§ 1900.151 General.

(a) The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch requires the maintenance of high standards of honesty, integrity, and impartiality by employees. To reduce the potential for employee conflict of interest, any processing, approval, servicing or review activity, including access through automated information systems, is conducted only by authorized Rural Development employees who: (1) Are not themselves the recipient. (2) Are not members of the family or known close relatives of the recipient. (3) Do not have an immediate working relationship with the recipient, the employee related to the recipient, or the employee who would normally conduct the activity. (4) Do not have a business or close personal association with the recipient. (b) No provision of this subpart takes precedence over individual program requirements or restrictions relating to eligibility for Rural Development assistance to Rural Development employees, members of families of employees, close relatives, or business or close personal associates of employees. (c) The determination of a case's need for special handling under the provisions of this subpart is not an adverse action and, therefore, is not subject to appeal. (d) The provisions of this subpart do not apply to the Farm Service Agency. The relevant regulations applicable to the Farm Service Agency can be found at 5 CFR parts 2635 and 8301.