§ 29.501 Purpose; incorporation by reference; scope.

(a) This subpart regulates—

(1) The recovery of overpayments of Federal Benefit Payments;

(2) The standards for waiver of recovery of overpayments of Federal Benefit Payments; and

(3) The use of Federal Benefit Payments to recover certain other debts due the United States.

(b) The regulations of this subpart incorporate by this reference all provisions of the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) (parts 900–904 of Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations), and supplement those regulations by the prescription of procedures and directives necessary and appropriate for the operation and administration of the Retirement Funds. To the extent they are not inconsistent with the regulations contained in this subpart, the regulations in part 5 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, also apply to the collection of debts under this subpart.

(c)

(1) Debts based on fraud, misrepresentation, or the presentation of a false claim. This subpart does not apply to any overpayments of Federal Benefit Payments which arose, in whole or in part, due to fraud, misrepresentation, or the presentation of a false claim by the debtor or any party having an interest in the claim. Such debts should be referred by the Benefits Administrator immediately to the U.S. Justice Department for action pursuant to 31 CFR 900.3.

(2) Tax debts. This subpart does not apply to tax debts.

(d)

(1) Sections 29.501 through 29.506 state the rules of general applicability to this subpart.

(2) Sections 29.511 through 29.520 prescribe procedures to be followed by the Benefits Administrator which are consistent with the FCCS in the collection of debts owed to the Retirement Funds.

(3) Sections 29.521 through 29.526 prescribe the standards that the Department will apply in decisions to waive recoupment or recovery of overpayments from the Retirement Funds under sections 11021(3) and 11251(c)(2)(B) of the Act.

(e) This part does not apply to debt collection claims asserted and requests for waivers of collection initiated before October 1, 1997. Such debt collection claims must be pursued by the District of Columbia and such requests for waivers of collection must be pursued with the District of Columbia.

[66 FR 36705, July 13, 2001, as amended at 70 FR 60005, Oct. 14, 2005]