7 U.S.C. § 6997 — Division hearings

Page 1951 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 6997 § 6995. Informal hearings (a) In general If an officer, employee, or committee of an agency makes an adverse decision, the agency shall hold, at the request of the participant, an informal hearing on the decision. (b) Farm Service Agency With respect to programs carried out through the Farm Service Agency (or other office, agen- cy, or administrative unit of the Department as- signed to carry out the programs authorized for the Farm Service Agency under section 6932 of this title), the Secretary shall maintain the in- formal appeals process applicable to such pro- grams, as in effect on October 13, 1994. (c) Mediation If a mediation program is available under title V of the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 (7 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.) as a part of the informal hearing process, the participant shall— (1) be offered the right to choose such medi- ation; and (2) to the maximum extent practicable, be allowed to use both informal agency review and mediation to resolve disputes under that title. (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 275, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3230; Pub. L. 110–234, title XII, § 12032, May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1391; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XII, § 12032, June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2153; Pub. L. 115–334, title XII, § 12404(b)(3), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4975.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Agricultural Credit Act of 1987, referred to in subsec. (c), is Pub. L. 100–233, Jan. 6, 1988, 101 Stat. 1568. Title V of the Act is classified principally to chapter 82 (§ 5101 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1988 Amend- ments note set out under section 2001 of Title 12, Banks and Banking, and Tables. CODIFICATION Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical amendments to this section. The amendments by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246. AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–334 substituted ‘‘Farm’’ for ‘‘Consolidated Farm’’ in two places. 2008—Pub. L. 110–246, § 12032, designated the three sen- tences of existing provisions as subsecs. (a) to (c), re- spectively, inserted headings, and in subsec. (c) des- ignated part of existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2008 AMENDMENT Amendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an Effective Date note under section 8701 of this title. § 6996. Right of participants to Division hearing (a) Appeal to Division for hearing Subject to subsection (b), a participant shall have the right to appeal an adverse decision to the Division for an evidentiary hearing by a hearing officer consistent with section 6997 of this title. (b) Time for appeal To be entitled to a hearing under section 6997 of this title, a participant shall request the hearing not later than 30 days after the date on which the participant first received notice of the adverse decision. (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 276, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3230.) § 6997. Division hearings (a) General powers of Director and hearing offi- cers (1) Access to case record The Director and hearing officer shall have access to the case record of any adverse deci- sion appealed to the Division for a hearing. (2) Administrative procedures The Director and hearing officer shall have the authority to require the attendance of wit- nesses, and the production of evidence, by sub- poena and to administer oaths and affirma- tions. Except to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law— (A) an interested person outside the Divi- sion shall not make or knowingly cause to be made to the Director or a hearing officer who is or may reasonably be expected to be involved in the evidentiary hearing or re- view of an adverse decision, an ex parte com- munication (as defined in section 551(14) of title 5) relevant to the merits of the pro- ceeding; (B) the Director and such hearing officer shall not make or knowingly cause to be made to any interested person outside the Division an ex parte communication rel- evant to the merits of the proceeding. (b) Time for hearing Upon a timely request for a hearing under sec- tion 6996(b) of this title, an appellant shall have the right to have a hearing by the Division on the adverse decision within 45 days after the date of the receipt of the request for the hear- ing. (c) Location and elements of hearing (1) Location A hearing on an adverse decision shall be held in the State of residence of the appellant or at a location that is otherwise convenient to the appellant and the Division. (2) Evidentiary hearing The evidentiary hearing before a hearing of- ficer shall be in person, unless the appellant agrees to a hearing by telephone or by a re- view of the case record. The hearing officer shall not be bound by previous findings of fact by the agency in making a determination. (3) Information at hearing The hearing officer shall consider informa- tion presented at the hearing without regard to whether the evidence was known to the Page 1952 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 6998 agency officer, employee, or committee mak- ing the adverse decision at the time the ad- verse decision was made. The hearing officer shall leave the record open after the hearing for a reasonable period of time to allow the submission of information by the appellant or the agency after the hearing to the extent nec- essary to respond to new facts, information, arguments, or evidence presented or raised by the agency or appellant. (4) Burden of proof The appellant shall bear the burden of prov- ing that the adverse decision of the agency was erroneous. (d) Determination notice The hearing officer shall issue a notice of the determination on the appeal not later than 30 days after a hearing or after receipt of the re- quest of the appellant to waive a hearing, except that the Director may establish an earlier or later deadline. If the determination is not ap- pealed to the Director for review under section 6998 of this title, the notice provided by the hearing officer shall be considered to be a notice of an administratively final determination. (e) Effective date The final determination shall be effective as of the date of filing of an application, the date of the transaction or event in question, or the date of the original adverse decision, whichever is ap- plicable. (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 277, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3230.) § 6998. Director review of determinations of hear- ing officers (a) Requests for Director review (1) Time for request by appellant Not later than 30 days after the date on which an appellant receives the determination of a hearing officer under section 6997 of this title, the appellant shall submit a written re- quest to the Director for review of the deter- mination in order to be entitled to a review by the Director of the determination. (2) Time for request by agency head Not later than 15 business days after the date on which an agency receives the deter- mination of a hearing officer under section 6997 of this title, the head of the agency may make a written request that the Director re- view the determination. (b) Determination of Director The Director shall conduct a review of the de- termination of the hearing officer using the case record, the record from the evidentiary hearing under section 6997 of this title, the request for review, and such other arguments or informa- tion as may be accepted by the Director. Based on such review, the Director shall issue a final determination notice that upholds, reverses, or modifies the determination of the hearing offi- cer. However, if the Director determines that the hearing record is inadequate, the Director may remand all or a portion of the determina- tion for further proceedings to complete the hearing record or, at the option of the Director, to hold a new hearing. The Director shall com- plete the review and either issue a final deter- mination or remand the determination not later than— (1) 10 business days after receipt of the re- quest for review, in the case of a request by the head of an agency for review; or (2) 30 business days after receipt of the re- quest for review, in the case of a request by an appellant for review. (c) Basis for determination The determination of the hearing officer and the Director shall be based on information from the case record, laws applicable to the matter at issue, and applicable regulations published in the Federal Register and in effect on the date of the adverse decision or the date on which the acts that gave rise to the adverse decision oc- curred, whichever date is appropriate. (d) Equitable relief Subject to regulations issued by the Sec- retary, the Director shall have the authority to grant equitable relief under this section in the same manner and to the same extent as such au- thority is provided to the Secretary under sec- tion 7996 of this title and other laws. Notwith- standing the administrative finality of a final determination of an appeal by the Division, the Secretary shall have the authority to grant eq- uitable or other types of relief to the appellant after an administratively final determination is issued by the Division. (e) Effective date A final determination issued by the Director shall be effective as of the date of filing of an ap- plication, the date of the transaction or event in question, or the date of the original adverse de- cision, whichever is applicable. (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 278, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3232; Pub. L. 107–171, title I, § 1613(j)(2), May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 221.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2002—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 107–171 substituted ‘‘section 7996 of this title’’ for ‘‘section 1339a of this title’’. § 6999. Judicial review A final determination of the Division shall be reviewable and enforceable by any United States district court of competent jurisdiction in ac- cordance with chapter 7 of title 5. (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 279, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3233.) § 7000. Implementation of final determinations of Division (a) In general On the return of a case to an agency pursuant to the final determination of the Division, the head of the agency shall implement the final de- termination not later than 30 days after the ef- fective date of the notice of the final determina- tion.