[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR452.05]

[Page 864-866]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
CHAPTER IV--JOINT REGULATIONS (UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, 
 
PART 452_CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATION BY THE SECRETARY--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 452.05  Hearings.

    (a) Hearings. (1) To develop the record for the report under Sec. 
452.04, the Secretary, in consultation with the members of the 
Committee, shall hold a hearing in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 554, 555, 
and 556.
    (2) The Secretary shall designate an Administrative Law Judge to 
conduct the hearing. The Secretary shall assign

[[Page 865]]

technical staff to assist the Administrative Law Judge.
    (3) When the Secretary designates the Administrative Law Judge, the 
Secretary may establish time periods for conducting the hearing and 
closing the record.
    (4) The Secretary may require the applicant to submit further 
discussions of the information required by Sec. 451.02(e)(5). This 
information will be made part of the record.
    (b) Prehearing conferences. (1) The Administrative Law Judge may, on 
his own motion or the motion of a party or intervenor, hold a prehearing 
conference to consider:
    (i) The possibility of obtaining stipulations, admissions of fact or 
law and agreement to the introduction of documents;
    (ii) The limitation of the number of witnesses;
    (iii) Questions of law which may bear upon the course of the 
hearings;
    (iv) Prehearing motions, including motions for discovery; and
    (v) Any other matter which may aid in the disposition of the 
proceedings.
    (2) If time permits and if necessary to materially clarify the 
issues raised at the prehearing conference, the Administrative Law Judge 
shall issue a statement of the actions taken at the conference and the 
agreements made. Such statement shall control the subsequent course of 
the hearing unless modified for good cause by a subsequent statement.
    (c) Notice of hearings. Hearings and prehearing conferences will be 
announced by a notice in the Federal Register stating: (1) The time, 
place and nature of the hearing or prehearing conference; and (2) the 
matters of fact and law to be considered. Such notices will ordinarily 
be published at least 15 days before the scheduled hearings.
    (d) Conduct of hearings--(1) Admissibility of evidence. Relevant, 
material, and reliable evidence shall be admitted. Immaterial, 
irrelevant, unreliable, or unduly repetitious parts of an admissible 
document may be segregated and excluded so far as practicable.
    (2) Motions, objections, rebuttal and cross-examination. Motions and 
objections may be filed with the Administrative Law Judge, rebuttal 
evidence may be submitted, and cross-examination may be conducted, as 
required for a full and true disclosure of the facts, by parties, 
witnesses under subpoena, and their respective counsel.
    (i) Objections. Objections to evidence shall be timely, and the 
party making them may be required to state briefly the grounds relied 
upon.
    (ii) Offers of proof. When an objection is sustained, the examining 
party may make a specific offer of proof and the Administrative Law 
Judge may receive the evidence in full. Such evidence, adequately marked 
for identification, shall be retained in the record for consideration by 
any reviewing authority.
    (iii) Motions. Motions and petitions shall state the relief sought, 
the basis for relief and the authority relied upon. If made before or 
after the hearing itself, these matters shall be in writing and shall be 
filed and served on all parties. If made at the hearing, they may be 
stated and responded to orally, but the Administrative Law Judge may 
require that they be reduced to writing. Oral argument on motions and 
deadlines by which to file responses to written motions will be at the 
discretion of the Administrative Law Judge.
    (e) Applicant responsibility. In proceedings conducted pursuant to 
this section, the exemption applicant has the burden of going forward 
with evidence concerning the criteria for exemption.
    (f) Open meetings and record. All hearings and all hearing records 
shall be open to the public.
    (g) Requests for information, subpoenas. (1) The Administrative Law 
Judge is authorized to exercise the authority of the Committee to 
request, subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, that any person provide 
information necessary to enable the Committee to carry out its duties. 
Any Federal agency or the exemption applicant shall furnish such 
information to the Administrative Law Judge. (2) The Administrative Law 
Judge may exercise the authority of the Committee to issue subpoenas for 
the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant 
papers, books, and documents.

[[Page 866]]

    (h) Information collection. The information collection requirements 
contained in Sec. 452.05 do not require approval by the Office of 
Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., because it is 
anticipated there will be fewer than ten respondents annually.