7 U.S.C. § 6998 — Director review of determinations of hear-

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.