7 U.S.C. § 7000 — Implementation of final determinations of

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. Page 1953 TITLE 7—AGRICULTURE § 7001 (b) Reports (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and every 180 days thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Com- mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For- estry of the Senate, and publish on the website of the Department, a report that includes— (A) a description of all cases returned to the agency during the period covered by the report pursuant to a final determination of the Division; (B) the status of implementation of each final determination; and (C) if the final determination has not been implemented— (i) the reason that the final determina- tion has not been implemented; and (ii) the projected date of implementation of the final determination. (2) Updates Each month, the head of each agency shall publish on the website of the Department any updates to the reports submitted under para- graph (1). (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 280, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3233; Pub. L. 110–234, title XIV, § 14009, May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1446; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XIV, § 14009, June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2208.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of the enactment of this subsection, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–246, which was approved June 18, 2008. 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 2008—Pub. L. 110–246, § 14009, designated existing pro- visions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added sub- sec. (b). 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. § 7001. Conforming amendments relating to Na- tional Appeals Division (a) Decisions of State, county, and area commit- tees (1) Application of subsection (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), this subsection shall apply only with respect to functions of the Farm Service Agency or the Commodity Credit Corporation that are under the jurisdiction of a State, county, or area committee established under section 590h(b)(5) of title 16 or an employee of such a committee. (B) Nonapplicability This subsection does not apply to— (i) a function performed under section 2008k of this title; or (ii) a function performed under a con- servation program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. (2) Finality Each decision of a State, county, or area committee (or an employee of such a com- mittee) covered by paragraph (1) that is made in good faith in the absence of misrepresenta- tion, false statement, fraud, or willful mis- conduct shall be final not later than 90 days after the date of filing of the application for benefits, unless the decision, before the end of the 90-day period, is— (A) appealed under this subchapter; or (B) modified by the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency or the Executive Vice President of the Commodity Credit Corpora- tion. (3) Recovery of amounts If the decision of the State, county, or area committee has become final under paragraph (2), no action may be taken by the Farm Serv- ice Agency, the Commodity Credit Corpora- tion, or a State, county, or area committee to recover amounts found to have been disbursed as a result of a decision in error unless the participant had reason to believe that the de- cision was erroneous. (4) Savings provision For purposes of this subsection, a reference to the ‘‘Farm Service Agency’’ includes any other office, agency, or administrative unit of the Department assigned the functions author- ized for the Farm Service Agency under sec- tion 6932 of this title. (b), (c) Omitted (Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 281, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3233; Pub. L. 107–171, title I, § 1613(i), May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 221.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section is comprised of section 281 of Pub. L. 103–354. Subsecs. (b) and (c) of section 281 of Pub. L. 103–354 re- pealed sections 1433e and 1983b of this title, respec- tively. AMENDMENTS 2002—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 107–171, § 1613(i)(1), (2), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), inserted heading, substituted ‘‘Except as provided in subpara- graph (B), this subsection’’ for ‘‘This subsection’’ and ‘‘Farm Service Agency’’ for ‘‘Consolidated Farm Serv- ice Agency’’, and added subpar. (B). Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 107–171, § 1613(i)(3), inserted ‘‘, before the end of the 90-day period,’’ after ‘‘unless the decision’’ in introductory provisions. Subsec. (a)(2)(B), (3), (4). Pub. L. 107–171, § 1613(i)(1), substituted ‘‘Farm Service Agency’’ for ‘‘Consolidated Farm Service Agency’’ wherever appearing.