(a) The General Counsel of the Department of Defense (GC, DoD) or designee shall consult on, or render opinions concerning, questions of law or equity that arise in the course of the performance of the Director, Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals' (DOHA) responsibilities under paragraph (b) of this section when requested by the Director.

(b) The Director, Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals or designee, under the GC, DoD (as the Director, Defense Legal Services Agency), shall:

(1) Deny or grant all or part of a waiver application, if the aggregate amount of the debt is more than $1,500.

(2) Consider an appeal of an initial determination and affirm, modify, reverse, or remand the initial determination, according to this part and relevant GC, DoD opinions.

(3) Process waiver applications and appeals according to this part.

(c) The Heads of the DoD Components or designee shall process waiver applications according to this part.

(d) The Heads of the Non-DoD Components or designee concerning debts of Uniformed Services personnel resulting from the Component's activity; the Director, Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) or designee, concerning debts of civilian employees resulting from that Component's activity; the Director, National Security Agency (NSA) or designee, concerning debts resulting from that Component's activity; and the Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) or designee, under the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer (USD(C)/CFO), concerning debts resulting from all other DoD Components' activities shall:

(1) Deny or grant all or part of a waiver application, if the aggregate amount of the debt is $1,500 or less.

(2) If the aggregate amount of the debt is more than $1,500:

(i) Deny a waiver application in its entirety, or

(ii) Refer a waiver application for consideration with a recommendation that part or all of the application be granted, according to this part.

(3) Process waiver applications, when the aggregate amount of the debt is more than $1,500, and appeals according to this part.

(4) Resolve a debt according to the final action that results from the waiver application process provided for in this part.