17.160—Time limitation for notifying the Department of the Treasury to request offset of Federal payments due.
(a)
The Secretary may not initiate offset of Federal payments due to collect a debt for which authority to collect arises under 31 U.S.C. 3716 more than 10 years after the Secretary's right to collect the debt first accrued, unless facts material to the Secretary's right to collect the debt were not known and could not reasonably have been known by the officials of the Department who were responsible for discovering and collecting such debts.
(b)
When the debt first accrued is determined according to existing law regarding the accrual of debts. (See, for example, 28 U.S.C. 2415.)