Rochman v. United States

27 Fed. Cl. 162, 1992 U.S. Claims LEXIS 198, 1992 WL 346768
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 24, 1992
DocketNo. 376-88C
StatusPublished

This text of 27 Fed. Cl. 162 (Rochman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rochman v. United States, 27 Fed. Cl. 162, 1992 U.S. Claims LEXIS 198, 1992 WL 346768 (uscfc 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

BACKGROUND

This contract action comes before the court on defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment, and plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs seek judgment [164]*164against the United States to recover approximately $16,000 as a special bonus authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation’s (CCC) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP is administered under the general supervision of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture. Defendant contends that plaintiffs fail to state a claim showing that they are entitled to relief, as required by Rules of the United States Claims Court (RUSCC) 8(a), and, therefore, fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under RUSCC 12(b)(4).1 Specifically, defendant asserts that plaintiffs fail to state, anywhere in their complaint, that “anyone with authority to act for the United States ever entered into this alleged contract.”

Both parties waived oral argument on the motions. After carefully reviewing the abbreviated submissions of the parties, the relevant documents and the applicable statutory, regulatory and case law, the court, hereby, DENIES plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment and GRANTS defendant’s motion to dismiss, as is more fully discussed below.

FACTS

Plaintiffs claim jurisdiction in this court based on the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, 15 U.S.C. § 714b(c) (1986), and the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1988). The Tucker Act states: “[t]he United States Claims Court shall have jurisdiction to render judgment upon any claim against the United States founded ... upon any express or implied contract with the United States....” 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1988). In addition, 15 U.S.C. § 714b(c) provides that the CCC: “May sue and be sued, but no attachment, injunction, garnishment, or other similar process, mesne or final, shall be issued against the Corporation or its property.” 15 U.S.C. § 714b(c) (1986).2

The Conservation Reserve Program is one of the conservation initiatives contained in the Food Security Act of 1985, designed to reduce soil erosion. 16 U.S.C. § 3831 (1986). Under the applicable regulations and the contract entered into under the CRP, owners and operators of highly erodible cropland agree to cease production on the highly erodible land for a ten (10) year period and to devote this land to conservation uses. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to enter into contracts and make payments to eligible owners and operators of highly erodible cropland in order to assist them in conserving and improving the soil and water resources of their farms and ranches. The conservation is accomplished by converting such land to permanent vegetative cover in accordance with an approved conservation plan. 7 C.F.R. § 704.1 (1987).

The CCC, a wholly-owned federal corporation, which is also supervised by the Secretary of Agriculture, was created, in pertinent part, to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices, to assist in maintaining balanced and adequate supplies of agricultural commodities, and to facilitate their distribution. 15 U.S.C. § 714 (1982).

The Secretary of Agriculture has authority to determine and approve conservation reserve programs, and the extent to which those operations should be carried out. 7 C.F.R. § 704.1 (1987). Administration of the Conservation Reserve Program is delegated to the Department of Agriculture’s Administrator of the ASCS. 7 C.F.R. § 704.3 (1987). The program is carried out in the field by state and county committees. Farmers within a county elect persons to [165]*165be on the county ASCS committee. County committees administer the commodities programs at the local level by entering into farm program contracts and by determining program eligibility. The state ASCS committee, made up of three to five farmers appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, supervises the county committees and administers programs on a state-wide basis. At the federal level, the Deputy Administrator, State and County Operations (Deputy Administrator) supervises the state committees. See Raines v. United States, 12 Cl.Ct. 530, 532 n. 2 (1987).

The facts of the case appear to be undisputed.3 Plaintiffs, Barrett Rochman, Marilyn Rochman, James Rochman and William Burns, who are owners of farm land located in Union County, Illinois, applied to enter the CRP program. On August 13, 1986, Barrett Rochman, Marilyn Rochman, James Rochman and Kenneth Rochman executed a CRP contract for farm number 1833, tract T-1718, with a total of approximately 281.8 acres. On this form, the plaintiffs listed Barrett and Marilyn Rochman as owning eighty percent (80%) of the subject property and James Rochman as owning twenty percent (20%). Under the terms of the agreement, the plaintiffs agreed to set aside the subject acreage for conservation purposes and manage it according to an approved conservation plan for ten years from 1987 to 1996. In exchange for the plaintiffs’ ten-year commitment, plaintiffs were to receive a $60.00 rental rate per acre. On January 15, 1987, Keith Glaseo signed the CRP form as authorized CCC representative.

On January 20, 1987, Secretary of Agriculture Richard E. Lyng announced a onetime, one-year bonus for the 1987 crop to be paid in the form of an increased annual rental payment. This bonus was limited to first time CRP contracts, submitted during the program’s fourth sign-up period from February 9 through February 27, 1987, and appears to have become payable only when a 1987 CRP contract was accepted by the CCC. The Secretary’s announcement of the program stated: “This offer is limited to new CRP contracts effective beginning with the 1987 crop year. It is not retroactive for corn base acreage under CRP contracts already signed.” “This additional rental payment will be made at the time new 1987 CRP contracts are accepted.”

Apparently in an attempt to qualify for the bonus, on February 17, 1987, plaintiffs James Rochman, Barrett Rochman and William Burns filled out two additional CRP forms. The first form was for farm number 2087, tract T-9738, with 69.1 total acres, also to receive a $60.00 per acre rental rate and for a contract period from 1987 to 1996. On this form the owners are listed as James Rochman (20 percent), Barrett Rochman (40 percent), and William Burns (40 percent).

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Bluebook (online)
27 Fed. Cl. 162, 1992 U.S. Claims LEXIS 198, 1992 WL 346768, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rochman-v-united-states-uscfc-1992.