Exhibit A6 31 USC 3321 Improper Payments

§ 3321

Exhibit A6

TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE

ficers Act of 1990 [Pub. L. 101–576] (31 U.S.C. 901) [see
Short Title of 1990 Amendment note set out under
section 501 of this title] and identify reforms or improvements, if any, to the legislative and regulatory
compliance framework for Federal financial management that will optimize Federal agency efforts to—
‘‘(A) publish relevant, timely, and reliable reports
on Government finances; and
‘‘(B) implement internal controls that mitigate
the risk for fraud, waste, and error in Government
programs; and
‘‘(2) jointly submit a report on the results of the examination to—
‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
‘‘(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives; and
‘‘(C) the Comptroller General.’’
IMPROPER PAYMENTS
Pub. L. 107–300, Nov. 26, 2002, 116 Stat. 2350, as amended by Pub. L. 111–204, § 2(a)–(f), July 22, 2010, 124 Stat.
2224–2228, provided that:
‘‘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.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall, in
accordance with guidance prescribed by the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, periodically
review all programs and activities that the relevant
agency head administers and identify all programs
and activities that may be susceptible to significant
improper payments.
‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—Reviews under paragraph (1) shall
be performed for each program and activity that the
relevant agency head administers during the year
after which the Improper Payments Elimination and
Recovery Act of 2010 is enacted [July 22, 2010] and at
least once every 3 fiscal years thereafter. For those
agencies already performing a risk assessment every
3 years, agencies may apply to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for a waiver from the
requirement of the preceding sentence and continue
their 3-year risk assessment cycle.
‘‘(3) RISK ASSESSMENTS.—
‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this subsection the term
‘significant’ means—
‘‘(i) except as provided under clause (ii), that
improper payments in the program or activity in
the preceding fiscal year may have exceeded—
‘‘(I) $10,000,000 of all program or activity payments made during that fiscal year reported
and 2.5 percent of program outlays; or
‘‘(II) $100,000,000; and
‘‘(ii) with respect to fiscal years following September 30th of a fiscal year beginning before fiscal year 2013 as determined by the Office of Management and Budget, that improper payments in
the program or activity in the preceding fiscal
year may have exceeded—
‘‘(I) $10,000,000 of all program or activity payments made during that fiscal year reported
and 1.5 percent of program outlays; or
‘‘(II) $100,000,000.
‘‘(B) SCOPE.—In conducting the reviews under
paragraph (1), the head of each agency shall take
into account those risk factors that are likely to
contribute to a susceptibility to significant improper payments, such as—
‘‘(i) whether the program or activity reviewed is
new to the agency;
‘‘(ii) the complexity of the program or activity
reviewed;
‘‘(iii) the volume of payments made through the
program or activity reviewed;

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‘‘(iv) whether payments or payment eligibility
decisions are made outside of the agency, such as
by a State or local government;
‘‘(v) recent major changes in program funding,
authorities, practices, or procedures;
‘‘(vi) the level, experience, and quality of training for personnel responsible for making program
eligibility determinations or certifying that payments are accurate; and
‘‘(vii) significant deficiencies in the audit report of the agency or other relevant management
findings that might hinder accurate payment certification.
‘‘(b) ESTIMATION OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS.—With respect to each program and activity identified under
subsection (a), the head of the relevant agency shall—
‘‘(1) produce a statistically valid estimate, or an estimate that is otherwise appropriate using a methodology approved by the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, of the improper payments
made by each program and activity; and
‘‘(2) include those estimates in the accompanying
materials to the annual financial statement of the
agency required under section 3515 of title 31, United
States Code, or similar provision of law and applicable guidance 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), the head of the agency shall provide with
the estimate under subsection (b) a report on what actions the agency is taking to reduce improper payments, including—
‘‘(1) a description of the causes of the improper payments, actions planned or taken to correct those
causes, and the planned or actual completion date of
the actions taken to address those causes;
‘‘(2) in order to reduce improper payments to a level
below which further expenditures to reduce improper
payments would cost more than the amount such expenditures would save in prevented or recovered improper payments, a statement of whether the agency
has what is needed with respect to—
‘‘(A) internal controls;
‘‘(B) human capital; and
‘‘(C) information systems and other infrastructure;
‘‘(3) if the agency does not have sufficient resources
to establish and maintain effective internal controls
under paragraph (2)(A), a description of the resources
the agency has requested in its budget submission to
establish and maintain such internal controls;
‘‘(4) program-specific and activity-specific improper
payments reduction targets that have been approved
by the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget; and
‘‘(5) a description of the steps the agency has taken
to ensure that agency managers, programs, and,
where appropriate, States and localities are held accountable through annual performance appraisal criteria for—
‘‘(A) meeting applicable improper payments reduction targets; and
‘‘(B) establishing and maintaining sufficient internal controls, including an appropriate control
environment, that effectively—
‘‘(i) prevent improper payments from being
made; and
‘‘(ii) promptly detect and recover improper payments that are made.
‘‘(d) REPORTS ON ACTIONS TO RECOVER IMPROPER PAYMENTS.—With respect to any improper payments identified in recovery audits conducted under section 2(h) of
the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act
of 2010 [Pub. L. 111–204] (31 U.S.C. 3321 note), the head
of the agency shall provide with the estimate under
subsection (b) a report on all actions the agency is taking to recover improper payments, including—
‘‘(1) a discussion of the methods used by the agency
to recover overpayments;

