[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73719-73720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30699]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD


Order Contingently Delegating Authority to the Chairman, the 
General Counsel, and the Chief Administrative Law Judge

AGENCY: National Labor Relations Board.

ACTION: Notice of Order Contingently Delegating Authority to the 
Chairman, the General Counsel, and the Chief Administrative Law Judge.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Labor Relations Board has issued an Order 
contingently delegating to the General Counsel authority over the 
appointment, transfer, demotion, or discharge of any Regional Director 
or of any Officer-in-Charge of a Subregional Office, and over the 
establishment, transfer or elimination of any Regional or Subregional 
Office, subject to the right of any sitting Board Member to request 
full-Board consideration of any particular decision.\1\ The Order also 
contingently delegates to the Chairman and General Counsel the 
authority to jointly determine the apportionment and allocation of 
funds and/or the establishment of personnel ceilings within the Agency, 
subject to the right of any sitting Board Member to request full-Board 
consideration of any particular decision. Finally, the Order 
contingently delegates to the Chief Administrative Law Judge authority 
over the appointment, transfer, demotion, or discharge of any 
Administrative Law Judge, subject to the right of any sitting Board 
Member to request full-Board consideration of any particular decision. 
These delegations shall become effective during any time at which the 
Board has fewer than three Members and shall cease to be effective 
whenever the Board has at least three Members.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ For the purposes of this notice ``full-Board consideration'' 
means consideration by a Board comprised of at least three members.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
DATES: This Order is effective November 22, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lester A. Heltzer, Executive 
Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1099 14th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20570, (202) 273-1067 (this is not a toll-free number), 
1-(866) 315-6572 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Labor Relations Board 
anticipates that in the near future it may, for a temporary period, 
have fewer than three Members of its full complement of five 
Members.\2\ The Board also recognizes that it has a continuing 
responsibility to fulfill its statutory obligations in the most 
effective and efficient manner possible. To assure that the Agency will 
be able to meet its obligations to the public to the greatest extent 
possible, the Board has decided to temporarily delegate certain 
authority to the Chairman, the General Counsel and to the Chief 
Administrative Law Judge as described below, subject to the right of 
any sitting Board Member to request full-Board consideration of any 
particular decision. These delegations shall be effective during any 
time at which the Board has fewer than three Members and are made under 
the authority granted to the Board under sections 3, 4, 6, and 10 of 
the National Labor Relations Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The Board now has three Members, one of whom, Member Becker, 
is in recess appointment which will expire at the sine die 
adjournment of the current session of Congress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Accordingly, the Board delegates to the General Counsel authority 
over the appointment, transfer, demotion, or discharge of any Regional 
Director or of any Officer-in-Charge of a Subregional Office, and over 
the establishment, transfer or elimination of any Regional or 
Subregional Office, subject to the right of any sitting Board Member to 
request full-Board consideration of any particular decision. In the 
absence of a request by any sitting Board Member for full-Board 
consideration of a particular decision(s), the decision(s) of the 
General Counsel will become final 30 days after the then-sitting Board 
Members are notified thereof. The Board also delegates to the Chairman 
and General Counsel the authority to jointly

[[Page 73720]]

determine the apportionment and allocation of funds and/or the 
establishment of personnel ceilings within the Agency, subject to the 
right of any sitting Board Member to request full-Board consideration 
of any particular decision. In the absence of a request by any sitting 
Board Member for full-Board consideration of a particular decision(s), 
the decision(s) of the Chairman and the General Counsel will become 
final seven days after the then-sitting Board Members are notified 
thereof. Finally, the Board delegates to the Chief Administrative Law 
Judge authority over the appointment, transfer, demotion, or discharge 
of any Administrative Law Judge, subject to the right of any sitting 
Board Member to request full-Board consideration of any particular 
decision. In the absence of a request by any sitting Board Member for 
full-Board consideration of a particular decision(s), the decision(s) 
of the Chief Administrative Law Judge will become final 30 days after 
the then-sitting Board Members are notified thereof.
    These delegations shall become and remain effective during any time 
at which the Board has fewer than three Members, unless and until 
revoked by the Board.
    These delegations relate to the internal management of the National 
Labor Relations Board and are therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, 
exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative 
Procedure Act. Further, public notice and comment is impractical 
because of the immediate need for Board action. The public interest 
requires that this Order take effect immediately.
    All existing delegations of authority to the General Counsel and to 
staff in effect prior to the date of this Order remain in full force 
and effect. For the reasons stated above, the Board finds good cause to 
make this order effective immediately in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 
553(d).

    Authority: Sections 3, 4, 6, and 10 of the National Labor 
Relations Act, 29 USC Sec. 3, 4, 6, and 10.

    Signed in Washington, DC, November 22, 2011.
Mark Gaston Pearce,
Chairman.
[FR Doc. 2011-30699 Filed 11-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7545-01-P