Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 2.djvu/508

 110 STAT. 1321-361 PUBLIC LAW 104-134—APR. 26, 1996 Rules, regulations, and procedures. Notification. Notification. executed pursuant to this section against benefits authorized by either title II or title XVI of the Social Security Act, respectively. "(4) The Secretary of the Treasury may charge a fee sufficient to cover the full cost of implementing this subsection. The fee may be collected either by the retention of a portion of amounts collected pursuant to this subsection, or by billing the agency referring or transferring a claim for those amounts. Fees charged to the agencies shall be based on actual administrative offsets completed. Amounts received by the United States as fees under this subsection shall be deposited into the account of the Department of the Treasury under section 3711(g)(7) of this title, and shall be collected and accounted for in accordance with the provisions of that section. "(5) The Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, may prescribe such rules, regulations, and procedures as the Secretary of the Treasury considers necessary to carry out this subsection. The Secretary shall consult with the heads of affected agencies in the development of such rules, regulations, and procedures. "(6) Any Federal agency that is owed by a person a past due, legally enforceable nontax debt that is over 180 days delinquent, including nontax debt administered by a third party acting as an agent for the Federal Government, shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury of all such nontax debts for purposes of administrative offset under this subsection. "(7)(A) The disbursing official conducting an administrative offset with respect to a payment to a payee shall notify the payee in writing of— "(i) the occurrence of the administrative offset to satisfy a past due legally enforceable debt, including a description of the type and amount of the payment otherwise payable to the payee against which the offset was executed; "(ii) the identity of the creditor agency requesting the offset; and "(iii) a contact point within the creditor agency that will handle concerns regarding the offset. "(B) If the payment to be offset is a periodic benefit payment, the disbursing official shall take reasonable steps, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, to provide the notice to the payee not later than the date on which the payee is otherwise scheduled to receive the payment, or as soon as practical thereafter, but no later than the date of the administrative offset. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the failure of the debtor to receive such notice shall not impair the legality of such administrative offset. "(8) A levy pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall take precedence over requests for administrative offset pursuant to other laws. "(d) Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit the use of any other administrative offset authority existing under statute or common law.". (3) NONTAX DEBT OR CLAIM DEFINED. —Section 3701 of title 31, United States Code, is amended in subsection (a) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

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