31 U.S.C. § 3333 — Relief for payments made without neg-

Page 250 TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE § 3333 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Personnel Manage- ment shall take such measures as may be appropriate to ensure that all employees who receive their pay by electronic funds transfer shall be given the option of re- ceiving their pay stubs electronically. ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— ‘‘(1) the term ‘electronic funds transfer’ has the meaning given such term by section 3332 of title 31, United States Code; ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an individual em- ployed in or under an Executive agency; and ‘‘(3) the term ‘Executive agency’ has the meaning given such term by section 105 of title 5, United States Code.’’ § 3333. Relief for payments made without neg- ligence (a)(1) The Secretary of the Treasury is not lia- ble for a payment made by the Secretary or de- positary in due course and without negligence, of— (A) a check, draft, or warrant drawn on the Treasury or the depositary; (B) an electronic payment issued by the Treasury or the depositary; and (C) a debt obligation guaranteed or assumed by the United States Government. (2) The Comptroller General shall credit the accounts of the Treasury or the depositary for the payment. (3) The amount of the relief and the amount of any relief granted to an official or agent of the Department of the Treasury under 31 U.S.C. 3527, shall be charged to the Check Forgery Insurance Fund (31 U.S.C. 3343). A recovery or repayment of a loss for which replacement is made out of the fund shall be credited to the fund and is available for the purposes for which the fund was established. (b) This section does not relieve another indi- vidual from civil or criminal liability for a check, draft, warrant, or debt obligation of the Government. (Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 956; Pub. L. 108–447, div. H, title II, § 220(a), Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3242; Pub. L. 110–161, div. D, title I, § 119, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 1979.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3333(a) ..... 31:156(less proviso). Aug. 4, 1947, ch. 455, § 3, 61 Stat. 730. 3333(b) ..... 31:156(proviso). In subsection (a)(1), before clause (A), the words ‘‘Secretary of the Treasury’’ are substituted for ‘‘Treasurer’’ before ‘‘is not liable’’ because of the source provisions restated in section 321(c) of the re- vised title. The word ‘‘depositary’’ is substituted for ‘‘upon the Treasurer of the United States through any Federal Reserve Bank’’ for consistency in the revised title. The words ‘‘Whenever . . . heretofore has been or hereafter’’ and ‘‘or on behalf of’’ are omitted as surplus. In clause (A), the word ‘‘Treasury’’ is substituted for ‘‘Treasurer of the United States’’ after ‘‘drawn upon the’’ because of the source provisions restated in sec- tion 321 of the revised title and Department of the Treasury Order 229 of January 14, 1974 (39 F.R. 2280). In clause (B), the words ‘‘public . . . of the United States, including any obligation of any type whatever, the pay- ment of which is’’ are omitted as surplus. In subsection (a)(2), the words ‘‘of the United States’’ are omitted as unnecessary. The words ‘‘of the Treas- ury or the depositary’’ are substituted for ‘‘Treas- urer’s’’ because of the restatement. In subsection (b), the words ‘‘another individual’’ are substituted for ‘‘any person, other than the Treasurer of the United States’’ to eliminate unnecessary words. The words ‘‘now existing or which may hereafter exist’’ are omitted as unnecessary. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2007—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 110–161 added par. (3) and struck out former par. (3) which read as follows: ‘‘The amount of the relief shall be charged to the Check For- gery Insurance Fund (31 U.S.C. 3343). A recovery or re- payment of a loss for which replacement is made out of the fund shall be credited to the fund and is available for the purposes for which the fund was established.’’ 2004—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–447, § 220(a)(1), amend- ed par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follow: ‘‘The Secretary of the Treasury is not liable for a payment made by the Secretary or depositary in due course and without negligence, of a— ‘‘(A) check, draft, or warrant drawn on the Treas- ury or the depositary; and ‘‘(B) debt obligation guaranteed or assumed by the United States Government.’’ Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 108–447, § 220(a)(2), added par. (3). § 3334. Cancellation and proceeds distribution of Treasury checks (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary shall pro- vide monthly to each agency that authorizes the issuance of Treasury checks a list of those checks issued for such agency on or after such effective date that have not been paid and have become more than 12 months old during the pre- ceding month, beginning with the fourteenth month following the effective date of this sec- tion. (2) Such checks shall be canceled by the Sec- retary and the proceeds thereof shall be re- turned to the agency concerned and credited to the appropriation or fund account initially charged for the payment. (b) CHECKS ISSUED BEFORE EFFECTIVE DATE.— (1) Not later than 18 months after the effective date of this section, the Secretary shall identify and cancel all Treasury checks issued before such effective date that have not been paid in accordance with section 3328 of this title. (2) The proceeds from checks canceled pursu- ant to paragraph (1) shall be applied to elimi- nate the balances in accounts that represent uncollectible accounts receivable and other costs associated with the payment of checks and check claims by the Department of the Treasury on behalf of all payment certifying agencies. Any remaining proceeds shall be deposited to the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury. (c) NO EFFECT ON UNDERLYING OBLIGATION.— Nothing in this section shall be construed to af- fect the underlying obligation of the United States, or any agency thereof, for which a Treas- ury check was issued. (Added Pub. L. 100–86, title X, § 1003, Aug. 10, 1987, 101 Stat. 658.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Such effective date, and the effective date of this sec- tion, referred to in subsecs. (a)(1) and (b)(1), is 6 months