(b) No charge will be made for copies of records, including their certification as true copies, furnished for official use to any officer or employee of any branch of the Government of the United States. (c) No charge will be made in the distribution to members of the public and the press of copies of the decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States. (d) When necessary or desirable to the performance of a primary function of the General Accounting Office, copies of pertinent records may be furnished without charge to a party having a direct and immediate interest in a matter pending before the Office. (e) General Accounting Office publications are not within the purview of this section, the charges, if any, for such publications are set forth in the Office leaflet entitled "List of GAO Publications", which may be obtained from the Publications Section, General Accounting Office, Washington, D.C. 20548. § 82.1 Court subpoenas or requests. (a) A subpoena or request from a court for records of the General Accounting Office should be directed to the Comptroller General of the United States and served upon the Records Management and Services Officer, Office of Administrative Services. (b) In honoring a court subpoena or request original records may be presented for examination but must not be presented as evidence or otherwise used in any manner by reason of which they may lose their identity as official records of the General Accounting Office. They must not be marked or altered, or their value as evidence impaired, destroyed, or otherwise affected. In lieu of the original records, certified copies will be presented for evidentiary purposes since they are admitted in evidence equally with the originals (31 U.S.C. 46). § 82.2 Fees and charges. The provisions of § 81.7 of this chapter are applicable to this part; however, where the charging of fees is appropriate, they need not be collected in advance. Part 101 102 103 104 105 CHAPTER II-FEDERAL CLAIMS COLLECTION STANDARDS (GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE) Scope of standards. Standards for the administrative collection of claims. Standards for the compromise of claims. Standards for suspending or terminating collection action. § 101.1 Prescription of standards. The regulations in this chapter, issued jointly by the Comptroller General of the United States and the Attorney General of the United States under section 3 of the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, 80 Stat. 309, prescribe standards for the administrative collection, compromise, termination of agency collection action, and the referral to the General Accounting Office, and to the Department of Justice for litigation, of civil claims by the Federal Government for money or property. Regulations prescribed by the head of an agency pursuant to section 3 of the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 will be reviewed by the General Accounting Office as a part of its audit of the agency's activities. § 101.2 Omissions not a defense. The standards set forth in this chapter shall apply to the administrative handling of civil claims of the Federal Government for money or property but the failure of an agency to comply with any provision of this chapter shall not be available as a defense to any debtor. § 101.3 Fraud, antitrust, and tax claims excluded. The standards set forth in this chapter do not apply to the handling of any claim as to which there is an indication of fraud, the presentation of a false claim, or misrepresentation on the part of the debtor or any other party having an interest in the claim, or to any claim based in whole or in part on conduct in violation of the antitrust laws. Only the Department of Justice has authority to compromise or terminate collection action on such claims. However, matters submitted to the Department of Justice for consideration without compliance with the regulations in this chapter because there is an indication of fraud, the presentation of a false claim, or misrepresentation on the part of the debtor or any other party having an interest in the claim, may be returned to the agency forwarding them for further handling in accordance with the regulations in this chapter if it is determined that action based upon the alleged fraud, false claim, or misrepresentation is not warranted. Tax claims, as to which differing exemptions, administrative consideration, enforcement considerations, and statutes apply, are also excluded from the coverage of this chapter. § 101.4 Compromise, waiver, or disposition under other statutes not precluded. Nothing contained in this chapter is intended to preclude agency disposition of any claim under statutes other than the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, 80 Stat. 308, providing for the compromise, termination of collection action, or waiver in whole or in part of such a claim. See, e.g., "The Federal Medical Care Recovery Act," 76 Stat. 593, 42 U.S.C. 2651, et seq., and applicable regulations, 28 CFR 43.1, et seq. The standards set forth in this chapter should be followed in the disposition of civil claims by the Federal Government by compromise or termination of collection action (other than by waiver pursuant to statutory authority) under statutes other than the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, 80 Stat. 308, to the extent such other statutes or authorized regulations issued pursuant thereto do not establish standards governing such matters. A debtor's liability arising from a particular transaction or contract shall be considered as a single claim in determining whether the claim is one of less than $20,000, exclusive of interest, for the purpose of compromise or termination of collection action. Such a claim may not be subdivided to avoid the monetary ceiling established by the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966, 80 Stat. 308. § 101.7 Required administrative proceedings. Nothing contained in this chapter is intended to require an agency to omit or foreclose administrative proceedings required by contract or by law. § 101.8 Referral for litigation. As used in this chapter referral for litigation means referral to the Department of Justice for appropriate legal proceedings, unless the agency concerned has statutory authority for handling its own litigation. |