[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4878 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.4878

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
          the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two


                                 An Act


 
  To provide for estimates and reports of improper payments by Federal 
                                agencies.

    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 ``Improper Payments Information Act of 
2002''.

SEC. 2. ESTIMATES OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS AND REPORTS ON ACTIONS TO REDUCE 
              THEM.

    (a) Identification of Susceptible Programs and Activities.--The 
head of each agency shall, in accordance with guidance prescribed by 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, annually review 
all programs and activities that it administers and identify all such 
programs and activities that may be susceptible to significant improper 
payments.
    (b) Estimation of Improper Payment.--With respect to each program 
and activity identified under subsection (a), the head of the agency 
concerned shall--
        (1) estimate the annual amount of improper payments; and
        (2) submit those estimates to Congress before March 31 of the 
    following applicable year, with all agencies using the same method 
    of reporting, as determined by the Director of the Office of 
    Management and Budget.
    (c) Reports on Actions To Reduce Improper Payments.--With respect 
to any program or activity of an agency with estimated improper 
payments under subsection (b) that exceed $10,000,000, the head of the 
agency shall provide with the estimate under subsection (b) a report on 
what actions the agency is taking to reduce the improper payments, 
including--
        (1) a discussion of the causes of the improper payments 
    identified, actions taken to correct those causes, and results of 
    the actions taken to address those causes;
        (2) a statement of whether the agency has the information 
    systems and other infrastructure it needs in order to reduce 
    improper payments to minimal cost-effective levels;
        (3) if the agency does not have such systems and 
    infrastructure, a description of the resources the agency has 
    requested in its budget submission to obtain the necessary 
    information systems and infrastructure; and
        (4) a description of the steps the agency has taken to ensure 
    that agency managers (including the agency head) are held 
    accountable for reducing improper payments.
    (d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
        (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means an executive agency, as 
    that term is defined in section 102 of title 31, United States 
    Code.
        (2) Improper payment.--The term ``improper payment''--
            (A) means any payment that should not have been made or 
        that was made in an incorrect amount (including overpayments 
        and underpayments) under statutory, contractual, 
        administrative, or other legally applicable requirements; and
            (B) includes any payment to an ineligible recipient, any 
        payment for an ineligible service, any duplicate payment, 
        payments for services not received, and any payment that does 
        not account for credit for applicable discounts.
        (3) Payment.--The term ``payment'' means any payment (including 
    a commitment for future payment, such as a loan guarantee) that 
    is--
            (A) made by a Federal agency, a Federal contractor, or a 
        governmental or other organization administering a Federal 
        program or activity; and
            (B) derived from Federal funds or other Federal resources 
        or that will be reimbursed from Federal funds or other Federal 
        resources.
    (e) Application.--This section--
        (1) applies with respect to the administration of programs, and 
    improper payments under programs, in fiscal years after fiscal year 
    2002; and
        (2) requires the inclusion of estimates under subsection (b)(2) 
    only in annual budget submissions for fiscal years after fiscal 
    year 2003.
    (f) Guidance by the Office of Management and Budget.--Not later 
than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe guidance to 
implement the requirements of this section.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.