(a) The Associate Attorney General shall advise and assist the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General in formulating and implementing Departmental policies and programs. The Associate Attorney General shall also provide overall supervision and direction to organizational units as assigned. In addition the Associate Attorney General shall:

(1) Exercise the power and the authority vested in the Attorney General to take final action in matters pertaining to the employment, separation, and general administration of attorneys and law students in pay grades GS-15 and below in organizational units subject to his direction.

(2) Perform such other duties as may be especially assigned from time to time by the Attorney General.

(3) Exercise the power and authority vested in the Attorney General to authorize the Director of the U.S. Marshals Service to deputize persons to perform the functions of a Deputy U.S. Marshal.

(b) The Associate Attorney General may redelegate the authority provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section to the official in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General responsible for attorney personnel management.

(c) The Associate Attorney General is the Attorney General's designee for purposes of determining whether, under part 39 of this title, a handicapped person can achieve the purpose of a program without fundamental changes in its nature, and whether an action would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a program or activity or in undue financial and administrative burdens. The Associate Attorney General may not redelegate this authority.