response to the draft report audit 

recommendations in Audit Report No. 50024-0003-11. The management response is attached.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact our office at 

(202) 720-5539 or have a member of your staff contact Kathy Donaldson at (202) 720-1893.

Attachment

 

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Office of the Chief

Financial Officer

1400 Independence

Avenue, SW

Washington, D.C. 

20250
An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

Executive Order 13520, Reducing Improper Payments, 

Fiscal Year 2012 High-Dollar Report, Audit No. 50024-0003-11

Recommendation 1

Provide additional oversight over component agencies’ processes to ensure component agencies’ 

high-dollar overpayment reports comply with Departmental high-dollar reporting guidance.

Management Response: The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) concurs with the 

Office of the Inspector General’s finding that agencies misinterpreted or deviated from the 

requirement of the Office of Management and Budget and OCFO guidance which resulted in 

omission and/or errors in agencies submissions. 

OCFO sent a memorandum to the agency chief financial officers with high risk programs 

requesting each agency to document and certify its process for identifying and reporting highdollar overpayments; and provide the documented process to OCFO for review and approval. 

A template was provided to the agencies requesting information on:

1. The steps and their sequence for the identification, verification, and reporting of high-dollar 

overpayments;

2. Agency organizational units and geographical locations involved in identifying, verifying, 

and reporting high-dollar overpayments;

3. Agency’s key controls to ensure the accuracy and completeness of:

a. The formula used for calculating high-dollar overpayments;

b. Identifying and reporting overpayments;

c. Reasons for overpayments;

d. Actions to recover overpayments; and 

e. Actions and strategies to prevent overpayments.

4. How the information obtained from the high-dollar identification and reporting benefits the 

agency; 

5. Agency issues, problems and/or barriers in identifying and reporting high-dollar 

overpayments; and

6. Copies of the agency’s internal procedures, guidance and instructions for identifying and 

reporting on high-dollar overpayments.

Date Corrective Action will be Completed: August 31, 2013

Responsible Organization: Fiscal Policy Division, OCFO
To learn more about OIG, visit our website at 

www.usda.gov/oig/index.htm

How To Report Suspected Wrongdoing in USDA Programs 

Fraud, Waste and Abuse 

e-mail: USDA.HOTLINE@oig.usda.gov 

phone: 800-424-9121 

fax: 202-690-2474 

Bribes or Gratuities 

202-720-7257 (24 hours a day) 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all of its programs and activities on 

the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex (including gender identity 

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alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should 

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