mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES


Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 93 / Friday, May 13, 2016 / Notices 29861 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

[Notice 2016–02] 

Policy Statement Regarding a Program 

for Requesting Consideration of Legal 

Questions by the Commission 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Policy statement. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Election 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) adopted a 

program on August 1, 2011, providing 

for a means by which persons and 

entities may have a legal question 

considered by the Commission earlier in 

both the report review process and the 

audit process. On October 23, 2013, the 

Commission revised this policy to 

provide an alternative electronic means 

to file a request with the Commission. 

This new policy is identical to the 

October 23, 2013 program, except that it 

makes two modifications: (1) To clarify 

that requests for consideration be 

submitted to the Commission Secretary 

to ensure that such request are 

processed in timely manner, and (2) to 

build five business days into the 

program to allow time for informal 

resolution of matters. 

DATES: Effective May 13, 2016. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Lorenzo Holloway, Assistant General 

Counsel, or Margaret Forman, Attorney, 

999 E Street NW., Washington, DC 

20463, (202) 694–1650 or (800) 424– 

9530. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

1, 2011, the Commission adopted a 

program providing for a means by 

which persons and entities may have a 

legal question considered by the 

Commission earlier in both the report 

review process and the audit process. 

Specifically, when the Office of 

Compliance (‘‘OC’’) (which includes the 

Reports Analysis Division and the Audit 

Division) requests that a person or entity 

take corrective action during the report 

review or audit process, if the person or 

entity disagrees with the request based 

upon a material dispute on a question 

of law, the person or entity may seek 

Commission consideration of the issue 

pursuant to this procedure. This 

Commission is now revising this 

program. The October 23, 2013 revision 

of the program was identical to that 

August 1, 2011 program, except that it 

provided alternative means to file a 

request with the Commission. This 

change was made to address and clarify 

timeliness issues due to delays in the 

processing and receipt of requests 

mailed to the Commission, by 

encouraging requests to be filed 

electronically by email. Processing 

delays can result in an untimely 

submission of a request under the 

program. Persons and entities making 

such a request may not be aware that 

these processing delays can occur when 

documents are sent via first class mail 

to a federal government agency. As 

currently revised, the program is 

identical to the October 23, 2013 

program, except that it makes two 

modifications: (1) To clarify that 

requests for consideration be submitted 

to the Commission Secretary to ensure 

that such request are processed in 

timely manner, and (2) to build five 

business days into the program to allow 

time for informal resolution of matters. 

The first change was made to address 

and clarify that these requests must be 

sent to the attention of the Commission 

Secretary, either through the dedicated 

email address, LegalRequestProgram@ 

fec.gov, or by mail to the Commission’s 

mailing address. There are two reasons 

for this change. First, the Commission 

Secretary is the person responsible for 

transmitting the Request to each 

Commissioner, the General Counsel, 

and the Staff Director, and therefore 

must be the recipient of any requests. 

Second, if the request is sent to another 

staff member, by email or otherwise, the 

processing of the request could be 

delayed. The second change was made 

to build five business days into the 

program to allow time for informal 

resolution of matters. This informal 

resolution process will be especially 

helpful in situations where the 

information related to or generated in 

the request reveals information that 

could potentially result in the informal 

resolution of the matter, without using 

additional Commission resources to 

submit the request formally through the 

entire Program. Allowing five business 

days to attempt to informally resolve 

matters will provide OGC and OC with 

an amount of time dedicated exclusively 

to informal resolution efforts instead of 

dividing their time and resources 

between attempting informal resolution 

and preparing the recommendation 

memorandum in a compressed time 

period intended solely for drafting the 

recommendation to the Commission. 

This informal resolution process would 

allow for a more efficient use of 

Commission resources. The policy 

statement regarding this program is 

reprinted in its entirety, below. It 

includes the revisions outlined above, 

which appear in the third and fourth 

paragraphs of the ‘‘Procedures’’ section, 

below. 

