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7 U.S.C. 1506(l), 1506(o), and 1506(r).
83 FR 66581, Dec. 27, 2018, unless otherwise noted.
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7 U.S.C. 1506(l), 1506(o), and 1506(r).
83 FR 66581, Dec. 27, 2018, unless otherwise noted.
The definitions in this section apply to this subpart.
Act. The Federal Crop Insurance Act, 7 U.S.C. 1501-1524.
Approved insurance provider. A private insurance company that has been approved by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) to sell and service Federal crop insurance policies under a reinsurance agreement with FCIC.
FAA. The Federal Arbitration Act found at 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq.
FCIC. The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, a wholly owned government corporation within the United States Department of Agriculture.
NAD. The USDA National Appeals Division. See 7 CFR part 11.
Participant. Any applicant for Federal crop insurance, an insured, or approved insurance provider or their agent, loss adjuster, employee or contractor.
Procedure. All FCIC issued handbooks, manuals, memoranda, and bulletins for any crop insurance policy reinsured by FCIC.
Proceeding. The process that starts with the filing of a complaint, notice of appeal, or other such document that commences the appeals process, and ends with the adjudicatory body issuing its decision, and includes all necessary activities, such as discovery, that occur within that time frame.
RMA. The Risk Management Agency, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.
[83 FR 66581, Dec. 27, 2018, as amended at 90 FR 54530, Nov. 28, 2025; 91 FR 16155, Apr. 1, 2026]
(a) This subpart sets forth the procedure for a participant to make a request for a final agency determination with respect to a:
(1) Provision of the Act;
(2) Provision of this part;
(3) Provision of a crop insurance policy re-insured by FCIC;
(4) Handbook, manual, memorandum, and a non-binding guidance document issued by FCIC; and
(5) Bulletins issued to AIPs.
(b) A final agency determination is applicable to only the party requesting such a determination.
(c)
(1) A request for a final agency determination must be made as provided in § 400.767(a). FCIC will make a determination on the request not later than 90 days after receipt of the request.
(2)
(i) A request for a administrative review of a final agency determination made under this section may be made by a producer or applicant in accordance with subpart J or an appeal may be made to NAD as provided in part 11 of this Title.
(ii) A request for a administrative review of a final agency determination made under this section may be made by a reinsured company.
(3) FCIC will provide a final agency determination with respect to the crop year in which the request is made. If the crop insurance policy or other FCIC action was effective in any of the immediately preceding three crop years, the participant may request a determination for such years. For example, for a request received in the 2027 crop year, FCIC will consider a request for a final agency determination for the 2027, 2026, 2025, and 2024 crop years. A request for an interpretation that is outside of this timeframe will not be considered.
(4) If statutory, regulatory, policy provision, or procedure has changed during the time period for which an interpretation is requested, FCIC will provide, at the request of the participant, a final agency determination for each such crop year.
[91 FR 16155, Apr. 1, 2026]
(a) A request for a final agency determination must:
(1) Be submitted to the Deputy Administrator as provided on RMA's website at www.rma.usda.gov through one of the following methods:
(i) By certified mail or overnight delivery, to the Deputy Administrator, Risk Management Agency, United States Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 419205, Kansas City, MO 64141-6205; or
(ii) By electronic mail at subpartx@rma.usda.gov;
(2) Identify and quote the specific provision in the Act, regulation, insurance policy provision, or procedure that is the subject of the request. The request for a final agency determination may pertain to only such provision unless other provisions are directly related to the subject provision;
(3) State the crop, crop year(s), and plan of insurance applicable to the request;
(4) State the name, address, and telephone number of a contact person for the request;
(5) Contain the requestor's detailed interpretation of the specific provision of the Act, regulation, crop insurance policy, or procedure that is the subject of the request; and
(6) Not contain any specific facts, alleged conduct, or hypothetical situations or the request will be returned to the requestor without consideration.
(b) If multiple parties are involved in a dispute and have opposing interpretations of a matter that FCIC may consider under this subpart, a joint request for a final agency determination in one request is encouraged. If multiple insured entities are parties to the dispute, and the request for a final agency determination applies to all parties, one request may be submitted for all insured entities. In this case, the information required in paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section must be provided for each person.
(c)
(1) If the final agency determination will be used in a judicial, mediation, or arbitration proceeding, the requestor must identify:
(i) The type of proceeding and the date the proceeding is scheduled to begin, or the earliest possible date the proceeding would likely begin if a specific date has not been established; and
(ii) The name, address, telephone number, and or email address of a contact person for each party to the dispute;
(2) A request for a final agency determination must be submitted not later than 90 days before the date the mediation, or arbitration proceeding in which the determination will be used is scheduled to begin unless the parties elect to use the expedited review process available under the AAA rules.
(3)
(i) FCIC will cooperate to the extent practicable to accommodate the schedule of a court, mediator, arbitrator, and NAD when a FCIC matter is pending before such entity. A party requesting a final agency determination should advise such entity that FCIC acts on requests for final agency determinations within 90 days but cannot provide an exact date on which such a determination will be issued.
(ii) During litigation, mediation, arbitration, and appeals before NAD, if an issue arises and the presiding official determines that a final agency determination may assist in the resolution of the dispute, FCIC will honor a request for a final agency determination from such entity. Such a request should conform, to the extent practicable, to the provisions of paragraphs (a)(2) through (5) of this section. Such a determination is not binding on the presiding official and is a guidance document.
[91 FR 16155, Apr. 1, 2026]
(a)
(1) FCIC will not provide a final agency determination for any request that contains specific factual information to situations or cases, such as acts or failures to act of any participant under the terms of a policy, procedure, or any reinsurance agreement. A properly filed request will be reviewed by FCIC and a final agency determination will be issued within 90 days of receipt of the request.
(2) FCIC will not consider any examples or hypotheticals provided in the request because those are fact-specific and could be construed as a finding of fact by FCIC. If an example or hypothetical is required to illustrate an interpretation, FCIC will provide the example in the interpretation.
(b)
(1) If, in the sole judgment of FCIC, the request is unclear, ambiguous, or incomplete, FCIC will not provide a final agency determination and the requestor will be notified within 30 days of the date of receipt by FCIC that the request is unclear, ambiguous, or incomplete.
(2) When FCIC provides a notification under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the 90-day time period for FCIC to provide a response is stopped on the date FCIC issues the notification. On the date FCIC receives an acceptable request, FCIC has the balance of the days remaining in the 90-day time period to provide a final agency determination. For example, FCIC receives a request for a final agency determination on January 10. On February 10, FCIC issues a notification that the request is unclear. On March 10, FCIC receives an acceptable request. FCIC has 60 days from March 10, the balance of the 90-day time period, to provide a response.
(c) If FCIC does not provide a response within 90 days of receipt of a request, the requested interpretation is applicable for the applicable crop year. Additionally, in the case of a joint request for a final agency determination when the requestors have differing interpretations, if FCIC does not provide a response within 90 days, neither party may assume their interpretation is correct.
(d) When issuing a final agency determination, FCIC will not evaluate the insured, insurance provider, agent, or loss adjuster as it relates to their performance in following FCIC policy provisions.
[91 FR 16155, Apr. 1, 2026]