[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 5, Volume 1] [Revised as of January 1, 2006] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 5CFR179.201] [Page 28] TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PART 179_CLAIMS COLLECTION STANDARDS--Table of Contents Subpart B_Salary Offset Sec. 179.201 Purpose. Source: 59 FR 35216, July 11, 1994, unless otherwise noted. The purpose of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365), is to provide a comprehensive statutory approach to the collection of debts due the Federal Government. These regulations implement section 5 of the Act which authorizes the collection of debts owed by Federal employees to the Federal Government by means of salary offset, except that no claim may be collected by such means if outstanding for more than 10 years after the agency's right to collect the debt first accrued, unless facts material to the Government's right to collect were not known, and could not reasonably have been known, by the official or officials who were charged with the responsibility for discovery and collection of such debts. These regulations are consistent with the regulations on salary offset published by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on July 3, 1984 (49 FR 27470) in 5 CFR part 550, subpart K.