NRCS Receives Ethics Awards

At a recent ethics retreat, sponsored by USDA’s Office of Ethics, NRCS received three awards for its Ethics Program. These include one individual award for the NRCS Ethics Guidance on Technical Service Providers to Caryl Butcher, Director, NRCS Ethics Office,  and two agency awards for Ethics Program Improvement, and for Sustained Ethics Program Excellence Two Consecutive Years

NRCS was recognized for a variety of initiatives to improve and enhance the NRCS Ethics Program. These included
• Inclusion and emphasis on ethics in national training on agreements.
• Integration of ethics concepts and controls in cooperative agreements procedures.
• Integration of ethics concepts and controls in contribution agreements procedures.
• Inclusion and emphasis on ethics in national training on the Technical Service Provider (TSP) assistance process.
• Integration of ethics concepts and controls in all TSP program manuals and handbooks.
• Mandatory in-person ethics training on relations with nongovernmental organizations for NRCS leadership.
• Mandatory in-person ethics training on political activity and lobbying for NRCS leadership.
• Mandatory in-person ethics training for employees involved with employee organizations.
• Direction to review agreements for conflicting interests based on co-location and programmatic relationships.
• Standardized use of a conflict of interest provision in an easement program’s agreements (FRPP).
• Quality quarterly reports on confidential financial disclosure report filers.
• Ethics in NRCS was elevated from one full-time specialist to five full-time employees plus a student intern.
• Planning a national conference for mandatory training for NRCS state ethics advisors [August 2005, Orlando FL].

The awards reflect a lot of hard work by the NRCS Ethics Staff to ensure understanding by employees at all levels about how to avoid conflicting interests in the delivery of NRCS programs and services. However, this was a broader team effort that represents the importance and value of a fully integrated approach to ethics.
Your contact is Caryl J. Butcher, Director, NRCS Ethics Office, at 301-504-2207.