[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 102 (Friday, May 27, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30609-30610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10612]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Secretary

7 CFR Part 2


Revision of Delegations of Authority

AGENCY: Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This document amends the delegations of authority from the 
Secretary of Agriculture in order to reflect the Secretary's 
designation of the General Counsel as the Department official 
responsible for delegating the authority to other Department heads for 
considering, ascertaining, adjusting, determining, compromising, and 
settling, pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and 
regulations of the Attorney General, claims less than $2500 that allege 
the negligence or wrongful act of an employee of a certain agency.

DATES: Effective May 27, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth E. Cohen, Assistant General 
Counsel, General Law Division, Office of the General Counsel, 
Department of Agriculture, Room 3311-S, Washington, DC 20250, telephone 
202-720-5565.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 28. U.S.C. 2672 of the FTCA, the head 
of each Federal agency, including the Secretary of Agriculture, is able 
to adjudicate FTCA claims brought against his or her respective agency. 
Furthermore, the FTCA states that an agency may effect a settlement 
equal to or less than $25,000, without the ``prior written approval of 
the Attorney General or his designee.'' Through 7 CFR 2.31, the 
Secretary of Agriculture has delegated to the General Counsel the 
authority to ``[c]onsider, ascertain, adjust, determine, compromise, 
and settle claims pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act, as amended 
(28 U.S.C. 2671-2680), and the regulations of the Attorney General 
contained in 28 CFR part 14* * *''
    The National Performance Review (NPR) determined that this limited 
delegation posed a barrier to the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of 
the USDA. Pursuant to the recommendations of NPR, on September 11, 
1996, the Secretary of Agriculture enacted a pilot program, created 
under Secretary's Memorandum 1030-29, by delegating to the Assistant 
Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs and the Administrator 
of APHIS the authority to adjudicate claims under $2500 submitted 
pursuant to the FTCA. The pilot program proved to be highly successful. 
During this program, adjudication time for this type of FTCA claim was 
reduced from a period of three to six months to less than two weeks. 
Additionally, payment processing time was reduced from ten days to as 
little as one day.
    Based on the success of this pilot program, the delegations of 
authority of the Department of Agriculture are amended so that the 
General Counsel is now able to delegate the authority to another agency 
head to consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, compromise, and settle, 
pursuant to the FTCA and regulations of the Attorney General, claims 
less than $2500 that allege the negligence or wrongful act of an 
employee of a particular USDA agency.
    This rule relates to internal agency management. Therefore, 
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, notice of proposed rule making and 
opportunity for comment are not required and this rule may be made 
effective less than 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. 
Further, since this rule relates to internal agency management, it is 
exempt from the provisions of Executive Order 12988 and Executive 
Orders 12866, amended by Executive Order 13258. In addition, this 
action is not a rule as defined by the Regulatory

[[Page 30610]]

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and thus is exempt from the 
provisions of that Act. Finally, this action is not a rule as defined 
in 5 U.S.C. 804, and thus does not require review by Congress.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 2

    Authority delegations (Government agencies).

0
Accordingly, 7 CFR Part 2 is amended as follows:

PART 2--DELEGATIONS OF AUTHORITY BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 
AND GENERAL OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

0
1. The authority citation for part 2 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6912(a)(1), 5 U.S.C. 301; Reorganization 
Plan No. 2 of 1953, 3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., p. 1024.

Subpart D--Delegation of Authority to Other General Officers and 
Agency Heads

0
2. Amend Sec.  2.31 to revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:


Sec.  2.31  General Counsel.

* * * * *
    (a) Consider, ascertain, adjust, determine, compromise, and settle 
claims pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act, as amended (28 U.S.C. 
2671-2680), and the regulations of the Attorney General contained in 28 
CFR part 14; delegate the authority to consider, ascertain, adjust, 
determine, compromise, and settle, pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims 
Act as amended (28 U.S.C. 2671-2680) and the regulations of the 
Attorney General contained in 28 CFR part 14, claims less than $2500 
that allege the negligence or wrongful act of an employee of a USDA 
agency; and consider, ascertain, adjust, determine compromise, and 
settle claims pursuant to section 920 of the Federal Agriculture 
Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, Public Law 104-127 (7 U.S.C. 
2262a).
* * * * *

    Dated: April 11, 2005.
Mike Johanns,
Secretary of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 05-10612 Filed 5-26-05; 8:45 am]
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