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‘‘(2) the amounts recovered, outstanding, and determined to not be collectable, including the percent
such amounts represent of the total overpayments of
the agency;
‘‘(3) if a determination has been made that certain
overpayments are not collectable, a justification of
that determination;
‘‘(4) an aging schedule of the amounts outstanding;
‘‘(5) a summary of how recovered amounts have
been disposed of;
‘‘(6) a discussion of any conditions giving rise to
improper payments and how those conditions are
being resolved; and
‘‘(7) if the agency has determined under section 2(h)
of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery
Act of 2010 (31 U.S.C. 3321 note) that performing recovery audits for any applicable program or activity
is not cost-effective, a justification for that determination.
‘‘(e) GOVERNMENTWIDE REPORTING OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS AND ACTIONS TO RECOVER IMPROPER PAYMENTS.—
‘‘(1) REPORT.—Each fiscal year the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall submit a report with respect to the preceding fiscal year on actions agencies have taken to report information regarding improper payments and actions to recover
improper overpayments to—
‘‘(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
‘‘(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives.
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report under this subsection
shall include—
‘‘(A) a summary of the reports of each agency on
improper payments and recovery actions submitted
under this section;
‘‘(B) an identification of the compliance status of
each agency to which this Act applies;
‘‘(C) governmentwide improper payment reduction targets; and
‘‘(D) a discussion of progress made towards meeting governmentwide improper payment reduction
targets.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In 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 good or service,
any duplicate payment, any payment for a good or
service not received (except for such payments
where authorized by law), and any payment that
does not account for credit for applicable discounts.
‘‘(3) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ means any
transfer or commitment for future transfer of Federal
funds such as cash, securities, loans, loan guarantees,
and insurance subsidies to any non-Federal person or
entity, that is made by a Federal agency, a Federal
contractor, a Federal grantee, or a governmental or
other organization administering a Federal program
or activity.
‘‘(4) PAYMENT FOR AN INELIGIBLE GOOD OR SERVICE.—
The term ‘payment for an ineligible good or service’
shall include a payment for any good or service that
is rejected under any provision of any contract,
grant, lease, cooperative agreement, or any other
funding mechanism.
‘‘(g) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the
date of enactment of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 [July 22, 2010], the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget

