Written comments. After commencement of a trade regulation rule proceeding, the Commission shall accept written submissions of data, views, and arguments on all issues of fact, law, and policy. The initial notice shall specify the deadline for filing written comments under this subsection.

Comments proposing issues subject to the procedures of § 1.13 (d)(5) and (d)(6). Interested persons may propose issues for consideration in accordance with § 1.13 (d)(5) and (d)(6) until thirty (30) days after the close of the written comment period or such other period as the Commission may establish in the initial notice.

Presiding officer—(1) Assignment. Upon commencement of a proposed trade regulation rule proceeding, a presiding officer shall be appointed by the Chief Presiding Officer or, when the Commission or one or more of its members serves as presiding officer, by the Commission.

Powers of the presiding officer. The presiding officer shall be responsible for the orderly conduct of the rulemaking proceeding and the maintenance of the rulemaking and public records until the close of the postrecord comment period. He shall have all powers necessary to that end including the following:

To publish a final notice in accordance with § 1.12 or issue any other public notice that may be necessary for the orderly conduct of the rulemaking proceeding;

To designate or modify, issues for consideration in accordance with § 1.13 (d)(5) and (d)(6);

To set the time and place of the informal hearing and to change any time periods prescribed in this subpart;

To prescribe rules or issue rulings to avoid unnecessary costs or delay. Such rules or rulings may include, but are not limited to, the imposition of reasonable time limits on each person's oral presentation; and requirements that any examination; including cross-examination, which a person may be entitled to conduct or have conducted be conducted by the presiding officer on behalf of that person in such a manner as the presiding officer determines to be appropriate and to be required for a full and true disclosure with respect to any issue designated for consideration in accordance with § 1.13 (d)(5) and (d)(6);

To make rules and rulings limiting the representation of interested persons for the purpose of examination, including cross-examination, and governing the manner in which such examination is limited, including the selection of a representative from among a group of persons with the same or similar interests;

To require that oral presentations at the informal hearing or responses to written questions be under oath;

To require that oral presentations at the informal hearing be submitted in writing in advance of presentation;

To certify questions to the Commission for its determination; and

To rule upon all motions or petitions of interested persons, which motions or petitions must be filed with the presiding officer until the close of the postrecord comment period.

Review of rulings by the presiding officer—(i) Review after certification by the presiding officer. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c)(3)(ii) of this section, applications for review of a ruling will not be entertained by the Commission prior to its review of the record pursuant to § 1.14, unless the presiding officer certifies in writing to the Commission that a ruling involves a controlling question of law or policy as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate review of the ruling may materially advance the ultimate termination of the proceeding or subsequent review will be an inadequate remedy. Within five (5) days after a ruling by the presiding officer, any interested person may petition the presiding officer for certification of that ruling to the Commission. Certification of a ruling shall not stay the rulemaking proceeding unless the presiding officer or the Commission shall so order. Submissions to the Commission not to exceed fifteen (15) pages may be made within ten (10) days of the presiding officer's certification. All such filings shall be a part of the rulemaking record. The Commission may thereupon, in its discretion, permit the appeal. Commission review, if permitted, will be based on the application for review and any additional submissions, without oral argument or further briefs, unless otherwise ordered by the Commission.

Review without certification by the presiding officer. Within ten (10) days after publication of the final notice, any interested person may petition the Commission for addition, modification or deletion of a designated issue, accompanied by a filing not to exceed fifteen (15) pages. Additional submissions on the issue by other interested persons, not to exceed fifteen (15) pages, may be made within twenty (20) days of the publication of the final notice. The Commission may thereupon, in its discretion, permit the appeal. Commission review, if permitted, will be based on the petition and any additional submissions, without oral argument or further briefs, unless otherwise ordered by the Commission. A petition hereunder shall not stay the rulemaking proceeding unless the presiding officer or the Commission shall so order. All petitions filed under this paragraph shall be a part of the rulemaking record. Notice of the filing of any such petition may be obtained from the Office of the Secretary of the Commission. In the event any designated issue is added or substantially modified by the Commission, interested persons shall be given a further opportunity to identify their interests with respect to those issues.

Substitution of presiding officer. In the event of the substitution of a new presiding officer for the one originally appointed, any motion predicated upon such substitution shall be made within five (5) days thereafter.

Organization. In the performance of their rulemaking functions, presiding officers shall be responsible to the chief presiding officer who shall not be responsible to any other officer or employee of the Commission.

Ex parte communications. Except as required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law, no presiding officer shall consult any person or party with respect to any fact in issue unless such officer gives notice and opportunity for all parties to participate.

Informal hearings. An informal hearing with the opportunity for oral presentations on all issues shall be conducted by the presiding officer. In addition, if an issue is designated pursuant to these rules for consideration in accordance with § 1.13(d) (5) and (6), the informal hearing on such issues shall be conducted in accordance with those paragraphs. For all other issues the presiding officer may in his discretion employ, in whole or in part, the procedures of those paragraphs.

Nature of issues for consideration in accordance with § 1.13 (d)(5) and (d)(6)—(i) Issues that must be considered in accordance with § 1.13(d)(5) and (d)(6). The only issues that must be designated for consideration in accordance with paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section are disputed issues of fact that are determined by the Commission or the presiding officer to be material and necessary to resolve.

Issues that may be considered in accordance with § 1.13(d)(5) and (d)(6). The Commission and the presiding officer retain the power to designate any other issues for consideration in accordance with paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section.

Addition or modification of issues for consideration in accordance with § 1.13(d)(5) and (d)(6). The presiding officer may at any time on his own motion or pursuant to a written petition by interested persons, add or modify any issues designated pursuant to § 1.12(a). No such petition shall be considered unless good cause is shown why any such proposed issue was not proposed pursuant to § 1.13(b).

Identification of interests. Not later than twenty (20) days after publication of the final notice each interested person who desires to avail himself of the procedures of paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section shall notify the presiding officer in writing of his particular interest with respect to each issue designated for consideration in accordance with those subsections. In the event that new issues are designated, each interested person shall promptly notify the presiding officer of his particular interest with respect to each such issue.

Examination and cross-examination by the presiding officer. The presiding officer may conduct any examination, including cross-examination, to which a person may be entitled. For that purpose he may require submission of written requests for presentation of questions to any person making oral presentations and shall determine whether to ask such questions or any other questions. All requests for presentation of questions shall be placed in the rulemaking record.

Examination, cross-examination, and the presentation of rebuttal submissions by interested persons—(i) In general. The presiding officer shall conduct or allow to be conducted examination, including cross-examination of oral presentations and the presentation of rebuttal submissions relevant to the issues designated for consideration in accordance with paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section. Examination, including, cross-examination, and the presentation of rebuttal submissions, shall be allowed to the extent to which it is appropriate and is required for a full and true disclosure with respect to those issues. Requests for an opportunity to examine, including cross-examine, or to present rebuttal submissions, shall be accompanied by a specific justification therefor. In determining whether or not to grant such requests, the presence of the following circumstances indicate that such requests should be granted:

An issue for examination including cross-examination, or the presentation of rebuttal submissions, is an issue of specific in contrast to legislative fact.

A full and true disclosure with respect to the issue can only be achieved through examination including cross-examination rather than through rebuttal submissions or the presentation of additional oral submissions.

Circumstantial guarantees of the trustworthiness of a presentation do not exist.

The particular presentation is required for the resolution of a designated issue.

Selection of representatives for cross-examination. After consideration of the information supplied in response to the final notice, the presiding officer shall identify groups of persons with the same or similar interests in the proceeding. Any such group may be required to select a single representative for the purpose of examination, including cross-examination. If a group is unable to select a representative then the presiding officer may select a representative of each such group.

Inability to select representative for examination, including cross-examination. No person shall be denied the opportunity to conduct or have conducted, examination, including cross-examination, under paragraph (d)(5)(i) of this section if he is a member of a group as described in paragraph (d)(5)(ii) of this section and is unable to agree upon group representation with other group members after a good faith effort to do so and seeks to present substantial and relevant issues which will not be adequately presented by the group representative. In that event he shall be allowed to conduct or have conducted any examination, including cross-examination, to which he is entitled on issues designated for consideration in accordance with paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section and which affect his particular interest.

Requests to compel the attendance of persons or the production of documents or to obtain responses to written questions. During the course of the rulemaking proceeding, the presiding officer shall entertain requests from the Commission's staff or any interested person to compel the attendance of persons or the production of documents or to obtain responses to written questions. Requests to compel the attendance of persons or the production of documents or to obtain responses to written questions shall contain a statement showing the general relevancy of the material, information or presentation, and the reasonableness of the scope of the request, together with a showing that such material, information or presentation is not available by voluntary methods and cannot be obtained through examination, including cross-examination, of oral presentations or the presentation of rebuttal submissions, and is appropriate and required for a full and true disclosure with respect to the issues designated for consideration in accordance with paragraphs (d)(5) and (d)(6) of this section. If the presiding officer determines that a request should be granted, he shall transmit his determination to the Commission which shall determine whether to issue a civil investigative demand under § 2.7(b). Information received in response to such a demand may be disclosed in the rulemaking proceeding subject to an in camera order under § 1.18(b).

Written transcript. A verbatim transcript shall be made of the informal hearing which transcript shall be placed in the rulemaking record.

Staff recommendations. The staff shall make recommendations to the Commission in a report on the rulemaking record. Such report shall contain its analysis of the record and its recommendations as to the form of the final rule.

Recommended decision. After publication of the staff report, the presiding officer shall make a recommended decision based upon his or her findings and conclusions as to all relevant and material evidence, and taking into account the staff report. The recommended decision shall be made by the presiding officer who presided over the rulemaking proceeding except that such recommended decision may be made by another officer if the officer who presided over the proceeding is no longer available to the Commission.

Postrecord comment. The staff report and the presiding officer's recommended decision shall be the subject of public comment for a period to be prescribed by the presiding officer at the time the recommended decision is placed in the rulemaking record. The comment period shall be no less than sixty (60) days. The comments shall be confined to information already in the record and may include requests for review by the Commission of determinations made by the presiding officer.

Commission review of the rulemaking record. The Commission shall review the rulemaking record to determine what form of rule, if any, it should promulgate. During this review process, the Commission may allow persons who have previously participated in the proceeding to make oral presentations to the Commission, unless it determines with respect to that proceeding that such presentations would not significantly assist it in its deliberations. Presentations shall be confined to information already in the rulemaking record. Requests to participate in an oral presentation must be received by the Commission no later than the close of the comment period under § 1.13(h). The identity of the participants and the format of such presentations will be announced in advance by the Office of Public Information in the Commisison's Weekly Calendar and Notice of “Sunshine” Meetings and in accordance with the applicable provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(b) and § 4.15 of the Commission's Rules of Practice. Such presentations will be transcribed verbatim or summarized at the discretion of the Commission and a copy of the transcript or summary and copies of any written communications and summaries of any oral communications relating to such presentations shall be placed on the rulemaking record.