7 U.S.C. § 8790: Signature authority

Summary

The Secretary may not cancel or reject a document that was already approved just because the signer turned out to lack authority, unless the signer knowingly and willfully lied about having authority or forged the signature. The Secretary can still ask the proper person to confirm a document. If benefits are denied because someone did not confirm, that denial cannot be applied backward to third-party producers who relied in good faith on the earlier approval and who followed the program rules.

Title 7, §8790

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(a)In general

In carrying out this title and title II and amendments made by those titles, if the Secretary approves a document, the Secretary shall not subsequently determine the document is inadequate or invalid because of the lack of authority of any person signing the document on behalf of the applicant or any other individual, entity, general partnership, or joint venture, or the documents relied upon were determined inadequate or invalid, unless the person signing the program document knowingly and willfully falsified the evidence of signature authority or a signature.

(b)Affirmation

(1)In general

Nothing in this section prohibits the Secretary from asking a proper party to affirm any document that otherwise would be considered approved under subsection (a).

(2)No retroactive effect

A denial of benefits based on a lack of affirmation under paragraph (1) shall not be retroactive with respect to third-party producers who were not the subject of the erroneous representation of authority, if the third-party producers—

(A)relied on the prior approval by the Secretary of the documents in good faith; and

(B)substantively complied with all program requirements

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This title and title II, referred to in subsec. (a), are titles I and II of Pub. L. 110–246, June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1753, which enacted this chapter and enacted, amended, and repealed numerous other sections and notes in the Code. For complete classification of titles I and II to the Code, see Tables. Codification Pub. L. 110–234 and Pub. L. 110–246 enacted identical sections. Pub. L. 110–234 was repealed by section 4(a) of Pub. L. 110–246.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Enactment 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, see section 4 of Pub. L. 110–246, set out as a note under section 8701 of this title.

§8790 Signature Authority