627.601—Complaints and allegations at the Federal level.
        
        (a) 
         The types of complaints and allegations that may be received at the Federal level for review include:
    
    
        
        (1) 
         Complaints for which the recipient has failed to issue a timely decision as required by  § 627.503 of this part ;
    
    
        
        (2) 
         Alleged violations of the Act and/or the regulations promulgated thereunder resulting from Federal, State, and/or SDA and SSG monitoring and oversight reviews;
    
    
    
    
    
        
        (b) 
         Upon receipt of a complaint or allegation alleging any of the violations listed in paragraph (a) of this section, the Secretary may:
    
    
        
        (1) 
         Direct the recipient to handle a complaint through local grievance procedures established under  § 627.502 of this part; or
    
    
        
        (2) 
         Investigate and determine whether the recipient or subrecipient(s) are in compliance with the Act and regulations promulgated thereunder ( section 163(b) and (c) ).
    
    
        
        (3) 
         Allegations of violations of  sections 141(c) or 143 of the Act and  § 627.503 of this part shall be handled under paragraph (b)(2) of this section.