§ 6912. — Authority of Secretary to delegate transferred functions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC6912]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 98--DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE REORGANIZATION
SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL REORGANIZATION AUTHORITIES
Sec. 6912. Authority of Secretary to delegate transferred
functions
(a) Delegation of authority
(1) Delegation authorized
Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary may delegate to any
agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department the authority
to perform any function transferred to the Secretary under section
6911(a) of this title or any other function vested in the Secretary
as of October 13, 1994. The authority provided in the preceding
sentence includes the authority to establish, consolidate, alter, or
discontinue any agency, office, or other administrative unit of the
Department.
(2) Condition on authority
The delegation authority provided by paragraph (1) shall be
subject to--
(A) sections 6942, 6971(d), 6993, and 2204e of this title
and subsections (a) and (b)(1) of section 6981 of this title;
(B) sections 5692 and 5693 of this title; and
(C) section 590h(b)(5) of title 16.
(b) Cost-benefit analysis required for name change
(1) Analysis required
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall conduct
a cost-benefit analysis before changing the name of any agency,
office, division, or other unit of the Department to ensure that the
benefits to be derived from changing the name of the agency, office,
division, or other unit outweigh the expense of executing the name
change.
(2) Exception
Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to any name change
required or authorized by this chapter.
(c) Public comment on proposed reorganization
To the extent that the implementation of the authority provided to
the Secretary by this chapter to reorganize the Department involves the
creation of new agencies or offices within the Department or the
delegation of major functions or major groups of functions to any agency
or office of the Department (or the officers or employees of such agency
or office), the Secretary shall, to the extent considered practicable by
the Secretary--
(1) give appropriate advance public notice of the proposed
reorganization action or delegation; and
(2) afford appropriate opportunity for interested parties to
comment on the proposed reorganization action or delegation.
(d) Interagency transfer of records, property, personnel, and funds
(1) Related transfers
Subject to paragraph (2), as part of the transfer or delegation
of a function of the Department made or authorized by this chapter,
the Secretary may transfer within the Department--
(A) any of the records, property, or personnel affected by
the transfer or delegation of the function; and
(B) unexpended balances (available or to be made available
for use in connection with the transferred or delegated
function) of appropriations, allocations, or other funds of the
Department.
(2) Applicable law relating to funds transfer
Section 1531 of title 31 shall apply to any transfer of funds
under paragraph (1).
(e) Exhaustion of administrative appeals
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person shall exhaust
all administrative appeal procedures established by the Secretary or
required by law before the person may bring an action in a court of
competent jurisdiction against--
(1) the Secretary;
(2) the Department; or
(3) an agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department.
(Pub. L. 103-354, title II, Sec. 212, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3210.)
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2), (c), and (d)(1), was
in the original ``this title'', meaning title II of Pub. L. 103-354,
Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3209, known as the Department of Agriculture
Reorganization Act of 1994. For complete classification of title II to
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 6901 of this title
and Tables.