I. Procedures 

Within 15 business days of a 

determination by the Reports Analysis 

Division or Audit Division that a person 

or entity remains obligated to take 

corrective action to resolve an issue that 

has arisen during the report review or 

audit process, the person or entity may 

seek Commission consideration if a 

material dispute on a question of law 

exists with respect to the recommended 

corrective action.1 A ‘‘determination’’ 

for purposes of triggering the 15 

business days is either: (1) Notification 

to the person or entity of legal guidance 

prepared by the Office of General 

Counsel (‘‘OGC’’) at the request of the 

Reports Analysis Division 

recommending the corrective action; or 

(2) the end of the Committee’s Audit 

Exit Conference response period. 

Any request for consideration by a 

Committee during the report review 

process or the audit process shall be 

limited to questions of law on material 

issues, when: (1) The legal issue is 

novel, complex, or pertains to an 

unsettled question of law; (2) there has 

been intervening legislation, 

rulemaking, or litigation since the 

Commission last considered the issue; 

or (3) the request to take corrective 

action is contrary to or otherwise 

inconsistent with prior Commission 

matters dealing with the same issue. 

The request must specify the question of 

law at issue and why it is subject to 

Commission consideration. It should 

discuss, when appropriate, prior 

Commission matters raising the same 

issue, relevant court decisions, and any 

other analysis of the issue that may 

assist the Commission in its decision 

making. The Commission will not 

consider factual disputes under this 

procedure, and any requests for 

consideration other than on questions of 

law on material issues will not be 

granted. 

All requests, including any extension 

requests, must be received by the 

Commission within 15 business days of 

the determination of corrective action. 

All requests must be directed to the 

attention of the Commission Secretary. 

Requestors may submit requests 

electronically via email. If a Requestor 

chooses to submit a request 

electronically via email, the email must 

be sent to LegalRequestProgram@ 

fec.gov. Requestors are encouraged to 

submit comments electronically to 

ensure timely receipt and consideration. 

Alternatively, requests may be 

submitted in paper form. Paper requests 

must be sent to the Federal Election 

Commission, Attn.: Commission 

1 Many disputes involving corrective action 

requests hinge on questions of fact rather than 

questions of law, and thus are not appropriate for 

this procedure. 
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES


29862 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 93 / Friday, May 13, 2016 / Notices 

Secretary, 999 E Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20463. Requestors are 

advised that if they submit a request, 

electronically or otherwise, to a 

different address than designated in this 

Policy, the processing of the request 

may be delayed. Upon receipt of a 

request, the Commission Secretary shall 

forward a copy of any request to each 

Commissioner, the General Counsel, 

and the Staff Director. 

Any request for an extension of time 

to file will be considered on a case-bycase basis and will only be granted if 

good cause is shown, and the 

Commission approves the extension 

request by four affirmative votes within 

five business days of receipt of the 

extension request. Within five business 

days of notification to the 

Commissioners of a request for 

consideration of a legal question, if two 

or more Commissioners agree that the 

Commission should consider the 

request, OGC may, at that time, attempt 

to resolve the matter informally over the 

course of five business days. Within 15 

business days from the date upon which 

OC and OGC conclude that the matter 

cannot be resolved informally, or from 

the expiration of the five business day 

period, whichever occurs first, OGC will 

prepare and circulate a recommendation 

in accordance with all applicable 

Commission Directives. If the matter is 

resolved informally, OC and OGC will 

notify the Commission that the matter 

has been resolved, and notify the 

Requestor in writing of the notification 

to the Commission. Informal resolution 

of a matter does not prevent the 

Requestor from seeking Commission 

consideration, in an additional or 

subsequent determination, subject to the 

requirements of this program. 

After the recommendation is 

circulated for a Commission vote, in the 

event of an objection, the matter shall be 

automatically placed on the next 

meeting agenda consistent with the 

Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b(g), and 

applicable Commission regulations, 11 

CFR part 2. However, if within 60 

business days of the filing of a request 

for consideration, the Commission has 

not resolved the issue or provided 

guidance on how to proceed with the 

matter by the affirmative vote of four or 

more Commissioners, the OC may 

proceed with the matter. After the 60 

business days has elapsed, any 

requestor will be provided a copy of 

OGC’s recommendation memorandum 

and an accompanying vote certification, 

or if no such certification exists, a cover 

page stating the disposition of the 

memoranda. Confidential information 

will be redacted as necessary. 