§ 3321

shall prescribe guidance for agencies to implement
the requirements of this section. The guidance shall
not include any exemptions to such requirements not
specifically authorized by this section.
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The guidance under paragraph (1)
shall prescribe—
‘‘(A) the form of the reports on actions to reduce
improper payments, recovery actions, and governmentwide reporting; and
‘‘(B) strategies for addressing risks and establishing appropriate prepayment and postpayment internal controls.’’
EX. ORD. NO. 13520. REDUCING IMPROPER PAYMENTS
Ex. Ord. No. 13520, Nov. 20, 2009, 74 F.R. 62201, provided:
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in the interest of reducing payment errors and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal
programs, it is hereby ordered as follows:
SECTION 1. Purpose. When the Federal Government
makes payments to individuals and businesses as program beneficiaries, grantees, or contractors, or on behalf of program beneficiaries, it must make every effort to confirm that the right recipient is receiving the
right payment for the right reason at the right time.
The purpose of this order is to reduce improper payments by intensifying efforts to eliminate payment
error, waste, fraud, and abuse in the major programs
administered by the Federal Government, while continuing to ensure that Federal programs serve and provide access to their intended beneficiaries. No single
step will fully achieve these goals. Therefore, this order
adopts a comprehensive set of policies, including transparency and public scrutiny of significant payment errors throughout the Federal Government; a focus on
identifying and eliminating the highest improper payments; accountability for reducing improper payments
among executive branch agencies and officials; and
coordinated Federal, State, and local government action in identifying and eliminating improper payments.
Because this order targets error, waste, fraud, and
abuse—not legitimate use of Government services—efforts to reduce improper payments under this order
must protect access to Federal programs by their intended beneficiaries.
SEC. 2. Transparency and Public Participation.
(a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
shall:
(i) identify Federal programs in which the highest
dollar value or majority of Government-wide improper payments occur (high-priority programs);
(ii) establish, in coordination with the executive department or agency (agency) responsible for administering the high-priority program annual or semi-annual targets (or where such targets already exist,
supplemental targets), as appropriate, for reducing
improper payments associated with each high-priority program;
(iii) issue Government-wide guidance on the implementation of this order, including procedures for
identifying and publicizing the list of entities described in subsection (b)(v) of this section and for administrative appeal of the decision to publish the
identity of those entities, prior to publication; and
(iv) establish a working group consisting of Federal, State, and local officials to make recommendations to the Director of OMB designed to improve the
Federal Government’s measurement of access to Federal programs by the programs’ intended beneficiaries. The working group’s recommendations shall
be prepared in consultation with the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)
and submitted within 180 days of the date of this
order, and the recommended measurements may be
incorporated by the Secretary of the Treasury in the
information published pursuant to subsection (b) of
this section.

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TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE

(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury in coordination with the Attorney General and the Director of OMB, shall publish on
the Internet information about improper payments
under high-priority programs. The information shall
include, subject to Federal privacy policies and to the
extent permitted by law:
(i) the names of the accountable officials designated under section 3 of this order;
(ii) current and historical rates and amounts of improper payments, including, where known and appropriate, causes of the improper payments;
(iii) current and historical rates and amounts of recovery of improper payments, where appropriate (or,
where improper payments are identified solely on the
basis of a sample, recovery rates and amounts estimated on the basis of the applicable sample);
(iv) targets for reducing as well as recovering improper payments, where appropriate; and
(v) the entities that have received the greatest
amount of outstanding improper payments (or, where
improper payments are identified solely on the basis
of a sample, the entities that have received the greatest amount of outstanding improper payments in the
applicable sample).
Information on entities that have received the greatest amount of outstanding improper payments shall
not include any referrals the agency made or anticipates making to the Department of Justice, or any information provided in connection with such referrals.
(c) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury in coordination with the Attorney General and the Director of OMB and in consultation with the CIGIE, shall establish a central Internetbased method to collect from the public information
concerning suspected incidents of waste, fraud, and
abuse by an entity receiving Federal funds that have
led or may lead to improper payments by the Federal
Government.
(d) Agencies shall place a prominently displayed link
to Internet-based resources for addressing improper
payments, including the resources established under
subsections (b) and (c) of this section, on their Internet
home pages.
SEC. 3. Agency Accountability and Coordination.
(a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the head
of each agency responsible for operating a high-priority
program shall designate an official who holds an existing Senate-confirmed position to be accountable for
meeting the targets established under section 2 of this
order without unduly burdening program access and
participation by eligible beneficiaries. In those agencies where the majority of payments are isolated to a
single component, the head of the agency shall name a
second accountable official for that component whose
sole responsibility would be for program integrity activities and, as appropriate, shall consolidate and coordinate all program integrity activities within the component.
(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, each
agency official designated under subsection (a) of this
section, or otherwise designated by the Director of
OMB, shall provide the agency’s Inspector General a report containing:
(i) the agency’s methodology for identifying and
measuring improper payments by the agency’s highpriority programs;
(ii) the agency’s plans, together with supporting
analysis, for meeting the reduction targets for improper payments in the agency’s high-priority programs; and
(iii) the agency’s plan, together with supporting
analysis, for ensuring that initiatives undertaken
pursuant to this order do not unduly burden program
access and participation by eligible beneficiaries.
Following the receipt and review of this information,
the agency Inspector General shall assess the level of
risk associated with the applicable programs, determine the extent of oversight warranted, and provide
the agency head with recommendations, if any, for

