10 U.S.C. § 2774 — Claims for overpayment of pay and allow-

Page 2202 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 2773b law for payments made on the basis of such vouchers. (c) PECUNIARY LIABILITY.—(1) The Secretary of Defense may subject a departmental account- able official to pecuniary liability for an illegal, improper, or incorrect payment made by the De- partment of Defense if the Secretary determines that such payment— (A) resulted from information, data, or serv- ices that that official provided to a certifying official and upon which that certifying official directly relies in certifying the voucher sup- porting that payment; and (B) was the result of fault or negligence on the part of that departmental accountable of- ficial. (2) Pecuniary liability under this subsection shall apply in the same manner and to the same extent as applies to an official accountable under subtitle III of title 31. (3) Any pecuniary liability of a departmental accountable official under this subsection for a loss to the United States resulting from an ille- gal, improper, or incorrect payment is joint and several with that of any other officer or em- ployee of the United States or member of the uniformed services who is pecuniarily liable for such loss. (d) CERTIFYING OFFICIAL DEFINED.—In this sec- tion, the term ‘‘certifying official’’ means an employee who has the responsibilities specified in section 3528(a) of title 31. (Added Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title X, § 1005(a), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2631; amended Pub. L. 109–163, div. A, title X, § 1056(c)(8), Jan. 6, 2006, 119 Stat. 3440.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–163 inserted ‘‘by’’ after ‘‘incorrect payment made’’. § 2773b. Parking of funds: prohibition; penalties (a) PROHIBITION.—An officer or employee of the Department of Defense may not direct the des- ignation of funds for a particular purpose in the budget of the President, as submitted to Con- gress pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, or the supporting documents of the Department of De- fense component of such budget, with the knowledge or intent that such funds, if made available to the Department, will not be used for the purpose for which they are designated. (b) PENALTIES.—The direction of the designa- tion of funds in violation of the prohibition in subsection (a) shall be treated for purposes of chapter 13 of title 31 as a violation of section 1341(a)(1)(A) of such title. (Added Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title X, § 1053(a)(1), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2396.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title X, § 1053(b), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2396, provided that: ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by sub- section (a) [enacting this section] shall take effect on the date that is 31 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 2006]. ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN POLICIES AND REGULA- TIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the en- actment of this Act [Oct. 17, 2006], the Secretary of De- fense shall modify the policies and regulations of the Department of Defense regarding the preparation and submittal to Congress of budget materials for the De- partment of Defense to take into account section 2773b of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).’’ § 2774. Claims for overpayment of pay and allow- ances and of travel and transportation allow- ances (a) A claim of the United States against a per- son arising out of an erroneous payment of any pay or allowances made before, on, or after Oc- tober 2, 1972, or arising out of an erroneous pay- ment of travel and transportation allowances, to or on behalf of a member or former member of the uniformed services, the collection of which would be against equity and good conscience and not in the best interest of the United States, may be waived in whole or in part by— (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; or (2) the Secretary concerned, as defined in section 101(5) of title 37, when— (A) the claim is in an amount aggregating not more than $10,000; and (B) the waiver is made in accordance with standards which the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe. (b) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget or the Secretary concerned, as the case may be, may not exercise his authority under this section to waive any claim— (1) if, in his opinion, there exists, in connec- tion with the claim, an indication of fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith on the part of the member or any other person having an interest in obtaining a waiver of the claim; or (2) if application for waiver is received in his office after the expiration of five years imme- diately following the date on which the erro- neous payment was discovered. (c) A person who has repaid to the United States all or part of the amount of a claim, with respect to which a waiver is granted under this section, is entitled, to the extent of the waiver, to refund, by the department concerned at the time of the erroneous payment, of the amount repaid to the United States, if he applies to that department for that refund within two years fol- lowing the effective date of the waiver. The Sec- retary concerned shall pay from current applica- ble appropriations that refund in accordance with this section. (d) In the audit and settlement of accounts of any accountable officer or official, full credit shall be given for any amounts with respect to which collection by the United States is waived under this section. (e) An erroneous payment, the collection of which is waived under this section, is considered a valid payment for all purposes. (f) This section does not affect any authority under any other law to litigate, settle, com- promise, or waive any claim of the United States. (Added Pub. L. 92–453, § 1(1), Oct. 2, 1972, 86 Stat. 758; amended Pub. L. 96–513, title V, § 511(98), Page 2203 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 2775 Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2928; Pub. L. 99–224, § 2(a), Dec. 28, 1985, 99 Stat. 1741; Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(j)(7)(A), (B), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 283; Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title VI, § 657(b), Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1393; Pub. L. 104–316, title I, § 105(b), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3830; Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title VI, § 671(a), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2270.