In the Senate of the United States,
October 17, 2002.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 4878) entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for estimates
and reports of improper payments by Federal agencies.’’, do
pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improper Payments In-
formation Act of 2002’’.
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HR 4878 EAS
SEC. 2. ESTIMATES OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS AND REPORTS
ON ACTIONS TO REDUCE THEM.
(a) IDENTIFICATION OF SUSCEPTIBLE PROGRAMS AND
ACTIVITIES.—The head of each agency shall, in accordance
with guidance prescribed by the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, annually review all programs
and activities that it administers and identify all such pro-
grams and activities that may be susceptible to significant
improper payments.
(b) ESTIMATION OF IMPROPER PAYMENT.—With re-
spect to each program and activity identified under sub-
section (a), the head of the agency concerned shall—
(1) estimate the annual amount of improper
payments; and
(2) submit those estimates to Congress before
March 31 of the following applicable year, with all
agencies using the same method of reporting, as deter-
mined by the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget.
(c) REPORTS ON ACTIONS TO REDUCE IMPROPER PAY-
MENTS.—With respect to any program or activity of an
agency with estimated improper payments under subsection
(b) that exceed $10,000,000, the head of the agency shall
provide with the estimate under subsection (b) a report on
what actions the agency is taking to reduce the improper
payments, including—
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HR 4878 EAS
(1) a discussion of the causes of the improper
payments identified, actions taken to correct those
causes, and results of the actions taken to address
those causes;
(2) a statement of whether the agency has the in-
formation systems and other infrastructure it needs
in order to reduce improper payments to minimal
cost-effective levels;
(3) if the agency does not have such systems and
infrastructure, a description of the resources the agen-
cy has requested in its budget submission to obtain
the necessary information systems and infrastructure;
and
(4) a description of the steps the agency has
taken to ensure that agency managers (including the
agency head) are held accountable for reducing im-
proper payments.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means an ex-
ecutive 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 incor-
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HR 4878 EAS
rect amount (including overpayments and un-
derpayments) under statutory, contractual, ad-
ministrative, or other legally applicable require-
ments; and
(B) includes any payment to an ineligible
recipient, any payment for an ineligible service,
any duplicate payment, payments for services
not received, and any payment that does not ac-
count for credit for applicable discounts.
(3) PAYMENT.—The term ‘‘payment’’ means any
payment (including a commitment for future pay-
ment, such as a loan guarantee) that is—
(A) made by a Federal agency, a Federal
contractor, or a governmental or other organiza-
tion administering a Federal program or activ-
ity; and
(B) derived from Federal funds or other
Federal resources or that will be reimbursed from
Federal funds or other Federal resources.
(e) APPLICATION.—This section—
(1) applies with respect to the administration of
programs, and improper payments under programs,
in fiscal years after fiscal year 2002; and
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HR 4878 EAS
(2) requires the inclusion of estimates under sub-
section (b)(2) only in annual budget submissions for
fiscal years after fiscal year 2003.
(f) GUIDANCE BY THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET.—Not later than 6 months after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall prescribe guidance to implement the re-
quirements of this section.
Attest:
Secretary.