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modifying the agency’s methodology, improper payment reduction plans, or program access and participation plans.
(c) If an agency fails to meet the targets established
under section 2 of this order or implement the plan described in subsection (b)(iii) of this section for 2 consecutive years, that agency’s accountable official designated under subsection (a) of this section shall submit to the agency head, Inspector General, and Chief
Financial Officer a report describing the likely causes
of the agency’s failure and proposing a remedial plan.
The agency head shall review this plan and, in consultation with the Inspector General and Chief Financial Officer, forward the plan with any additional comments and analysis to the Director of OMB.
(d) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Chief
Financial Officers Council (CFOC) in consultation with
the CIGIE, the Department of Justice, and program experts, shall make recommendations to the Director of
OMB and the Secretary of the Treasury on actions (including actions related to forensic accounting and audits) agencies should take to more effectively tailor
their methodologies for identifying and measuring improper payments to those programs, or components of
programs, where improper payments are most likely to
occur. Recommendations shall address the manner in
which the recommended actions would affect program
access and participation by eligible beneficiaries.
(e) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of OMB in consultation with the CIGIE, the Department of Justice,
and program experts, shall recommend to the President
actions designed to reduce improper payments by improving information sharing among agencies and programs, and where applicable, State and local governments and other stakeholders. The recommendations
shall address the ways in which information sharing
may improve eligibility verification and pre-payment
scrutiny, shall identify legal or regulatory impediments to effective information sharing, and shall address the manner in which the recommended actions
would affect program access and participation by eligible beneficiaries.
(f) Within 180 days of the date of this order, and at
least once every quarter thereafter, the head of each
agency shall submit to the agency’s Inspector General
and the CIGIE, and make available to the public, a report on any high-dollar improper payments identified
by the agency, subject to Federal privacy policies and
to the extent permitted by law. The report shall describe any actions the agency has taken or plans to
take to recover improper payments, as well as any actions the agency intends to take to prevent improper
payments from occurring in the future. The report
shall not include any referrals the agency made or anticipates making to the Department of Justice, or any
information provided in connection with such referrals.
Following the review of each report, the agency Inspector General and the CIGIE shall assess the level of risk
associated with the applicable program, determine the
extent of oversight warranted, and provide the agency
head with recommendations, if any, for modifying the
agency’s plans.
SEC. 4. Enhanced Focus on Contractors and Working
with State and Local Stakeholders.
(a) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, in coordination
with the Director of OMB, and in consultation with the
National Procurement Fraud Task Force (or its successor group), the CIGIE, and appropriate agency officials,
shall recommend to the President actions designed to
enhance contractor accountability for improper payments. The recommendations may include, but are not
limited to, subjecting contractors to debarment, suspension, financial penalties, and identification through
a public Internet website, subject to Federal privacy
policies and to the extent permitted by law and where
the identification would not interfere with or compromise an ongoing criminal or civil investigation, for
knowingly failing timely to disclose credible evidence

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TITLE 31—MONEY AND FINANCE

of significant overpayments received on Government
contracts.
(b) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Director of OMB shall establish a working group consisting
of Federal and elected State and local officials to make
recommendations to the Director of OMB designed to
improve the effectiveness of single audits of State and
local governments and non-profit organizations that
are expending Federal funds. The Director of OMB may
designate an appropriate official to serve as Chair of
the working group to convene its meetings and direct
its work. The working group’s recommendations shall
be prepared in consultation with the CIGIE and submitted within 180 days of the date of this order. The recommendations shall address, among other things, the effectiveness of single audits in identifying improper
payments and opportunities to streamline or eliminate
single audit requirements where their value is minimal.
(c) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Director of OMB shall establish a working group (which may
be separate from the group established under subsection (b) of this section) consisting of Federal and
elected State and local officials to make recommendations to the Director of OMB for administrative actions
designed to improve the incentives and accountability
of State and local governments, as well as other entities receiving Federal funds, for reducing improper payments. The Director of OMB may designate an appropriate official to serve as Chair of the working group to
convene its meetings and direct its work. The working
group’s recommendations shall be prepared in consultation with the CIGIE and submitted within 180 days of
the date of this order.
SEC. 5. Policy Proposals. The Director of OMB, in consultation with the appropriate agencies and the CIGIE,
shall develop policy recommendations, including potential legislative proposals, designed to reduce improper
payments, including those caused by error, waste,
fraud, and abuse, across Federal programs without
compromising program access, to be included, as appropriate, in the Budget of the United States Government
for Fiscal Year 2011 and future years, or other Administration proposals.
SEC. 6. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair
or otherwise affect:
(i) authority granted by law to a department, agency, the head thereof, or any agency Inspector General; or
(ii) functions of the Director of OMB relating to
budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to require
the disclosure of classified information, law enforcement sensitive information, or other information that
must be protected in the interests of national security.
(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the
United States, its departments, agencies, or entities,
its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
BARACK OBAMA.
FINDING AND RECAPTURING IMPROPER PAYMENTS
Memorandum of President of the United States, Mar.
10, 2010, 75 F.R. 12119, provided:
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
My Administration is committed to reducing payment errors and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in
Federal programs—a commitment reflected in Executive Order 13520 of November 20, 2009, Reducing Improper Payments. Executive departments and agencies
should use every tool available to identify and subsequently reclaim the funds associated with improper
payments. Thorough identification of improper pay-

