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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 2415. Time for commencing actions brought by the United States
(a) Subject to the provisions of section 2416 of this title, and
except as otherwise provided by Congress, every action for money
damages brought by the United States or an officer or agency
thereof which is founded upon any contract express or implied in
law or fact, shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within
six years after the right of action accrues or within one year
after final decisions have been rendered in applicable
administrative proceedings required by contract or by law,
whichever is later: Provided, That in the event of later partial
payment or written acknowledgment of debt, the right of action
shall be deemed to accrue again at the time of each such payment or
acknowledgment: Provided further, That an action for money damages
brought by the United States for or on behalf of a recognized
tribe, band or group of American Indians shall not be barred unless
the complaint is filed more than six years and ninety days after
the right of action accrued: Provided further, That an action for
money damages which accrued on the date of enactment of this Act in
accordance with subsection (g) brought by the United States for or
on behalf of a recognized tribe, band, or group of American
Indians, or on behalf of an individual Indian whose land is held in
trust or restricted status, shall not be barred unless the
complaint is filed sixty days after the date of publication of the
list required by section 4(c) of the Indian Claims Limitation Act
of 1982: Provided, That, for those claims that are on either of the
two lists published pursuant to the Indian Claims Limitation Act of
1982, any right of action shall be barred unless the complaint is
filed within (1) one year after the Secretary of the Interior has
published in the Federal Register a notice rejecting such claim or
(2) three years after the date the Secretary of the Interior has
submitted legislation or legislative report to Congress to resolve
such claim or more than two years after a final decision has been
rendered in applicable administrative proceedings required by
contract or by law, whichever is later.
(b) Subject to the provisions of section 2416 of this title, and
except as otherwise provided by Congress, every action for money
damages brought by the United States or an officer or agency
thereof which is founded upon a tort shall be barred unless the
complaint is filed within three years after the right of action
first accrues: Provided, That an action to recover damages
resulting from a trespass on lands of the United States; an action
to recover damages resulting from fire to such lands; an action to
recover for diversion of money paid under a grant program; and an
action for conversion of property of the United States may be
brought within six years after the right of action accrues, except
that such actions for or on behalf of a recognized tribe, band or
group of American Indians, including actions relating to allotted
trust or restricted Indian lands, may be brought within six years
and ninety days after the right of action accrues, except that such
actions for or on behalf of a recognized tribe, band, or group of
American Indians, including actions relating to allotted trust or
restricted Indian lands, or on behalf of an individual Indian whose
land is held in trust or restricted status which accrued on the
date of enactment of this Act in accordance with subsection (g) may
be brought on or before sixty days after the date of the
publication of the list required by section 4(c) of the Indian
Claims Limitation Act of 1982: Provided, That, for those claims
that are on either of the two lists published pursuant to the
Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982, any right of action shall be
barred unless the complaint is filed within (1) one year after the
Secretary of the Interior has published in the Federal Register a
notice rejecting such claim or (2) three years after the Secretary
of the Interior has submitted legislation or legislative report to
Congress to resolve such claim.
(c) Nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the time for bringing
an action to establish the title to, or right of possession of,
real or personal property.
(d) Subject to the provisions of section 2416 of this title and
except as otherwise provided by Congress, every action for the
recovery of money erroneously paid to or on behalf of any civilian
employee of any agency of the United States or to or on behalf of
any member or dependent of any member of the uniformed services of
the United States, incident to the employment or services of such
employee or member, shall be barred unless the complaint is filed
within six years after the right of action accrues: Provided, That
in the event of later partial payment or written acknowledgment of
debt, the right of action shall be deemed to accrue again at the
time of each such payment or acknowledgment.
(e) In the event that any action to which this section applies is
timely brought and is thereafter dismissed without prejudice, the
action may be recommenced within one year after such dismissal,
regardless of whether the action would otherwise then be barred by
this section. In any action so recommenced the defendant shall not
be barred from interposing any claim which would not have been
barred in the original action.
(f) The provisions of this section shall not prevent the
assertion, in an action against the United States or an officer or
agency thereof, of any claim of the United States or an officer or
agency thereof against an opposing party, a co-party, or a third
party that arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the
subject matter of the opposing party's claim. A claim of the United
States or an officer or agency thereof that does not arise out of
the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the
opposing party's claim may, if time-barred, be asserted only by way
of offset and may be allowed in an amount not to exceed the amount
of the opposing party's recovery.
(g) Any right of action subject to the provisions of this section
which accrued prior to the date of enactment of this Act shall, for
purposes of this section, be deemed to have accrued on the date of
enactment of this Act.
(h) Nothing in this Act shall apply to actions brought under the
Internal Revenue Code or incidental to the collection of taxes
imposed by the United States.
(i) The provisions of this section shall not prevent the United
States or an officer or agency thereof from collecting any claim of
the United States by means of administrative offset, in accordance
with section 3716 of title 31.
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