1. (a) Delegation of authority

   1. (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) ¹ 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. (2) Condition on authority The delegation authority provided by paragraph (1) shall be subject to—

      1. (A) sections 6942, 6971(f), 6993, and 2204e of this title and subsections (a) and (b)(1) of section 6981 of this title;
      2. (B) sections 5692 and 5693 of this title; and
      3. (C) section 590h(b)(5) of title 16.

2. (b) Cost-benefit analysis required for name change

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

3. (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. (1) give appropriate advance public notice of the proposed reorganization action or delegation; and
   2. (2) afford appropriate opportunity for interested parties to comment on the proposed reorganization action or delegation.

4. (d) Interagency transfer of records, property, personnel, and funds

   1. (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—

      1. (A) any of the records, property, or personnel affected by the transfer or delegation of the function; and
      2. (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. (2) Applicable law relating to funds transfer Section 1531 of title 31 shall apply to any transfer of funds under paragraph (1).

5. (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. (1) the Secretary;
   2. (2) the Department; or
   3. (3) an agency, office, officer, or employee of the Department.

(Pub. L. 103–354, title II, § 212, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3210; Pub. L. 110–234, title VII, § 7511(c)(27), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1270; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title VII, § 7511(c)(27), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2031.)

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 Amendment

Amendment 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.

¹ See References in Text note below.