[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2592 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 2592


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            August 31, 1998

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To amend title 28 of the United States Code to provide trustees the 
 right to seek administrative and judicial review of the refusal of a 
  United States trustee to assign, and of certain actions of a United 
 States trustee relating to expenses claimed relating to, cases under 
                  title 11 of the United States Code.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Private Trustee Reform Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION OF PANEL TRUSTEES AND STANDING 
              TRUSTEES.

    Section 586(d) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(d)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) A trustee whose appointment to the panel or as a standing 
trustee is terminated or who ceases to be assigned to cases filed under 
title 11, United States Code, may obtain judicial review of the final 
agency decision by commencing an action in the United States district 
court for the district in which the panel member or standing trustee 
resides, after first exhausting all available administrative remedies, 
which if the trustee so elects, shall also include an administrative 
hearing on the record. Unless the trustee elects to have an 
administrative hearing on the record, the trustee shall be deemed to 
have exhausted all administrative remedies for purposes of this section 
if the agency fails to make a final agency decision within 90 days 
after the trustee requests administrative remedies. The Attorney 
General shall prescribe procedures to implement this paragraph.''.

SEC. 3. EXPENSES OF STANDING TRUSTEES.

    Section 586(e) of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) After first exhausting all available administrative remedies, 
an individual appointed under subsection (b) of this section may obtain 
judicial review of final agency action to deny a claim of actual, 
necessary expenses under this paragraph by commencing an action in the 
United States district court in the district where the individual 
resides.
    ``(4) The Attorney General shall prescribe procedures to implement 
this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. PROCEDURES FOR AND STANDARD OF REVIEW.

    Section 157 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d)(1) In conducting judicial review under section 586(d)(2) or 
section 586(e)(3) of this title, the district court shall determine 
whether to retain the case or to refer the case to a bankruptcy judge 
in the district. Any bankruptcy judge to whom a case is referred shall 
submit a recommendation for disposition to the district court based 
solely on a review of the administrative record before the agency, and 
a final order or judgment shall be entered by the district court after 
considering the bankruptcy judge's recommendation, and after reviewing 
those matters to which any party has timely and specifically objected. 
The decision of the agency shall be affirmed unless it is unreasonable 
and without cause based upon the administrative record before the 
agency.
    ``(2)(A) The district courts of the United States shall have 
jurisdiction to review final agency decisions under subsection 
586(d)(2) and final agency actions under subsection 586(e)(3).
    ``(B) Bankruptcy judges are authorized to submit to such courts 
recommendations in accordance with paragraph (1).''.

            Passed the House of Representatives August 3, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.