§ 3321

ments promotes accountability at executive departments and agencies; it also makes the integrity of Federal spending transparent to taxpayers. Reclaiming the
funds associated with improper payments is a critical
component of the proper stewardship and protection of
taxpayer dollars, and it underscores that waste, fraud,
and abuse by entities receiving Federal payments will
not be tolerated.
Today, to further intensify efforts to reclaim improper payments, my Administration is expanding the
use of ‘‘Payment Recapture Audits,’’ which have proven to be effective mechanisms for detecting and recapturing payment errors. A Payment Recapture Audit is
a process of identifying improper payments paid to contractors or other entities whereby highly skilled accounting specialists and fraud examiners use state-ofthe-art tools and technology to examine payment
records and uncover such problems as duplicate payments, payments for services not rendered, overpayments, and fictitious vendors. (A Payment Recapture
Audit as used in this memorandum shall have the same
meaning as the term ‘‘recovery audit’’ as defined in Appendix C to Office of Management and Budget Circular
A-123.) One approach that has worked effectively is
using professional and specialized auditors on a contingency basis, with their compensation tied to the identification of misspent funds.
Therefore, I hereby direct executive departments and
agencies to expand their use of Payment Recapture Audits, to the extent permitted by law and where cost-effective. The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) shall develop guidance within 90 days of
the date of this memorandum on actions executive departments and agencies must take to carry out the requirements of this memorandum. The guidance may require additional actions and strategies designed to improve the recapture of improper payments, including,
as appropriate, agency-specific targets for increasing
recoveries. The Director of the OMB shall further coordinate with the Council for Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to identify an appropriate process for obtaining review by Inspectors General of the effectiveness of agency efforts under this memorandum.
The agencies’ expanded use of Payment Recapture Audits does not preclude Offices of Inspectors General
from performing any activities to identify and prevent
improper payments.
Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to
require the disclosure of classified information, law enforcement sensitive information, or other information
that must be protected in the interests of national security.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
The Director of the OMB is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA.
ENHANCING PAYMENT ACCURACY THROUGH A ‘‘DO NOT
PAY LIST’’
Memorandum of President of the United States, June
18, 2010, 75 F.R. 35953, provided:
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
My Administration is committed to eliminating
waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal programs, including
reducing and recapturing erroneous payments—a commitment I reinforced in Executive Order 13520 of November 20, 2009, and in a memorandum to the heads of
executive departments and agencies (agencies) of
March 10, 2010. While identifying and recapturing improper payments is important, prevention of payment
errors before they occur should be the first priority in
protecting taxpayer resources from waste, fraud, and

