2263997 Proposed Amendment to Public Employee Relations Board Rule 561 - Electronic Filing

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RELATIONS BOARD

 

NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

The Public Employee Relations Board (Board), pursuant to the District of Columbia Government Merit Personnel Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Official Code § 1-605.02(11) (2006 Repl. & 2011 Supp.) and D.C. Official Code §1-617.02(a)-(d) (2006 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of the following proposed rulemaking, which amends chapter 5, Rules of the Public Employee Relations Board, of subtitle B, Government Personnel, of title 6, Personnel, of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).

 

The Board seeks to amend 6 DCMR B §§ 561.1 and 561.8 to replace the term “may” with the term “shall” for purposes of consistency within the 6 DCMR B § 561 and to clarify the mandatory requirement that all filings to the Board must be submitted electronically.  In addition, 6 DCMR B § 561 is amended to make typographical changes to 6 DCMR §§ 561.8 and 561.9 replacing “EFile” and “EServe” with the hyphenated “e-file” and “e-serve” for clarity and consistency.  Pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 2-505(a) (2011 Repl.) (formerly cited as D.C. Code § 1-1506 (1981)), and for good cause, the Board intends to take final rulemaking action in not less than seven (7) days from the date of publication of the notice in the D.C. Register.

 

The Board has good cause for providing notice for less than thirty (30) days for the following reasons:

 

(1) The action will make a corrective amendment to 6 DCMR B § 561 that was recently adopted by the Board after a full thirty (30)-day notice period.  No comments of general objection were received in response to that notice and no substantive changes have been made;

 

(2) The action will clarify any ambiguity regarding the mandatory requirement that all filings before the Board are to be electronically submitted;

 

(3)  The action will allow the public to receive the full benefit of electronic filing.  Electronic filing must be mandatory for all filings in order for the system to accomplish the goal of creating a reliable and uniform filing system.  The action must be taken without delay in order to achieve the positive result of a comprehensive electronic filing system;

 

(4) Following the adoption of 6 DCMR B § 561 additional notices were sent by U.S. Mail, electronically and telephonically to the public and District of Columbia agencies and unions providing information on procedures to commence utilization of the electronic filing system; and

 

(5)  Following the adoption of 6 DCMR B § 561 training has been offered and provided to the public and District of Columbia agencies on the utilization of the electronic filing system.

 

Wherefore, the lack of a thirty (30) day-notice period will not adversely affect the public’s right to prepare and submit comments on the proposed amendment to 6 DCMR B § 561.    

 

Chapter 5, RULES OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RELATIONS BOARD, of subtitle B, GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL, of title 6, PERSONNEL, of the DCMR:

Section 561, ELECTRONIC FILING, subsections 561.1, 561.8, and 561.9 are amended to read as follows:

 

561.1               All pleadings, motions, memoranda of law, orders, or other documents shall be filed electronically through the Board’s designated vendor LEXISNEXIS® FILE & SERVE (Vendor), which can be contacted online at www.lexisnexis.com/fileandserve.

561.8               The following applies to the electronic service of pleadings and other documents:

(a)        Electronic and Facsimile Service. All parties or their representatives shall make service upon other parties electronically through the Vendor. Parties who subscribe to the Vendor consent to receive electronic service of documents via the Vendor’s system. Parties, or their designated counsel, shall receive all documents e-filed and/or e-served upon them via access to the Vendor’s system over the Internet or, if a party or party’s designee has not subscribed to the Services, via facsimile transmission. For the purposes of this subsection, service of documents through the Vendor’s system via facsimile is hereby authorized in addition to those methods of service permitted in section 501; 

(b)        Effect of Electronic Service of Filings. The electronic service of a pleading or other document shall be considered as valid and effective service on all parties and shall have the same legal effect as the filing of an original paper document. Proof of service required by section 501 shall not be necessary for electronically filed documents;

(c)        Service on Parties; Time to Respond or Act. E-service shall be deemed complete at the time the Vendor’s system receives the document as reflected by the authorized date and time appearing on the confirmation provided. However, for the purpose of computing time for any other party to respond, any document filed on a day or at a time when the Board is not open for business shall be deemed to have been filed at the time of next opening of the Board for business. If electronic service on a party does not occur because of: (1) inaccessibility to the Vendor’s system; (2) an error in the Vendor’s transmission of notice to the party being served; (3) the Vendor’s failure to process the electronic filing for service; or (4) the party was erroneously excluded from the service list, the party to be served shall, absent extraordinary circumstances, be entitled to an order extending the date for any response or the period within which any right, duty, or other act must be performed. In the event of service via facsimile, the Vendor’s system will record the date and time the fax transmission was completed as proof of service;

(d)       Pro Se Users.  Where a party is proceeding before the Board pro se (on one’s own behalf and/or without legal counsel), pro se users can only receive service via U.S. Mail;   

(e)        The Board may issue, file, and serve notices, orders, and other documents electronically, subject to the provisions of this section; and

(f)        A motion to file documents under seal shall be filed and served electronically. Redacted copies of documents filed under seal may be filed and served electronically; documents filed under seal containing privileged information may be filed conventionally (in physical form) or as a sealed electronic document.

561.9               For purposes of this section, the following terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:

E-filing - Electronic transmission of an original document (pleading) to the Board via the Vendor’s system. An E-File consists of a document, an image, or both.

E-service - Electronic transmission of an original document (pleading) to all other designated recipients via the Vendor’s system. Upon the completion of any transmission to the Vendor’s system, a receipt is issued to the sender acknowledging receipt by the Vendor system.

Comments on this proposed rulemaking shall be submitted in writing to David. B. Washington,  Public Employee Relations Board, 1100 4^th Street, S.W.., Suite E630, Washington, D.C. 20024, or by sending an email to [e-mail].  Comments can also be sent by fax to [phone] or telephone to [phone].  Comments shall be submitted within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.  Copies of the proposed rule may be obtained by writing to Ondray T. Harris, Executive Director, Public Employee Relations Board, 1100 4^th Street, S.W., Suite E630, Washington, DC 20024.