The regulations in this subpart establish procedures to implement
section 10 of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365), 31
U.S.C. 3716(d). Among other things, this statute authorizes the head of
each agency to collect a claim arising under an agency program by means
of administrative offset, except that no claim may be collected by such
means if outstanding for more than 10 years after the agency's right to
collect the debt first accrued, unless facts material to the
Government's right to collect the debt were not known and could not
reasonably have been known by the official or officials of the
government who were charged with the responsibility to discover and
collect such debts. This subpart specifies the agency procedures that
will be followed by the Department of Labor for an administrative
offset.