Logging in to EPP for the First Time

Note: If you received a “Welcome to EPP” email at your work email address with a one-time passcode (OTP) and instructions for accessing EPP, then your Agency has already established you in EPP.

A Federated Agency uses eAuthentication (eAuth) to gain access to applications. Federated Agencies are those Agencies listed on the Choose an Agency drop-down list. A non-Federated Agency does not use eAuth to gain access to applications and will have to use Personal Identity Verification (PIV) or Login.gov.

There are three way to log in to use EPP:

PIV (Federated) (Log in using your Agency's authentication solution.)
PIV (Non-Federated)
Login.gov (Non-Federated)

Register Using PIV with eAuth (Federated):

To log in to EPP, connect to www.nfc.usda.gov/epps. The Warning Banner page is displayed.

Select the I Agree button. The My Employee Personal Page page is displayed.

Figure 5: My Employee Personal Page Page

From the Choose a Sign In Option menu, select Sign-in with PIV/Login.gov. The Agency Selection popup appears.

Select the applicable Agency.
Select the Continue button.
Enter your Social Security number (SSN) and OTP. The Enter Your Work E-mail Address page is displayed.
Enter your work email address in the Work E-mail field.
Select the Submit button. An email containing a verification code is sent to the email address entered, and the Verify Your Work E-mail Address page is displayed.
Verify your work email address by entering the code provided in the email.
Select the Submit button. The Enter Your Personal E-mail Address page is displayed, and you will be required to enter your personal email address in the Personal E-mail field.
Once you’ve entered your personal email address, select Submit button. If the user does not have a personal email address, they may reenter their work email address in this field. An email containing a verification code is sent to the email address entered, and the Verify Your Personal E-mail Address page is displayed.
Verify the personal email address by entering the code provided in the email.
Select the Submit button.
Follow the prompts to continue logging in.

Register Using PIV for Non-Federated Users:

There are two ways to register to use EPP for Non-Federated Users:

Non-Federated users with a PIV that have previously used an EPP User ID/password should link their PIV to eAuth and use only their PIV to access EPP.
Non-Federated users that do not have a PIV/CAC card must create an account using Login.gov. When using this option, identity verification at Login.gov is required. After identity verification is complete, the identity information from Login.gov will be used to link the account with EPP.

To log in to EPP, connect to www.nfc.usda.gov/epps. The Warning Banner page is displayed.

Select the I Agree button. The My Employee Personal Page page is displayed.

From the Choose a Sign In Option menu, select the Sign-in with PIV/Login.gov. The Agency Selection popup appears.
Select Create Account or Need an account.
Answer Yes if the user has a PIV/CAC card, and follow the prompts to register.
Once registration is complete, select the PIV/CAC option to log in to eAuth.

Register Using Login.gov for Non-Federated Users:

To log in to EPP, connect to www.nfc.usda.gov/epps. The Warning Banner page is displayed.

Select the I Agree button. The My Employee Personal Page page is displayed.

From the Choose a Sign In Option menu, select the Sign-in with PIV/Login.gov. The Agency Selection popup appears.
Select Create Account (or Need an account).
Answer No if the user has a PIV/CAC card, and follow the prompts to register.
Once registration is complete, select the PIV/CAC option to log in to eAuth.
Select Other from the drop-down menu. The Non-USDA Federal Login.gov page is displayed.

Figure 11: Non-USDA Federal Login.gov Page

Select Login.gov.
Follow the prompts to complete the login process for registration and identity verification.

Note: Users must contact the eAuth Help Desk if they experience any issues with eAuth. Users having issues with Login.gov must contact Login.gov.

Note: If you did not receive a "Welcome to EPP" email at your work email address or you do not have a valid work email address (e.g., john.smith@usda.gov), please contact your Agency Servicing Personnel Office (SPO) to request assistance with logging in to EPP.