U.S. MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD 

Office of the Chairman 

1615 M Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20419-0002 

Phone: (202) 653-7101; Fax: (202) 653-7208; E-Mail: chairman@mspb.aov 

Chairman 

October 19, 2011 

Mr. James V. Blair 

Deputy Associate Solicitor for Administrative Legal Services (Acting) 

U.S. Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N2424 

Washington, D.C. 20210 

Dear Mr. Blair: 

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is planning a major revision to its 

regulations in 5 C.F.R. Parts 1201, 1208, and 1209. An internal working group has done an indepth review of those regulations and identified a number of proposed revisions, which are 

contained in the attached table. Ultimately, this will take the form of notice-and-comment 

rulemaking via the Federal Register, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

§ 553. Before undertaking formal rulemaking, however, we are seeking input from our 

stakeholders in accordance with the public participation requirement in Executive Order 13563 

"Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review." As someone who is interested in MSPB, this is 

your opportunity to comment on our regulatory effort before drafting a formal notice of proposed 

rulemaking. 

We note at the outset that we would welcome any comments or suggestions individual 

stakeholders may have as to MSPB's adjudicatory regulations, regardless of whether your 

comments and suggestions relate to the specific matters addressed in the table created by our 

internal working group. We want you to be aware ofthe specific suggestions made by that 

group, and the rationale for making the suggested changes, so that we can get any comments you 

might have regarding those particular recommended changes. We emphasize that the 

suggestions in the attached table should be considered as preliminary and tentative in nature. No 

decisions have yet been made as to which suggestions will become part of the notice of proposed 

rulemaking, or the precise language of any proposed revisions to our regulations. 

Written comments must be received no later than November 30, 2011. In addition, those 

who have provided written comments may be invited to an in-person meeting where Board staff 

will receive oral comments from individual stakeholders. In accordance with the "open 

exchange" requirement set forth in Executive Order 13563, all written comments received from 

stakeholders will be published on the Board's website. In addition, a recording and/or transcript 

of any stakeholder meetings that may be held will also be made available to the public on the 

Board's website. 
Our strong preference is that you submit your written comments in electronic form as an 

attachment to an email message addressed to mspb@mspb.gov, (subject line "Regulation 

Revision Comments"). Any common electronic format such as a word-processing application, 

PDF, or HTML is acceptable. You may, however, submit your comments in written form 

addressed to the Clerk ofthe Board, 1615 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20419. If you would 

like a copy of the attached table in electronic form (the electronic version of the table contains 

hyperlinks to many of the cited legal authorities), please advise by email to the address listed 

above. 

Thank you in advance for your assistance and participation in this comprehensive review 

of the Board's regulations. We look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions .. 

Sincerely, 

Susan Tsui Grundmann 

Enclosure: MSPB Regulation Review Table 
cc: 

James V. Blair 

Deputy Associate Solicitor for 

Administrative Legal Services (Acting) 

U.S. Department of Labor 

200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 

Room N2424 

Washington, D.C. 20210 

Charles A. Blanchard 

General Counsel 

U.S. Department of the Air Force 

1740 Air Force Pentagon 

Washington, D.C. 20330-1740 

Neil Bonney 

Bonney, Allenberg & O'Reilly 

4854 Haygood Road, Suite 200 

Virginia Beach, VA 23455 

Carol A. Bonosaro 

President 

Senior Executives Association 

77 K Street, NE, Suite 2600 

Washington, D.C. 20002 

William L. Bransford 

Shaw, Bransford & Roth 

1100 Connecticut Avenue, NW 

Suite 900 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Peter B. Broida 

2009 N. 141

h Street 

Suite 705 

Arlington, VA 22201 

Terisa E. Chaw 

Executive Director 

National Employment Lawyers Association 

1828 L Street, NW, Suite 600 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Dana K. Chipman 

The Judge Advocate General 

U.S. Department of the Army 

2200 Army Pentagon 

Washington, D.C. 20310-2200 

George M. Chuzi 

Kalijari, Chuzi & Newman, P.C. 

1901 L Street, N.W. 

Suite610 

Washington, D.C. 20036-3542 

Thomas Devine 

Legal Director 

Government Accountability Project 

1612 K Street, NW, Suite 1100 

Washington, D.C. 20006 

William Dougan 

National President 

National Federation of Federal Employees 

805 15111 Street, NW, Suite 500 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

Beatrice Edwards 

Executive Director 

Government Accountability Project 

1612 K Street, NW, Suite 1100 

Washington, D.C. 20006 

Ivan K. Fong 

General Counsel 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

245 Murry Lane, Mail Stop 3650 

Washington, D.C. 20528 

John Gage 

National President 

American Federation of Government 

Employees, AFL-CIO 

80 F Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20001 

Mary Anne Gibbons 

General Counsel and Executive Vice 

President 

U.S. Postal Service 

475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Suite 6004 

Washington, D.C. 20260-0010 

Will A. Gunn 

General Counsel 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

810 Vermont Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20420 
Mark Hingston 

Office of the General Counsel 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20220 

James W. Houck 

The Judge Advocate General 

U.S. Department of the Navy 

1322 Patterson Avenue, Suite 3000 

Washington Navy Yard, D.C. 20374-5066 

Elaine Kaplan 

General Counsel 

U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

1900 E Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20415 

Joseph Kaplan 

Passman & Kaplan, P.C. 

1828 L Street, N.W. 

Suite 600 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Colleen M. Kelley 

National President 

National Treasury Employees Union 

1750 H Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20006 

Francine J. Kerner 

Chief Counsel 

Transportation Security Administration 

601 South 12th Street, TSA-2 

Washington, D.C. 20598-6002 

Carolyn Lerner 

Special Counsel 

U.S. Office of Special Counsel 

1730 M Street, NW, Suite 218 

Washington, D.C. 20036 

Thomas F. Muther, Jr. 

Minahan & Muther, P.C. 

5132 W. 26th Avenue 

Denver, CO 80212 

Patricia Niehaus 

National President 

Federal Managers Association 

1641 Prince Street 

Alexandria, VA 22314 

Diane M. Nugent · 

Chief, Labor and Employment Law 

Division 

Office of the Judge Advocate General 

U.S. Department of the Army 

2200 Army Pentagon, Room 3E565 

Washington, D.C. 20310-2200 

R. Scott Oswald 

President 

Metropolitan Washington Employment 

Lawyers Association 

400 N. Washington Street, Suite 300 

Washington, D.C. 22314 

Michael I. Quinn 

Office of the Judge Advocate General 

U.S. Department of the Navy 

1322 Patterson Avenue, Suite 3000 

Washington Navy yard, D.C. 20374-5066 

Robert S. Rivkin 

General Counsel 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

400 ih Street, S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20590 

Matthew B. Tully 

Tully Rinckey, PLLC 

441 New Karner Road 

Albany, NY 12205 

Marc L. Warren 

Chief Counsel (Acting) 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, S.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20591 

Tony'West 

Assistant Attorney General for Civil 

Division 

U.S. Department of Justice 

950 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20530-2000