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 109–364, § 671(a)(1), sub- stituted ‘‘$10,000’’ for ‘‘$1,500’’. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 109–364, § 671(a)(2), substituted ‘‘five years’’ for ‘‘three years’’. 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–316, § 105(b)(1), sub- stituted ‘‘Director of the Office of Management and Budget’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’ in par. (1), and in par. (2) inserted ‘‘and’’ at end of subpar. (A), redesig- nated subpar. (C) as (B) and substituted ‘‘Director of the Office of Management and Budget’’ for ‘‘Comp- troller General’’, and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows ‘‘the claim is not the subject of an exception made by the Comptroller General in the account of any accountable officer or official; and’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–316, § 105(b)(2), substituted ‘‘Director of the Office of Management and Budget’’ for ‘‘Comptroller General’’. 1991—Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 102–190 substituted ‘‘$1,500’’ for ‘‘$500’’. 1987—Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(j)(7)(A), substituted ‘‘allow- ances and of’’ for ‘‘allowances, and’’ in section catch- line. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(j)(7)(B), struck out ‘‘as defined in section 101(3) of title 37,’’ after ‘‘uniformed services,’’. 1985—Pub. L. 99–224, § 2(a)(1), substituted ‘‘and’’ for ‘‘other than’’ in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–224, § 2(a)(2), substituted ‘‘made before, on, or after October 2, 1972, or arising out of an erroneous payment of travel and transportation allow- ances’’ for ‘‘, other than travel and transportation al- lowances, made before or after October 2, 1972’’. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 99–224, § 2(a)(3), struck out ‘‘of pay or allowances, other than travel and transpor- tation allowances,’’ after ‘‘payment’’. 1980—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 96–513 substituted ‘‘October 2, 1972’’ for ‘‘the effective date of this section’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2006 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title VI, § 671(c), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2270, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this section [amending this section and section 716 of Title 32, National Guard] shall take effect on March 1, 2007.’’ EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–316 effective 60 days after Oct. 19, 1996, see section 101(e) of Pub. L. 104–316, set out as a note under section 4593 of Title 2, The Congress. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1985 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 99–224 applicable to any claim arising out of an erroneous payment of travel and transportation allowances made on or after Dec. 28, 1985, see section 4 of Pub. L. 99–224, set out as a note under section 5584 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1980 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title. CANCELLATION OF DEBTS UP TO $2,500 OF UNIFORMED SERVICE MEMBERS INCURRED IN CONNECTION WITH OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/STORM Pub. L. 104–61, title VIII, § 8052, Dec. 1, 1995, 109 Stat. 662, provided that: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provi- sion of law, the Secretary of Defense may, when he con- siders it in the best interest of the United States, can- cel any part of an indebtedness, up to $2,500, that is or was owed to the United States by a member or former member of a uniformed service if such indebtedness, as determined by the Secretary, was incurred in connec- tion with Operation Desert Shield/Storm: Provided, That the amount of an indebtedness previously paid by a member or former member and cancelled under this section shall be refunded to the member.’’ Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts: Pub. L. 103–335, title VIII, § 8060, Sept. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 2633. Pub. L. 103–139, title VIII, § 8071, Nov. 11, 1993, 107 Stat. 1457. Pub. L. 102–396, title IX, § 9100, Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1926. Pub. L. 102–172, title VIII, § 8138, Nov. 26, 1991, 105 Stat. 1212. § 2775. Liability of members assigned to military housing (a)(1) A member of the armed forces shall be liable to the United States for damage to any family housing unit or unaccompanied personnel housing unit, or damage to or loss of any equip- ment or furnishings of any family housing unit or unaccompanied personnel housing unit, as- signed to or provided such member if (as deter- mined under regulations prescribed by the Sec- retary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy) the damage or loss was caused by the abuse or neg- ligence of the member (or a dependent of the member) or of a guest of the member (or a de- pendent of the member). (2) A member of the armed forces— (A) who is assigned or provided a family housing unit; and (B) who fails to clean satisfactorily that housing unit (as determined under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy) upon termination of the assignment or provision of that housing unit, shall be liable to the United States for the cost of cleaning made necessary as a result of that failure. (b) The Secretary of Defense, and the Sec- retary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a serv- ice in the Navy, may establish limitations on li- ability under this section, including (in the case of liability under subsection (a)(1)) different lim- itations based upon the degree of abuse or neg- ligence involved, and may compromise or waive a claim of the United States under this section. (c)(1) The Secretary concerned may deduct from a member’s pay an amount sufficient to pay for the cost of any repair or replacement