[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 34, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 34CFR31.9]

[Page 65]
 
                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION
 
PART 31--SALARY OFFSET FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO ARE INDEBTED TO THE UNITED 
STATES UNDER PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION--Table of 
Contents
 
Sec. 31.9  Decision of the hearing official.

    (a) The hearing official issues a written opinion within sixty days 
of the date on which the employee filed a request for a hearing under 
Sec. 31.5, unless a delay in the proceedings has been granted at the 
request of the employee. In the opinion, the hearing official states his 
or her decision and the findings of fact and conclusions of law on which 
the decision is based.
    (b) If the hearing official finds that a portion of the debt 
described in the pre-offset notice under Sec. 31.3 is not enforceable by 
offset, the official shall state in the opinion that portion which is 
enforceable by offset.
    (c) If the hearing official finds that the amount of the offset 
proposed in the pre-offset notice will cause an extreme financial 
hardship for the employee, the hearing official shall establish an 
offset schedule that will result in the repayment of the debt in the 
shortest period of time without producing an extreme financial hardship 
for the employee.

(Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5514; 31 U.S.C. 3716)