§ 1470.27 - Contract violations and termination.

§ 1470.27 Contract violations and termination.

(a) NRCS may terminate a contract:

(1) Without the consent of the participant where it NRCS determines that the participant : -

(i) Violated the contract; or

(ii) Is unable to comply with the terms of the contract as the result of conditions beyond their control.

(2) With the consent of the participant if NRCS determines that the termination is in the public interest. NRCS will not assess liquidated damages for contracts terminated under this basis.

(b) When NRCS may allow terminates a participant in a contract terminated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, NRCS may allow a participant to retain a portion of any payments received appropriate to the already received based on -

(1) The level of effort the participant has made to comply with the contract. NRCS may require a participant to provide only a partial refund of the payments received if a previously installed conservation activity has achieved the expected conservation performance improvement,

or in cases of hardship, where forces

is not adversely affected by any contract violation or the absence of other conservation activities that would have been installed under the contract, and has met the associated operation and maintenance requirement of the activity; or

(2) Hardship situations where circumstances beyond the participant's control prevented

compliance

the participant from complying with the contract.

The condition that is the basis for the

Any hardship affecting the participant's

inability

ability to comply with the contract must not have existed at the time the contract was executed by the participant.

If a participant believes that such a hardship condition exists, the participant

Participants may submit a written request

with NRCS for relief pursuant to this paragraph and any such request must contain documentation sufficient

to NRCS, along with additional supporting documentation, for NRCS to

make a determination that this hardship condition exists

consider granting a waiver of any requested repayment and/or assessment of liquidated damages.

(c) If NRCS determines that a participant is not in out of compliance with the contract terms or incorporated documents incorporated therein, NRCS will notify the participant about to explain what the actions the participant must take do to be determined in regain compliance and the consequences of the failure to remedy the for not correcting the violation. NRCS will provide a reasonable period of time for the participant give the participant reasonable time to complete all necessary corrective actions, not to exceed one year. NRCS may authorize an additional period of time if NRCS determines that time for the participant is willing and able to comply but has not been able to complete the necessary corrective actions if, during the initial period of time as a result of conditions , the participant was unable to complete the corrective actions due to circumstances beyond their control. If a participant's contract continues in violation, NRCS may terminate :

(1) Terminate the

CSP

contract in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section; or

(2) Where NRCS determines the violation does not warrant termination, NRCS may require the participant to:

(i) Refund all or a portion of the payments provided; or

(ii) Agree to such adjustments to the contact terms as determined appropriate by NRCS.

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section, NRCS will terminate a contract termination will be , effective immediately, upon a determination by NRCS that the participant:

(1) Has submitted false information or filed a false claim;

(2) Engaged in any act, scheme, or device for which a finding of ineligibility for payments is permitted under the provisions of NRCS found the participant ineligible for payments as provided in § 1470.36; or

(3) Incurred in a contract violation of that the contract provisions that cannot be corrected participant cannot correct in a timeframe established by NRCS.

(e) If NRCS terminates a contract, the participant will forfeit all rights to future payments under the contract, pay liquidated damages, and refund all or part of the payments received, plus interest.

(1) NRCS may require a participant to provide only a partial refund of the payments received if a previously installed conservation activity has achieved the expected conservation performance improvement, is not adversely affected by the violation or the absence of other conservation activities that would have been installed under the contract, and has met the associated operation and maintenance requirement of the activity; and

(2) NRCS will have the option to reduce or waive the liquidated damages, depending upon the circumstances of the case when terminating a contract, NRCS may reduce the amount of money owed by the participant by a proportion that reflects the good faith effort of the participant to comply with the contract or the existence of hardships beyond the participant's control that have prevented compliance with the contract

, except as otherwise noted in paragraph (b) of this section.