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[DOCID: f:h3827ih.txt]






107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3827

   To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 
 relating to the National Appeals Division to ensure that agricultural 
 producers and other persons appealing adverse agency decisions of the 
Department of Agriculture receive fair and equitable treatment, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 28, 2002

    Mr. Moran of Kansas (for himself and Mr. Berry) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 
 relating to the National Appeals Division to ensure that agricultural 
 producers and other persons appealing adverse agency decisions of the 
Department of Agriculture receive fair and equitable treatment, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Appeals Division Reform Act 
of 2001''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL APPEALS DIVISION REFORM.

    (a) Annual Report Regarding Director Determinations and Requests 
for Equitable Relief.--Section 278 of the Department of Agriculture 
Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6998) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Annual Report.--The Director shall submit to Congress an 
annual report describing all final determination notices issued by the 
Director at the national level during the preceding year, including 
whether the determination was in favor of the appellant or the agency. 
The report shall indicate whether the request of an appellant for 
Director review included a request for equitable relief, as authorized 
by subsection (d), the type of equitable relief requested, and whether 
the Secretary granted or declined to grant such relief as part of the 
final determination notice.''.
    (b) De Minimus Exemption.--Section 275 of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6995) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) Availability.--'' before ``If an 
        officer''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Nonappealability of Certain Informal Hearing Decisions 
Against Agency.--If an adverse decision for which a request for an 
agency informal hearing is made involves a claim of less than $5,000 by 
the participant, and the final decision upon the agency review is in 
favor of the participant, the head of the agency may not request review 
of the decision by the Division.''.
    (c) Finality of Hearing Officer Determinations Against Agency.--
Section 278(a) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 
1994 (7 U.S.C. 6998(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and 
inserting the following new paragraph:
            ``(2) Prohibition on agency requests for director review.--
        If the appellant prevails in the determination issued by a 
        hearing officer under section 277(d), the head of the agency 
        may not request Director review of the determination under this 
        section.''.
    (d) Department Assistance for Appellants.--Section 274 of the 
Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6994) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) Notice; Contents.--'' before ``Not 
        later than''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Availability of Agency Assistance.--Notwithstanding that an 
appeal involves an adverse decision of an agency, employees of the 
agency or another agency may, at the request of the appellant, provide 
technical assistance to the appellant or the authorized representative 
of the appellant to prepare the request for review of the adverse 
decision, understand the facts and issues involved in the adverse 
decision, and prepare for any hearing on the adverse decision. The 
provision of such assistance at the request of the appellant shall not 
be considered as evidence of unacceptable performance by the 
employee.''.
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