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abuse. In those cases where data available to agencies
clearly shows that a potential recipient of a Federal
payment is ineligible for it, subsequent payment to
that recipient is unacceptable. We must ensure that
such payments are not made.
Agencies maintain many databases containing information on a recipient’s eligibility to receive Federal
benefits payments or Federal awards, such as grants
and contracts. By checking these databases before
making payments or awards, agencies can identify ineligible recipients and prevent certain improper payments from being made in the first place.
Therefore, I hereby direct agencies to review current
pre-payment and pre-award procedures and ensure that
a thorough review of available databases with relevant
information on eligibility occurs before the release of
any Federal funds, to the extent permitted by law. At
a minimum, agencies shall, before payment and award,
check the following existing databases (where applicable and permitted by law) to verify eligibility: the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, the
General Services Administration’s Excluded Parties
List System, the Department of the Treasury’s Debt
Check Database, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development’s Credit Alert System or Credit Alert
Interactive Voice Response System, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector
General’s List of Excluded Individuals/Entities. This
network of databases, and additional databases so designated by the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) in consultation with agencies, shall
be collectively known as the ‘‘Do Not Pay List.’’ This
memorandum requires agencies to review these databases with the recognition that there may be circumstances when the law nevertheless requires a payment
or award to be made to a recipient listed in them. My
Administration began coordination of the databases
discussed in this memorandum in April 2010 by launching the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), which integrates various
sources of information on the eligibility of Government
contractors for award. No later than 120 days of the
date of this memorandum, the Director of the OMB
shall provide to the President a plan for completing integration for the remaining databases, to the extent
permitted by law, so that agencies can access them
through a single entry point.
Each agency shall, within 90 days of the date of this
memorandum, submit to the OMB a plan that includes
information on its current pre-payment and pre-award
procedures and a list of databases that the agency
checks pursuant to those procedures. Within 180 days of
the date of this memorandum, the Director of the OMB
shall issue guidance, to be developed in consultation
with affected agencies and taking into account current
agency pre-payment and pre-award practices, on actions agencies must take to carry out this memorandum’s requirements. This guidance shall clarify that
the head of each agency is responsible for ensuring an
efficient and accurate process for determining whether
the information provided on the ‘‘Do Not Pay List’’ is
sufficient to stop a payment, consistent with applicable
laws and regulations, and, if so, whether a payment
should be stopped under the circumstances. In addition,
this guidance shall identify best practices and databases that agencies should utilize to conduct pre-payment checks to ensure that only eligible recipients receive Government benefits or payments.
This memorandum is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other
person.
The Director of the OMB is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
BARACK OBAMA.

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§ 3322. Disbursing officials
(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer public money to a disbursing official only by
draft or warrant written on the Treasury. Except as provided in section 3716 and section
3720A of this title and subsection (b) of this section, a disbursing official shall—
(1) deposit public money as required by section 3302 of this title; and
(2) draw public money from the Treasury or
a depositary only—
(A) as necessary to make payments; and
(B) payable to persons to whom payment is
to be made.
(b) In a place without a depositary, the Secretary, on deciding it is essential to the public
interest, may authorize specially in writing that
public money be—
(1) deposited in any other public depositary;
or
(2) kept in another manner under regulations the Secretary decides are the safest and
most effective in making a payment to a public creditor easier.
(c) A disbursing official is not liable for an
overpayment provided under a United States
Government bill of lading or transportation request when the overpayment is caused by the—
(1) use of improper transportation rates or
classifications if the Administrator of General
Services has determined that verification by a
prepayment audit conducted pursuant to section 3726(a) of this title for a particular mode
or modes of transportation, or for an agency
or subagency, will not adequately protect the
interests of the Government; or
(2) failure to deduct the proper amount
under—
(A) a land grant law; or
(B) an equalization or other agreement.
(Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 950; Pub.
L. 98–216, § 1(3), Feb. 14, 1984, 98 Stat. 3; Pub. L.
104–134, title III, § 31001(g)(1)(A), Apr. 26, 1996, 110
Stat. 1321–363; Pub. L. 105–264, § 3(a)(1), Oct. 19,
1998, 112 Stat. 2352.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
1982 ACT
Revised
Section

Source (U.S. Code)

3322(a) .....

31:492(a).

3322(b) .....

31:82g(related to
disbursing officers).

Source (Statutes at Large)
R.S. § 3620(a); Feb. 27, 1877, ch.
69(7th complete par. on p.
249), 19 Stat. 249; Aug. 28,
1965, Pub. L. 89–145, § 1(1), 79
Stat. 582.
June 1, 1942, ch. 320(related to
disbursing officers), 56 Stat.
306.

In the section, the words ‘‘disbursing official’’ are
substituted for ‘‘disbursing officer’’ for consistency in
the revised title.
In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words ‘‘Secretary of the Treasury’’ are substituted for ‘‘Treasurer
of the United States’’ because of the source provisions
restated in section 321(c) of the revised title. The words
‘‘or an assistant treasurer of the United States’’ in section 3620(a) of the Revised Statutes are omitted as obsolete because of the 1st–4th pars. under the heading
‘‘Independent Treasury’’ in the Act of May 29, 1920 (ch.
214, 41 Stat. 654). In clause (1), the words ‘‘as required
by section 3302 of this title’’ are substituted for ‘‘with
the Treasurer or some one of the assistant treasurers of