After the request review process has 

concluded, or a Final Audit Report has 

been approved, a copy of the request for 

consideration, as well as the 

recommendation memorandum and 

accompanying vote certification or 

disposition memorandum, will be 

placed with the Committee’s filings or 

audit documents on the Commission’s 

Web site within 30 days. These 

materials will also be placed on the 

Commission’s Web page dedicated to 

legal questions considered by the 

Commission under this program. 

This procedure is not intended to 

circumvent or supplant the Advisory 

Opinion process provided under 52 

U.S.C. 30108 and 11 CFR part 112. 

Accordingly, any legal issues that 

qualify for consideration under the 

Advisory Opinion process are not 

appropriate for consideration under this 

new procedure. Additionally, this 

policy statement does not supersede the 

procedures regarding eligibility and 

entitlement to public funds set forth in 

Commission Directive 24 and 11 CFR 

9005.1, 9033.4, 9033.6 or 9033.10. 

II. Annual Review 

No later than July 1 of each year, the 

OC and OGC shall jointly prepare and 

distribute to the Commission a written 

report containing a summary of the 

requests made under the program over 

the previous year and a summary of the 

Commission’s consideration of those 

requests and any action taken thereon. 

The annual report shall also include the 

Chief Compliance Officer’s and the 

General Counsel’s assessment of 

whether, and to what extent, the 

program has promoted efficiency and 

fairness in both the Commission’s report 

review process and in the audit process, 

as well as their recommendations, if 

any, for modifications to the program. 

The Commission may terminate or 

modify this program through additional 

policy statements at any time by an 

affirmative vote of four of its members. 

On behalf of the Commission. 

Dated: May 5, 2016. 

Matthew S. Petersen, 

Chairman, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2016–11145 Filed 5–12–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH 

REVIEW COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Notice 

May 11, 2016. 

TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m., Thursday, 

May 26, 2016. 

PLACE: The Richard V. Backley Hearing 

Room, Room 511N, 1331 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004 

(enter from F Street entrance). 

STATUS: Open. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The 

Commission will consider and act upon 

the following in open session: Secretary 

of Labor v. Hecla Limited, et al., Docket 

Nos. WEST 2012–760–M, et al. (Issues 

include whether the Judge erred in 

ruling that the operator did not violate 

the standard requiring that ground 

conditions be examined and tested.). 

Any person attending this meeting 

who requires special accessibility 

features and/or auxiliary aids, such as 

sign language interpreters, must inform 

the Commission in advance of those 

needs. Subject to 29 CFR 2706.150(a)(3) 

and § 2706.160(d). 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFO: 

Emogene Johnson (202) 434–9935/(202) 

708–9300 for TDD Relay/1–800–877– 

8339 for toll free. 

Sarah L. Stewart, 

Deputy General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2016–11453 Filed 5–11–16; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 6735–01–P 

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH 

REVIEW COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Notice 

May 11, 2016. 

TIME AND DATE: 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, 

May 25, 2016. 

PLACE: The Richard V. Backley Hearing 

Room, Room 511N, 1331 Pennsylvania 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20004 

(enter from F Street entrance). 

STATUS: Open. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The 

Commission will hear oral argument in 

the matter Secretary of Labor v. Hecla 

Limited, et al., Docket Nos. WEST 2012– 

760–M, et al. (Issues include whether 

the Judge erred in ruling that the 

operator did not violate the standard 

requiring that ground conditions be 

examined and tested.). 

Any person attending this oral 

argument who requires special 

accessibility features and/or auxiliary 

aids, such as sign language interpreters, 

must inform the Commission in advance 

of those needs. Subject to 29 CFR 

2706.150(a)(3) and § 2706.160(d). 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFO: 

Emogene Johnson (202) 434–9935/(202)