§ 251.87 - Levels of appeal.

(a) Decisions made by the Chief. If the Chief of the Forest Service is the Deciding Officer, the appeal is to the Secretary of Agriculture. Review by the Secretary is discretionary. Within 15 calendar days of receipt of a timely notice of appeal, the Secretary shall determine whether or not to review the decision. If the Secretary has not decided to review the Chief's decision by the expiration of the 15-day period, the requester(s) shall be notified by the Secretary's office that the Chief's decision is the final administrative decision of the Department of Agriculture. When the Secretary elects to review an initial decision made by the Chief, the Secretary shall conduct the review in accordance with the first level appeal procedures outlined in this rule.

(b) Decisions made By Forest Supervisors and Regional Foresters. Only one level of appeal is available on written decisions by Forest Service line officers below the level of the Chief and above the level of the District Ranger. The levels of available appeal are as follows:

(1) If the decision is made by a Forest Supervisor, the appeal is filed with the Regional Forester;

(2) If the decision is made by a Regional Forester, the appeal is filed with the Chief of the Forest Service.

(c) Decisions made by the District Ranger. Two levels of appeal are available for written decisions by District Rangers.

(1) The appeal for initial review is filed with the Forest Supervisor.

(2) The appeal for a second level of review is filed with the Regional Forester within 15 days of the first level appeal decision. Upon receiving such a request, the Regional Forester shall promptly request the first level file from the Forest Supervisor. The review shall be conducted on the existing record and no additional information shall be added to the file.

(d) Discretionary review of dismissal decisions. Dismissal decisions rendered by Forest Service line officers pursuant to this part (§ 251.92) are subject to only one level of discretionary review (§ 251.100) as follows:

(1) If the Reviewing Officer was the Forest Supervisor, the Regional Forester has discretion to review.

(2) If the Reviewing Officer was the Regional Forester, the Chief has discretion to review.

(3) If the Reviewing Officer was the Chief, the Secretary of Agriculture has discretion to review.

(e) Discretionary review of appeal decisions. Appeal decisions rendered by Regional Foresters and the Chief pursuant to this part are subject to only one level of discretionary review as follows:

(1) If the Reviewing Officer is the Regional Forester, the Chief of the Forest Service has discretion to review.

(2) If the Reviewing Officer is Chief, the Secretary of Agriculture has discretion to review.

(3) A Regional Forester's decision on a second-level appeal constitutes the final administrative determination of the Department of Agriculture on the appeal and is not subject to further review by a higher level officer under this subpart.

[54 FR 3362, Jan. 23, 1989, as amended at 54 FR 34510, Aug. 21, 1989]