[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 31, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 31CFR210.2]

[Page 50-52]
 
                  TITLE 31--MONEY AND FINANCE: TREASURY
 
         CHAPTER II--FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
 
PART 210--FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION IN THE AUTOMATED CLEARING HOUSE--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 210.2  Definitions.

    For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply. Any term 
that is not defined in this part shall have the meaning set forth in the 
ACH Rules.
    (a) ACH Rules means the Operating Rules and the Operating Guidelines 
published by NACHA--The Electronic Payments Association (NACHA), a 
national association of regional member clearing house associations, ACH 
Operators and participating financial institutions located in the United 
States.
    (b) Actual or constructive knowledge, when used in reference to an 
RDFI's knowledge of the death or legal incapacity of a recipient or 
death of a beneficiary, means that the RDFI received information, by 
whatever means, of the death or incapacity and has had a reasonable 
opportunity to act on such information or that the RDFI would have 
learned of the death or incapacity if it had followed commercially 
reasonable business practices.
    (c) Agency means any department, agency, or instrumentality of the 
United States Government, or a corporation owned or controlled by the 
Government of the United States. The term agency does not include a 
Federal Reserve Bank.
    (d) Applicable ACH Rules means the ACH Rules with an effective date 
on or before March 15, 2002, as published in Parts II, III, and IV of 
the ``2002 ACH Rules: A Complete Guide to Rules & Regulations Governing 
the ACH Network,'' except:
    (1) ACH Rule 1.1 (limiting the applicability of the ACH Rules to 
members of an ACH association);
    (2) ACH Rule 1.2.2 (governing claims for compensation);
    (3) ACH Rule 1.2.4; 2.2.1.10; Appendix Eight and Appendix Eleven 
(governing

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the enforcement of the ACH Rules, including self-audit requirements);
    (4) ACH Rules 2.2.1.8; 2.6; and 4.7 (governing the reclamation of 
benefit payments);
    (5) ACH Rule 8.3 and Appendix Two (requiring that a credit entry be 
originated no more than two banking days before the settlement date of 
the entry--see definition of ``Effective Entry Date'' in Appendix Two); 
and
    (6) ACH Rule 2.10.2.2 (requiring that originating depository 
financial institutions (ODFIs) establish exposure limits for Originators 
of Internet-initiated debit entries).
    (e) Authorized payment agent means any individual or entity that is 
appointed or otherwise selected as a representative payee or fiduciary, 
under regulations of the Social Security Administration, the Department 
of Veterans Affairs, the Railroad Retirement Board, or other agency 
making Federal payments, to act on behalf of an individual entitled to a 
Federal payment.
    (f) Automated Clearing House or ACH means a funds transfer system 
governed by the ACH Rules which provides for the interbank clearing of 
electronic entries for participating financial institutions.
    (g) Beneficiary means a natural person other than a recipient who is 
entitled to receive the benefit of all or part of a benefit payment.
    (h) Benefit payment is a payment for a Federal entitlement program 
or for an annuity, including, but not limited to, payments for Social 
Security, Supplemental Security Income, Black Lung, Civil Service 
Retirement, Railroad Retirement annuity and Railroad Unemployment and 
Sickness benefits, Department of Veterans Affairs Compensation and 
Pension, and Worker's Compensation.
    (i) Federal payment means any payment made by an agency. The term 
includes, but is not limited to:
    (1) Federal wage, salary, and retirement payments;
    (2) Vendor and expense reimbursement payments;
    (3) Benefit payments; and
    (4) Miscellaneous payments including, but not limited to, 
interagency payments; grants; loans; fees; principal, interest, and 
other payments related to United States marketable and nonmarketable 
securities; overpayment reimbursements; and payments under Federal 
insurance or guarantee programs for loans.
    (j)(1) Financial institution means:
    (i) Any insured bank as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) or any bank which is eligible to apply to 
become an insured bank under section 5 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1815);
    (ii) Any mutual savings bank as defined in section 3 of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) or any bank which is eligible to 
apply to become an insured bank under section 5 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 
1815);
    (iii) Any savings bank as defined in section 3 of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) or any bank which is eligible to 
apply to become an insured bank under section 5 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 
1815);
    (iv) Any insured credit union as defined in section 101 of the 
Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752) or any credit union which is 
eligible to apply to become an insured credit union pursuant to section 
201 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1781);
    (v) Any savings association as defined in section 3 of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813) which is an insured depository 
institution as defined in such Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) or is 
eligible to apply to become an insured depository institution under the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.); and
    (vi) Any agency or branch of a foreign bank as defined in section 
1(b) of the International Banking Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 3101).
    (2) In this part, a financial institution may be referred to as an 
Originating Depository Financial Institution (ODFI) if it transmits 
entries to its ACH Operator for transmittal to a Receiving Depository 
Financial Institution (RDFI), or it may be referred to as an RDFI if it 
receives entries from its ACH Operator for debit or credit to the 
accounts of its customers.
    (k) Government entry means an ACH credit or debit entry or entry 
data originated or received by an agency.

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    (l) Green Book means the manual issued by the Service which provides 
financial institutions with procedures and guidelines for processing 
Government entries.
    (m) Notice of reclamation means notice sent by electronic, paper, or 
other means by the Federal Government to an RDFI which identifies the 
benefit payments that should have been returned by the RDFI because of 
the death or legal incapacity of a recipient or death of a beneficiary.
    (n) Outstanding total means the sum of all benefit payments received 
by an RDFI from an agency after the death or legal incapacity of a 
recipient or the death of a beneficiary, minus any amount returned to, 
or recovered by, the Federal Government.
    (o) Recipient means a natural person, corporation, or other public 
or private entity that is authorized to receive a Federal payment from 
an agency.
    (p) Service means the Financial Management Service, Department of 
the Treasury.
    (q) Treasury means the United States Department of the Treasury.
    (r) Treasury Financial Manual means the manual issued by the Service 
containing procedures to be observed by all agencies and Federal Reserve 
Banks with respect to central accounting, financial reporting, and other 
Federal Government-wide fiscal responsibilities of the Treasury.

[64 FR 17478, Apr. 9, 1999, as amended at 65 FR 18869, Apr. 7, 2000; 66 
FR 10580, Feb. 16, 2001; 67 FR 17902, Apr. 11, 2002]