Cite as: 503 U. S. 329 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
meaning of a statute somewhat difficult to ascertain. See, e. g., E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Train, 430 U. S. 112, 128 (1977); Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood, 441 U. S. 91, 102-103 (1979). Yet, even though § 3585(b) no longer mentions the Attorney General, we do not see how he can avoid determining the amount of a defendant's jail-time credit.
After a district court sentences a federal offender, the Attorney General, through BOP, has the responsibility for administering the sentence. See 18 U. S. C. § 3621(a) ("A person who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment . . . shall be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons until the expiration of the term imposed"). To fulfill this duty, BOP must know how much of the sentence the offender has left to serve. Because the offender has a right to certain jail-time credit under § 3585(b), and because the district court cannot determine the amount of the credit at sentencing, the Attorney General has no choice but to make the determination as an administrative matter when imprisoning the defendant.
Crediting jail time against federal sentences long has operated in this manner. After Congress enacted § 3568 in 1966, BOP developed detailed procedures and guidelines for determining the credit available to prisoners. See Federal Prison System Program Statement No. 5880.24 (Sept. 5, 1979) and Federal Bureau of Prisons Operations Memorandum No. EMS DM 154-89 (Oct. 23, 1989), Apps. B and C to Brief for United States (stating BOP's procedures for computing jail-time credit determinations); see also United States v. Lucas, 898 F. 2d 1554 (CA11 1990). Federal regulations have afforded prisoners administrative review of the computation of their credits, see 28 CFR §§ 542.10-542.16 (1990); Lucas, supra, at 1556, and prisoners have been able to seek judicial review of these computations after exhausting their administrative remedies, see United States v. Bayless, 940 F. 2d 300, 304-305 (CA8 1991); United States v. Flanagan, 868 F. 2d
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