§6912 — Title 7 Agriculture | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary may let any part of the Department, or its officers or employees, carry out functions moved to the Secretary under section 6911(a) or any function the Secretary had on October 13, 1994. That power includes creating, merging, changing, or closing agencies, offices, or units. Delegations must follow certain other laws, including sections 6942, 6971(f), 6993, 2204e, 6981(a) and (b)(1), 5692, 5693, and 590h(b)(5). Before changing the name of an agency or office, the Secretary must do a cost-benefit analysis to show the benefits outweigh the costs, unless the name change is required or allowed by this chapter. If reorganizing creates new agencies or shifts major functions, the Secretary should give public notice and let people comment when practical. The Secretary may also move records, property, staff, and unspent funds (subject to section 1531 of title 31). People must use all required administrative appeals before suing the Secretary, the Department, or its employees.

Title 7, §6912

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)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) 11 See References in Text note below. 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)The delegation authority provided by paragraph (1) shall be subject to—

(A)section 6942, 6971(f), 6993, and 2204e of this title and subsections (a) and (b)(1) of section 6981 of this title;

(B)section 5692 and 5693 of this title; and

(C)section 590h(b)(5) of title 16.

(b)(1)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)Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to any name change required or authorized by this chapter.

(c)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)(1)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)Section 1531 of title 31 shall apply to any transfer of funds under paragraph (1).

(e)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.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 6911 of this title, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), was repealed by Pub. L. 115–334, title XII, § 12414(a)(1), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4981. 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. Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 made identical

Amendments

to this section. The

Amendments

by Pub. L. 110–234 were repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Amendments

2008—Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 110–246, § 7511(c)(27), substituted “6971(f),” for “6971(d),”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2008 AmendmentAmendment of this section and repeal of Pub. L. 110–234 by Pub. L. 110–246 effective May 22, 2008, the date of enactment of Pub. L. 110–234, except as otherwise provided, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 8701 of this title. Amendment by section 7511(c)(27) of Pub. L. 110–246 effective Oct. 1, 2009, see section 7511(c) of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 1522 of this title.

§6912 Authority of Secretary to Delegate Transferred Functions

Summary

Title 7, §6912

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Short Title

Amendments

Amendments

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata