[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70694-70695]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29740]


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NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

29 CFR Part 102


Revisions of Regulations Governing Filing of Documents With the 
National Labor Relations Board; Provision for Filing Utilizing Forms on 
the Agency's Web Site

AGENCY: National Labor Relations Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The National Labor Relations Board is amending its regulations 
governing filing documents with the Board to permit certain documents 
to be filed utilizing forms that are now, or are expected to be made 
available in the future, on the Board's Web site (http://www.nlrb.gov).

DATES: Effective: November 26, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lester A. Heltzer, Acting Executive 
Secretary, (202) 273-1067.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to OMB Memorandum M-00-10, ``OMB 
Procedures and Guidance on Implementing the Government Paperwork 
Elimination Act,'' the National Labor Relations Board has been 
developing forms to be placed on the Board's Web site (http://www.nlrb.gov) to permit electronic filings with the Board. In fiscal 
year 2000, the Board placed on its Web site a form which individuals 
can use to file electronic requests under the Freedom of Information 
Act with the Board's Headquarters offices. In the near future, and over 
the course of the next several years, the Board will be expanding this 
program to permit electronic filings of other documents, including 
requests for extensions of time to be filed with the General Counsel's 
Office of Appeals or with the Executive Secretary's Office.
    The Board's present filing and service rules do not address such 
electronic filings. Indeed, the current rules could, in some respects, 
be read to prohibit some of the very filings that we are planning to 
permit. Consequently, we have decided to promulgate an omnibus 
provision giving blanket authority to members of the public to utilize 
new electronic forms as soon as they are placed on the Web site. As new 
forms are developed and implemented, they will be accompanied on the 
Web site by instructions describing how they are to be used. Documents 
filed in accordance with these instructions will be accepted even if 
there is some provision elsewhere in the Board's rules that prohibits, 
or seems to prohibit, such filings.
    In the case of documents that are required to be served on other 
parties to a Board proceeding, some provision for expedited service 
must be made, consistent with Section 102.114(a). That paragraph 
provides that ``service on all parties shall be made in the same manner 
as that utilized in filing the paper with the Board, or in a more 
expeditions manner.'' In the case of filings made using forms on the 
Board's Web site, service by the ``same'' manner is not possible. 
Instead, we are substituting a requirement, drawn from our experience 
with our rules for filing by facsimile (Section 102.114(h)), that other 
parties be notified by phone and then either served personally, by 
overnight delivery service, or by facsimile transmission.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Because no notice of proposed rule-making is required for 
procedural rules, the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) pertaining to regulatory flexibility analysis do 
not apply to these rules. However, even if the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act were to apply, the NLRB certifies that these rules will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small business 
entities as they merely permit persons, in certain circumstances, to 
file documents with the Board electronically.

Executive Order 12866

    The regulatory review provisions of Executive Order 12866 do not 
apply to independent regulatory agencies. However, even if they did, 
the proposed changes in the Board's rules would not be classified as 
``significant rules'' under Section 6 of Executive Order 12866, because 
they will not result in (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 
million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, 
individual industries, Federal, State, or local government agencies, or 
geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, 
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of 
United States-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 
enterprises in domestic or foreign markets. Accordingly, no regulatory 
impact assessment is required.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

    This rule will not result in the expenditure by State, local, and 
tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of 
$100,000,000 or more in any one year, and it will not significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments. Therefore, no actions were deemed 
necessary under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 
1995.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

    This rule is not a major rule as defined by section 804 of the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This rule 
will not

[[Page 70695]]

result in an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; a 
major increase in costs or prices; or significant adverse effects on 
competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on 
the ability of United States based companies to compete with foreign-
based companies in domestic and export markets.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This part does not impose any reporting or recordkeeping 
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 102

    Administrative practice and procedure, Labor management relations.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the National Labor 
Relations Board is amending 29 CFR Chapter I, Part 102, as follows:

PART 102--RULES AND REGULATIONS, SERIES 8

    1. The authority citation for part 102 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: Sec. 6, National Labor Relations Act, as amended (29 
U.S.C. 151, 156). Section 102.117 also issued under sec. 
552(a)(4)(A) of the Freedom of Information Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(4)(A)), and section 442a(j) and (k) of the Privacy Act (5 
U.S.C. 55a(j) and (k)). Sections 102.143 through 102.155 also issued 
under sec. 504(c)(1) of the Equal Access to Justice Act as amended 
(5 U.S.C. 504(c)(1)).

    2. Sec.  102.114 is amended by revising the heading and by adding a 
new paragraph (i), following the existing paragraph (h), to read as 
follows:


Sec.  102.114  Filing and service of papers by parties; form of papers; 
manner and proof of filing or service; electronic filings.

* * * * *
    (i) The Agency's Web site (http://www.nlrb.gov) contains certain 
forms that parties or other persons are permitted to file with the 
Agency electronically. Parties or other persons choosing to utilize 
those forms to file documents electronically are permitted do so by 
following the instructions described on the Web site, notwithstanding 
any contrary provisions elsewhere in these rules. In the event the 
document being filed electronically is required to be served on another 
party to a proceeding, the other party shall be notified by telephone 
of the substance of the transmitted document and a copy of the document 
shall be served by personal service no later than the next day, by 
overnight delivery service, or, with the permission of the party 
receiving the document, by facsimile transmission.

    Dated, Washington, DC, November 14, 2002.

    By direction of the Board.
Lester A. Heltzer,
Acting Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board.
[FR Doc. 02-29740 Filed 11-25-02; 8:45 am]
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