PUBLIC LAW 99-80—AUG. 5, 1985
99 STAT. 183
Public Law 99-80 99th Congress An Act To amend section 504 of title 5, United States Code, and section 2412 of title 28, United States Code, with respect to awards of expenses of certain agency and court proceedings, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 504 OF TITLE 5. (a) AWARDING OP FEES IN ADVERSARY ADJUDICATIONS.— (1) DETERMINATION OF "SUBSTANTIALLY JUSTIFIED".—Subsec-
tion (a)(l) of section 504 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "Whether or not the position of the agency was substantially justified shall be determined on the basis of the administrative record, as a whole, which is made in the adversary adjudication for which fees and other expenses are sought.". (2) CLARIFYING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (a)(1) of such section is amended by striking out "as a party to the proceeding". (3) DECISION OF AGENCY TO BE FINAL ADMINISTRATIVE DECI-
SION.—Subsection (a)(3) of such section is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "The decision of the agency on the application for fees and other expenses shall be the final administrative decision under this section.". fl^) DETERMINATION OF FEES DELAYED IN CASE OF APPEAL.—Sub&BC-
tion (a)(2) of section 504 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "When the United Stales app|eals the underlying merits of an adversary adjudication, no decision on an application for fees and other expenses in connection with that adversary adjudication shall be made under this section until a final and unreviewable decision is rendered by the court on the appeal or until the underlying merits of the case have been finally determined pursuant to the appeal.", (c) DEFINITIONS.—
(1) PARTY.—Paragraph (I)(B) of section 504(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "(B) 'party' means a party, as defined in section 551(3) of this title, who is (i) an individual whose net worth did not exceed $2,000,000 at the time the adversary adjudication was initiat(}d, or (ii) any owner of an unincorporated business, or any partnership, corporation, association, unit of local government, or organization, the net worth of which did not exceed $7,000,000 at the time the adversary adjudication was initiated, and which had not more than 500 employees at the time the adversary adjudication was initiated; except that an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code, or a cooperative association as defined in section 15(a) of the Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C. 1141j(a)), may
^ug 5 19^5 ' ' [H.R. 2378]
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