[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 7, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 7CFR3.51]

[Page 270]
 
                          TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
 
PART 3_DEBT MANAGEMENT--Table of Contents
 
                         Subpart C_Salary Offset
 
Sec. 3.51  Scope.

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5514; 5 CFR part 550, subpart K.

    Source: 51 FR 8995, Mar. 17, 1986, unless otherwise noted.


    (a) The provisions of this subpart set forth the Department's 
procedures for the collection of a Federal employee's pay by salary 
offset to satisfy certain valid and past due debts owed the government.
    (b) These regulations apply to:
    (1) Current employees of the Department and other agencies who owe 
debts to the Department; and
    (2) Current employees of the Department who owe debts to other 
agencies.
    (c) These regulations do not apply to debts or claims arising under 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.); the tariff laws of the United 
States; or to any case where collection of a debt by salary offset is 
explicitly provided for or prohibited by another statute.
    (d) These regulations identify the types of salary offset available 
to the Department, as well as certain rights provided to the employee, 
which include a written notice before deductions begin, the opportunity 
to petition for a hearing and to receive a written decision if a hearing 
is granted. These employee rights do not apply to any adjustment to pay 
arising out of an employee's election of coverage or a change in 
coverage under a Federal benefits program requiring periodic deductions 
from pay, if the amount to be recovered was accumulated over four pay 
periods or less.
    (e) These regulations do not preclude an employee from:
    (1) Requesting waiver of a salary overpayment under 5 U.S.C. 5584, 
10 U.S.C. 2774, or 32 U.S.C. 716;
    (2) Requesting waiver of any other type of debt, if waiver is 
available by statute; or
    (3) Questioning the amount or validity of a debt by submitting a 
subsequent claim to the General Accounting Office.
    (f) Nothing in these regulations precludes the compromise, 
suspension or termination of collection actions where appropriate under 
the Department's regulations contained elsewhere.