[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 10, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 10CFR2.704]

[Page 50]
 
                            TITLE 10--ENERGY
 
                CHAPTER I--NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
 
PART 2--RULES OF PRACTICE FOR DOMESTIC LICENSING PROCEEDINGS AND ISSUANCE OF ORDERS--Table of Contents
 
                Subpart G--Rules of General Applicability
 
Sec. 2.704  Designation of presiding officer, disqualification, unavailability.

    (a) The Commission may provide in the notice of hearing that one or 
more members of the Commission, or an atomic safety and licensing board, 
or a named officer who has been delegated final authority in the matter, 
shall preside. If the Commission does not so provide, the Chairman of 
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel will issue an order 
designating an atomic safety and licensing board appointed pursuant to 
section 191 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or, if the 
Commission has not provided for the hearing to be conducted by an atomic 
safety and licensing board, the Chief Administrative Law Judge will 
issue an order designating an administrative law judge appointed 
pursuant to section 3105 of title 5 of the United States Code.
    (b) If a designated presiding officer or a designated member of an 
atomic safety and licensing board deems himself disqualified to preside 
or to participate as a board member in the hearing, he shall withdraw by 
notice on the record and shall notify the Commission or the Chairman of 
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, as appropriate, of his 
withdrawal.
    (c) If a party deems the presiding officer or a designated member of 
an atomic safety and licensing board to be disqualified, he may move 
that the presiding officer or the board member disqualify himself. The 
motion shall be supported by affidavits setting forth the alleged 
grounds for disqualification. If the presiding officer does not grant 
the motion or the board member does not disqualify himself, the motion 
shall be referred to the Commission which will determine the sufficiency 
of the grounds alleged.
    (d) If a presiding officer or a designated member of an atomic 
safety and licensing board becomes unavailable during the course of a 
hearing, the Commission or the Chairman of the Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board Panel, as appropriate, will designate another presiding 
officer or atomic safety and licensing board member. If he becomes 
unavailable after the hearing has been concluded:
    (1)(i) The Commission may designate another presiding officer to 
make the decision; or
    (ii) The Chairman of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel or 
the Commission, as appropriate, may designate another atomic safety and 
licensing board member to participate in the decision;
    (2) The Commission may direct that the record be certified to it for 
decision; or
    (3) The Commission may designate another presiding officer.
    (e) In the event of substitution of a presiding officer or a 
designated member of an atomic safety and licensing board for the one 
originally designated, any motion predicated upon the substitution shall 
be made within five (5) days thereafter.

[27 FR 377, Jan. 13, 1962, as amended at 31 FR 16310, Dec. 21, 1966; 35 
FR 11459, July 17, 1970; 35 FR 12649, Aug. 8, 1970; 40 FR 51996, Nov. 7, 
1975; 40 FR 53379, Nov. 18, 1975; 56 FR 29408, June 27, 1991]