Section 1502.17 - Advice on public participation in hearings(a) All inquiries from the public about scheduling, location, and general procedures should be addressed to the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207, or telephone (301) 504-0800.(b) Requests by hearing participants for changes in the schedule of a hearing or for filing documents, briefs, or other pleadings should be made in writing directly to the presiding officer.(c) Under no circumstances will the Office of the General Counsel of CPSC directly provide advice about a hearing to any person who is participating or may participate in the hearing. In every hearing, certain attorneys in the office are designated to represent the staff. Other members of the office, ordinarily including the General Counsel, are designated to advise the Commission on a final decision in the matter. It is not compatible with these functions, nor would it be professionally responsible, for the attorneys in the Office of the General Counsel also to advise other participants in a hearing, or for any attorney who may be called on to advise the Commission to respond to inquiries from other participants in the hearing; such participants may be urging views contrary to those of the staff involved or to what may ultimately be the final conclusions of the Commission. Accordingly, members of the Office of the General Counsel, other than the attorneys responsible for representing the staff, will not answer questions about the hearing from any participant or potential participant.(d) Participants in a hearing may communicate with the attorneys responsible for representing the staff, in the same way that they may communicate with counsel for any other party in interest about the presentation of matters at the hearing. It would be inappropriate to bar discussion of such matters as stipulations of fact, joint presentation of witnesses, or possible settlement of hearing issues. Members of the public, including participants at hearings, are advised, however, that all such communications, including those by telephone, will be recorded in memoranda that can be filed with the Office of the Secretary.(e) Separation of functions and ex parte communications will be handled as follows. (1) An interested person may meet or correspond with any CPSC representative concerning a matter prior to publication of a notice announcing a formal evidentiary public hearing on the matter. The provisions of 16 CFR part 1012 apply to such meetings.(2) Upon publication of a notice announcing a formal evidentiary public hearing, the following rules concerning separation of functions apply:(i) The CPSC staff members responsible for preparing evidence and participating in the hearing in the matter are, as a party to the hearing, responsible for all investigative functions and for presentation of the position of the staff at the hearing and in any pleading or oral argument before the Commission. These representatives of the staff may not participate or advise in any decision except as witnesses or counsel in public proceedings. Except as provided herein, there shall be no other communication between representatives of the staff and representatives of the various Commissioners' offices concerning the matter prior to the decision of the Commission. The Commission may, however, designate other representatives of the staff to advise the Commission. The designation will be in writing and filed with the Office of the Secretary no later than the time specified in paragraph (f)(2) of this section for the application of separation of functions. All employees of the CPSC other than representatives of the involved staff (except for those specifically designated otherwise) may be called upon to advise and participate with the offices of the Commissioners in their functions relating to the hearing and the final decision.(ii) The General Counsel of CPSC shall designate members of the Office of the General Counsel to advise and participate with the staff in its functions in the hearing and shall designate other members of the Office of the General Counsel to advise the offices of the Commissioners in their functions related to the hearing and the final decision. The members of the Office of the General Counsel designated to advise the staff may not participate or advise in any decision of the Commission except as counsel in public proceedings. The designation shall be in the form of a memorandum filed with the Office of the Secretary and made a part of the administrative record in the proceeding. There may be no other communication between those members of the Office of the General Counsel designated to advise the offices of the Commissioners and any other person in the Office of the General Counsel or in the involved staff with respect to the matter prior to the decision of the Commission. The General Counsel may assign different attorneys to advise either the staff or the offices of the Commissioners at any stage of the proceedings. The General Counsel will ordinarily advise and participate with the offices of the Commissioners in their functions relating to the hearing and the final decision.(iii) The Commissioners are responsible for the agency review and final decision of the matter, with the advice and participation of anyone in CPSC other than representatives of the responsible staff and those members of the Office of the General Counsel designated to assist in the staff functions in the hearing.(iv) Between the date that separation of functions applies and the date of the Commission's decision on the matter, communication concerning the matter involved in the hearing will be restricted as follows:(A) No person outside CPSC may have an ex parte communication with the presiding officer or any person representing the offices of the Commissioners concerning the matter in the hearing. Neither the presiding officer nor any person representing the offices of the Commissioners may have any ex parte communications with a person outside CPSC concerning the matter in the hearing. All communications are to be public communications, as witness or counsel under the applicable procedures.(B) A participant in the hearing may submit a written communication concerning a proposal for settlement to the presiding officer with a request that it be transmitted to the Commission. These communications are to be in the form of pleadings, served on all other participants, and filed with the Office of the Secretary like any other pleading.(C) A written communication contrary to this section must be immediately served on all other participants and filed with the Office of the Secretary by the presiding officer at the hearing, or by the Commissioner, depending on who received the communication. An oral communication contrary to this section must be immediately recorded in a written memorandum and similarly served on all other participants and filed with the Office of the Secretary. A person, including a representative of a participant in the hearing, who is involved in an oral communication contrary to this section, must, if possible, be made available for cross-examination during the hearing with respect to the substance of that conversation. Rebuttal testimony pertinent to a written or oral communication contrary to this section will be permitted. Cross-examination and rebuttal testimony will be transcribed and filed with the Office of the Secretary.(D) The making of a communication contrary to this section may, consistent with the interests of justice and the policy of the underlying statute, result in a decision adverse to the person knowingly making or causing the making of such a communication.56 FR 9278, Mar. 6, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 46667, Sept. 4, 1997