The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, referred to in subsec. (b)(1)(C)(iv), is Pub. L. 103–141, Nov. 16, 1993, 107 Stat. 1488, which is classified principally to chapter 21B (§ 2000bb et seq.) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2000bb of Title 42 and Tables.

The date of enactment of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, referred to in subsecs. (e)(1) and (f), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–9, which was approved Mar. 12, 2019.

Section 7430 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in subsec. (i), is classified to section 7430 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.

2019—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 116–9, § 4201(a)(1)(A), struck out “, United States Code” after “title 28”.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 116–9, § 4201(a)(1)(C), added subsec. (e) and struck out former subsec. (e) which read as follows: “The Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States, after consultation with the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, shall report annually to the Congress on the amount of fees and other expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year pursuant to this section. The report shall describe the number, nature, and amount of the awards, the claims involved in the controversy, and any other relevant information which may aid the Congress in evaluating the scope and impact of such awards. Each agency shall provide the Chairman with such information as is necessary for the Chairman to comply with the requirements of this subsection.”

Subsecs. (f) to (i). Pub. L. 116–9, § 4201(a)(1)(B), (C), added subsecs. (f) to (h) and redesignated former subsec. (f) as (i).

2011—Subsec. (b)(1)(C)(ii). Pub. L. 111–350 substituted “section 7103 of title 41” for “section 6 of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 605)” and “section 7105 of title 41” for “section 8 of that Act (41 U.S.C. 607)”.

1996—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 104–121, § 231(a), added par. (4).

Subsec. (b)(1)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 104–121, § 231(b)(1), substituted “$125” for “$75”.

Subsec. (b)(1)(B). Pub. L. 104–121, § 231(b)(2), inserted before semicolon at end “or for purposes of subsection (a)(4), a small entity as defined in section 601”.

Subsec. (b)(1)(F). Pub. L. 104–121, § 231(b)(3)–(5), added subpar. (F).

1993—Subsec. (b)(1)(C). Pub. L. 103–141 added cl. (iv).

1988—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100–647 added subsec. (f).

1986—Subsec. (b)(1)(B). Pub. L. 99–514 substituted “Internal Revenue Code of 1986” for “Internal Revenue Code of 1954”.

Subsec. (b)(1)(C)(iii). Pub. L. 99–509 added cl. (iii).

1985—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(a)(1), (2), struck out “as a party to the proceeding” after “the position of the agency”, and inserted “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.”

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(b), inserted “When the United States appeals 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.”

Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(a)(3), inserted “The decision of the agency on the application for fees and other expenses shall be the final administrative decision under this section.”

Subsec. (b)(1)(B). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(c)(1), amended subpar. (B) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (B) read as follows: “ ‘party’ means a party, as defined in section 551(3) of this title, which is an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or public or private organization other than an agency, but excludes (i) any individual whose net worth exceeded $1,000,000 at the time the adversary adjudication was initiated, and any sole owner of an unincorporated business, or any partnership, corporation, association, or organization whose net worth exceeded $5,000,000 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 the Code and a cooperative association as defined in section 15(a) of the Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C. 1141j(a)), may be a party regardless of the net worth of such organization or cooperative association, and (ii) any sole owner of an unincorporated business, or any partnership, corporation, association, or organization, having more than 500 employees at the time the adversary adjudication was initiated;”.

Subsec. (b)(1)(C). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(c)(2), designated existing provisions of subpar. (C) as cl. (i) thereof by inserting “(i)” before “an adjudication under”, added cl. (ii), and struck out “and” after the semicolon at the end.

Subsec. (b)(1)(D), (E). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(c)(3), substituted “; and” for the period at end of subpar. (D), and added subpar. (E).

Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(d), amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: “A party dissatisfied with the fee determination made under subsection (a) may petition for leave to appeal to the court of the United States having jurisdiction to review the merits of the underlying decision of the agency adversary adjudication. If the court denies the petition for leave to appeal, no appeal may be taken from the denial. If the court grants the petition, it may modify the determination only if it finds that the failure to make an award, or the calculation of the amount of the award, was an abuse of discretion.”

