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## Breadcrumb

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-                   PART 2701 - Government in the Sunshine Act Regulations              

#   PART 2701 - Government in the Sunshine Act Regulations

Title 29--LaborCHAPTER XXVII--Federal Mine Safety and Health Review CommissionPART 2701--Government in the Sunshine Act Regulations

[Code of Federal Regulations][Title 29, Volume 9][Revised as of July 1, 2001]From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

#### Sec.  

2701.1  Purpose and scope.2701.2  Open meetings policy; closure of meetings.2701.3  Announcement of meetings.2701.4  Request to open or close meeting.2701.5  Petition for review.2701.6  Discussion during open meetings.2701.7  Expedited closing procedure.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.1]

[Page 648]

**Sec. 2701.1  Purpose and scope.**

(a) Purpose. The purpose of this part is to implement the Governmentin the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b. The rules in this part are intendedto open, to the extent practicable, the meetings of the Commission topublic observation while preserving the Commission's ability to fulfillits responsibilities and respect the interests of persons inconfidential consideration of sensitive matters.

(b) Scope. This part applies to all meetings of the Commission. A``meeting of the Commission'' means a joint deliberation in person or byconference telephone call of at least a majority of either the membersof the Commission or of a panel of three or more Commissioners thatdetermines or results in the joint conduct or disposition of officialCommission business, but does not include (1) deliberations regarding adecision to open or close a meeting, to withhold information about ameeting, and the circumstances of meetings, such as their time, place,and subject matter, and (2) the individual deliberations of Commissionmembers of matters considered upon circulated documents or othernotation procedure.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.2]

[Page 648]

**Sec. 2701.2  Open meetings policy; closure of meetings.**

(a) Policy. Commission meetings will generally be open to publicobservation, including meetings concerning the disposition by theCommission of a formal adjudication. See 5 U.S.C. 522b(c)(10).   (b) Closure. Meetings may be closed, or certain information about ameeting may not be disclosed under the circumstances contemplated by 5U.S.C. 522b(c)(1)-(10), and under the procedures specified by 5 U.S.C.552b (d) and (f). Commission employees may attend closed meetings of thecommission unless the notice of a closed meeting states otherwise.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.3]

[Page 648-649]

**Sec. 2701.3  Announcement of meetings.**

(a) Generally. The Commission shall publicly announce and submit tothe Federal Register at least 7 days before a meeting, the time, place,subject matter of a meeting, whether it is to be open or closed, and thename and phone number of the Commission employee who will respond torequests for information about the meeting. The description of thesubject matter of a meeting at which the Commission will consideradjudicatory matters, shall include the names and docket numbers of thecases to be considered. The Commission shall also contact, by phone ormail, the parties to the cases to be considered at the meeting, shallpost a copy of a notice of the meeting at the Office of PublicInformation, shall mail notices to persons who have requested inclusionof their names on a meeting mailing list, and may issue press releases.

(b) Shorter notice. If a majority of the members of the Commissionor a panel of three or more Commissioners determines by a recorded votethat pressing Commission business requires that a meeting be called inless than 7 days, the announcement required by paragraph (a) of thissection shall be made at the earliest practicable time.

(c) Changes in time, place, subject matter, and decision whether toopen or close after public announcement of meeting. If the time or placeof a meeting publicly announced is changed, or an item to be consideredat such a meeting is to be deleted, the change or deletion shall bepublicly announced without a recorded vote at the earliest practicabletime in the manner required by paragraph (a) of this section. Thesubject matter of a meeting publicly announced shall not be expanded andthe decision to open or close such a meeting shall not be changed unlessa majority of the members of the Commission or if a panel of

[[Page 649]]

three or more Commissioners determines by a recorded vote that agencybusiness so requires and that no earlier announcement of the change waspossible; the Commission shall publicly announce such a change and thevote of each member upon the change at the earliest practicable time.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.4]

[Page 649]

                   

**Sec. 2701.4  Request to open or close meeting.**

Any person may request that the Commission open a meeting that ithas earlier decided to close. Any person whose interest may be directlyaffected by the opening of a meeting may request that the meeting beclosed. Two copies of a request shall be filed in writing with theExecutive Director of the Commission at the earliest practicable time,and no later than one hour before the meeting. A request to close shallstate the interest of the person that may be adversely affected. TheCommission shall take a recorded vote on the request if one memberdesires that it do so. The Executive Director shall inform therequesting person of whether a vote was taken, and, if so, its outcome.Requests shall be addressed as follows: Sunshine Act Request, Office ofthe Executive Director, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission,601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Suite 9500, Washington, D.C. 20001-2021.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.5]

[Page 649]

**Sec. 2701.5  Petition for review.**

Any person may petition the Commission to review any action healleges to be in violation of this part or 5 U.S.C. 552b that was takenby any employee or member of the Commission. The petition shall be inwriting and shall be filed with the Executive Director within 30 days ofthe alleged violation. The Commission shall consider and rule upon thepetition with expedition.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.6]

[Page 649]

**Sec. 2701.6  Discussion during open meetings.**

Deliberations, discussions, comments, statements, or observationsmade during the course of an open meeting do not constitute actions ofthe Commission, nor do they necessarily represent the basis for anyCommission action. Comments made by a Commissioner or an employee of theCommission may be advanced for purposes of discussion or argument, or asan aside, and may not reflect the views or ultimate position of thatCommissioner or employee. Reasons for decisions stated by a Commissionerat an open meeting may be later changed by that Commissioner, as may aCommissioner's vote. For these reasons, persons who choose to act on thebasis of discussions at open meetings do so entirely at their own riskand without any assurance that the Commission's final decisions will bereflective of the discussions or initial vote.

 

 

[CITE: 29CFR2701.7]

[Page 649]

**Sec. 2701.7  Expedited closing procedure.**

(a) Policy. Although it is the general policy of the Commission toopen to the public meetings that may be subject to closure, includingmeetings concerning adjudication of cases, the Commission may find itnecessary in the public interest to close meetings. The purpose of thissection is to provide an expedited closing procedure under 5 U.S.C.552b(d)(4). The Commission has determined that, inasmuch as theCommission's responsibilities are almost entirely adjudicatory, amajority of its meetings may properly be closed under 5 U.S.C.552b(c)(10). Although the Commission has to date held few meetings,those that have been held concerned the adjudication of cases and couldproperly have been closed.

(b) Procedure. A meeting may be closed if a majority of either themembers of the Commission or of a panel of three or more Commissionersvotes by recorded vote at the beginning of such a meeting to close it tothe public. The record of the vote shall reflect the vote of each votingmember and shall be made available to the public. A public announcementof the time, place, and subject matter of the meeting shall be made atthe earliest practicable time, except to the extent that suchinformation is exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552b(c). Section2701.3 does not apply to meetings closed under this section.

[[Page 650]]

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