Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Trustee Re-
form Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION OF PANEL TRUST-
EES AND STANDING TRUSTEES.
Section 586(d) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) A trustee whose appointment to the panel or as
a standing trustee is terminated or who ceases to be as-
signed to cases filed under title 11, United States Code,
may obtain judicial review of the final agency decision by
commencing an action in the United States district court
for the district in which the panel member or standing
trustee resides, after first exhausting all available adminis-
trative remedies, which if the trustee so elects, shall also
include an administrative hearing on the record. Unless
the trustee elects to have an administrative hearing on the
record, the trustee shall be deemed to have exhausted all
administrative remedies for purposes of this section if the
agency fails to make a final agency decision within 90 days
after the trustee requests administrative remedies. The
Attorney General shall prescribe procedures to implement
this paragraph.’’.
SEC. 3. EXPENSES OF STANDING TRUSTEES.
Section 586(e) of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) After first exhausting all available administra-
tive remedies, an individual appointed under subsection
(b) of this section may obtain judicial review of final agen-
cy action to deny a claim of actual, necessary expenses
under this paragraph by commencing an action in the
United States district court in the district where the indi-
vidual resides.
‘‘(4) The Attorney General shall prescribe procedures
to implement this subsection.’’.
SEC. 4. PROCEDURES FOR AND STANDARD OF REVIEW.
Section 157 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as
subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(d)(1) In conducting judicial review under section
586(d)(2) or section 586(e)(3) of this title, the district
court shall determine whether to retain the case or to refer
the case to a bankruptcy judge in the district. Any bank-
ruptcy judge to whom a case is referred shall submit a
recommendation for disposition to the district court based
solely on a review of the administrative record before the
agency, and a final order or judgment shall be entered
by the district court after considering the bankruptcy
judge’s recommendation, and after reviewing those mat-
ters to which any party has timely and specifically ob-
jected. The decision of the agency shall be affirmed unless
it is unreasonable and without cause based upon the ad-
ministrative record before the agency.
‘‘(2)(A) The district courts of the United States shall
have jurisdiction to review final agency decisions under
subsection 586(d)(2) and final agency actions under sub-
section 586(e)(3).
‘‘(B) Bankruptcy judges are authorized to submit to
such courts recommendations in accordance with para-
graph (1).’’.
Passed the House of Representatives August 3,
1998.
Attest:
Clerk.