(a) Agency means:

(1) An executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, including the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Postal Rate Commission, and

(2) A military department as defined in 5 U.S.C. 102.

(3) An agency or court of the judicial branch, including a court as defined in 28 U.S.C. 610, the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation;

(4) An agency of the legislative branch, including the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives; and

(5) Other independent establishments that are entities of the Federal Government.

(b) Debt means an amount owed to the United States from sources which include loans insured or guaranteed by the United States and all other amounts due the United States from fees, leases, rents, royalties, services, sales of real or personal property, overpayments, penalties, damages, interest, fines and forfeitures (except those arising under the Uniform Code of Military Justice), and all other similar sources.

(c) Disposable pay means that part of current basic pay, special pay, incentive pay, retired pay, retainer pay, or in the case of an employee not entitled to basic pay, other authorized pay remaining after the deduction of any amount required by law to be withheld. Excluded from this definition are deductions described in 5 CFR 581.105(b) through (f).

(d) Employee means a current employee of VA or other Federal agency including a current member of the Armed Forces or a Reserve of the Armed Forces (Reserves).

(e) Salary offset means an attempt to collect a debt under 5 U.S.C. 5514 by deduction(s) at one or more officially estabilished pay intervals from the current pay account of an employee without his or her consent.

(f) Waiver means the cancellation, remission, forgiveness, or non-recovery of a debt owed by an employee to VA or another Federal agency as permitted or required by 5 U.S.C. 5584 or 38 U.S.C. 5302, or other similar statutes.

(g) Extreme hardship to an employee means an employee's inability to provide himself or herself and his or her dependents with the necessities of life such as food, housing, clothing, transportation, and medical care.

(Authority: 5 U.S.C. 5514)

[52 FR 1905, Jan. 16, 1987; 52 FR 23824, June 25, 1987]