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99–80, § 1(e), amended subsec. (d) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) read as follows:

“(1) Fees and other expenses awarded under this section may be paid by any agency over which the party prevails from any funds made available to the agency, by appropriation or otherwise, for such purpose. If not paid by any agency, the fees and other expenses shall be paid in the same manner as the payment of final judgments is made pursuant to section 2414 of title 28, United States Code.

“(2) There is authorized to be appropriated to each agency for each of the fiscal years 1982, 1983, and 1984, such sums as may be necessary to pay fees and other expenses awarded under this section in such fiscal years.”

1980—Pub. L. 96–481, § 203(c), which provided for the repeal of this section effective Oct. 1, 1984, was itself repealed and this section was revived by section 6 of Pub. L. 99–80, set out as a note below.

Pub. L. 104–121, title II, § 233, Mar. 29, 1996, 110 Stat. 864, provided that: “The amendments made by sections 331 and 332 [probably means sections 231 and 232, amending this section and section 2412 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure] shall apply to civil actions and adversary adjudications commenced on or after the date of the enactment of this subtitle [Mar. 29, 1996].”

Amendment by Pub. L. 100–647 applicable to proceedings commencing after Nov. 10, 1988, see section 6239(d) of Pub. L. 100–647, set out as a note under section 7430 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.

Amendment by Pub. L. 99–509 effective Oct. 21, 1986, and applicable to any claim or statement made, presented or submitted on or after such date, see section 6104 of Pub. L. 99–509, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3801 of Title 31, Money and Finance.

Pub. L. 99–80, § 7, Aug. 5, 1985, 99 Stat. 186, provided that:

Pub. L. 96–481, title II, § 208, Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2330, as amended by Pub. L. 99–80, § 5, Aug. 5, 1985, 99 Stat. 186, provided that: “This title and the amendments made by this title [see Short Title note below] shall take effect of [on] October 1, 1981, and shall apply to any adversary adjudication, as defined in section 504(b)(1)(C) of title 5, United States Code, and any civil action or adversary adjudication described in section 2412 of title 28, United States Code, which is pending on, or commenced on or after, such date. Awards may be made for fees and other expenses incurred before October 1, 1981, in any such adversary adjudication or civil action.”

Pub. L. 96–481, title II, § 203(c), Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2327, which provided that effective Oct. 1, 1984, this section is repealed, except that the provisions of this section shall continue to apply through final disposition of any adversary adjudication initiated before the date of repeal, was itself repealed by Pub. L. 99–80, § 6(b)(1), Aug. 5, 1985, 99 Stat. 186.

Pub. L. 96–481, title II, § 201, Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2325, provided that: “This title [enacting this section, amending section 634 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade, section 2412 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, set out in Title 28 Appendix, and section 1988 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and section 2412 of Title 28] may be cited as the ‘Equal Access to Justice Act’.”

For termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in subsec. (e) of this section relating to annual report to Congress on the amount of fees and other expenses, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and page 153 of House Document No. 103–7.

For termination of Administrative Conference of United States, see provision of title IV of Pub. L. 104–52, set out as a note preceding section 591 of this title.

Pub. L. 102–377, title V, § 502, Oct. 2, 1992, 106 Stat. 1342, provided that: “None of the funds in this Act or subsequent Energy and Water Development Appropriations Acts shall be used to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in such Acts.”

Pub. L. 99–80, § 6, Aug. 5, 1985, 99 Stat. 186, provided that:

Pub. L. 96–481, title II, § 202, Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2325, provided that:

Pub. L. 96–481, title II, § 207, Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2330, which provided that the payment of judgments, fees and other expenses in the same manner as the payment of final judgments as provided in this Act [probably should be “this title”, see Short Title note above] would be effective only to the extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts, was repealed by Pub. L. 99–80, § 4, Aug. 5, 1985, 99 Stat. 186.