
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 5USC557]

 
             TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
 
                     PART I--THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
 
                   CHAPTER 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
 
                 SUBCHAPTER II--ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
 
Sec. 557. Initial decisions; conclusiveness; review by agency; 
        submissions by parties; contents of decisions; record
        
    (a) This section applies, according to the provisions thereof, when 
a hearing is required to be conducted in accordance with section 556 of 
this title.
    (b) When the agency did not preside at the reception of the 
evidence, the presiding employee or, in cases not subject to section 
554(d) of this title, an employee qualified to preside at hearings 
pursuant to section 556 of this title, shall initially decide the case 
unless the agency requires, either in specific cases or by general rule, 
the entire record to be certified to it for decision. When the presiding 
employee makes an initial decision, that decision then becomes the 
decision of the agency without further proceedings unless there is an 
appeal to, or review on motion of, the agency within time provided by 
rule. On appeal from or review of the initial decision, the agency has 
all the powers which it would have in making the initial decision except 
as it may limit the issues on notice or by rule. When the agency makes 
the decision without having presided at the reception of the evidence, 
the presiding employee or an employee qualified to preside at hearings 
pursuant to section 556 of this title shall first recommend a decision, 
except that in rule making or determining applications for initial 
licenses--
        (1) instead thereof the agency may issue a tentative decision or 
    one of its responsible employees may recommend a decision; or
        (2) this procedure may be omitted in a case in which the agency 
    finds on the record that due and timely execution of its functions 
    imperatively and unavoidably so requires.

    (c) Before a recommended, initial, or tentative decision, or a 
decision on agency review of the decision of subordinate employees, the 
parties are entitled to a reasonable opportunity to submit for the 
consideration of the employees participating in the decisions--
        (1) proposed findings and conclusions; or
        (2) exceptions to the decisions or recommended decisions of 
    subordinate employees or to tentative agency decisions; and
        (3) supporting reasons for the exceptions or proposed findings 
    or conclusions.

The record shall show the ruling on each finding, conclusion, or 
exception presented. All decisions, including initial, recommended, and 
tentative decisions, are a part of the record and shall include a 
statement of--
        (A) findings and conclusions, and the reasons or basis therefor, 
    on all the material issues of fact, law, or discretion presented on 
    the record; and
        (B) the appropriate rule, order, sanction, relief, or denial 
    thereof.

    (d)(1) In any agency proceeding which is subject to subsection (a) 
of this section, except to the extent required for the disposition of ex 
parte matters as authorized by law--
        (A) no interested person outside the agency shall make or 
    knowingly cause to be made to any member of the body comprising the 
    agency, administrative law judge, or other employee who is or may 
    reasonably be expected to be involved in the decisional process of 
    the proceeding, an ex parte communication relevant to the merits of 
    the proceeding;
        (B) no member of the body comprising the agency, administrative 
    law judge, or other employee who is or may reasonably be expected to 
    be involved in the decisional process of the proceeding, shall make 
    or knowingly cause to be made to any interested person outside the 
    agency an ex parte communication relevant to the merits of the 
    proceeding;
        (C) a member of the body comprising the agency, administrative 
    law judge, or other employee who is or may reasonably be expected to 
    be involved in the decisional process of such proceeding who 
    receives, or who makes or knowingly causes to be made, a 
    communication prohibited by this subsection shall place on the 
    public record of the proceeding:
            (i) all such written communications;
            (ii) memoranda stating the substance of all such oral 
        communications; and
            (iii) all written responses, and memoranda stating the 
        substance of all oral responses, to the materials described in 
        clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph;

        (D) upon receipt of a communication knowingly made or knowingly 
    caused to be made by a party in violation of this subsection, the 
    agency, administrative law judge, or other employee presiding at the 
    hearing may, to the extent consistent with the interests of justice 
    and the policy of the underlying statutes, require the party to show 
    cause why his claim or interest in the proceeding should not be 
    dismissed, denied, disregarded, or otherwise adversely affected on 
    account of such violation; and
        (E) the prohibitions of this subsection shall apply beginning at 
    such time as the agency may designate, but in no case shall they 
    begin to apply later than the time at which a proceeding is noticed 
    for hearing unless the person responsible for the communication has 
    knowledge that it will be noticed, in which case the prohibitions 
    shall apply beginning at the time of his acquisition of such 
    knowledge.

    (2) This subsection does not constitute authority to withhold 
information from Congress.

(Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 387; Pub. L. 94-409, Sec.  
4(a), Sept. 13, 1976, 90 Stat. 1246.)

                      Historical and Revision Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Revised Statutes and
     Derivation                U.S. Code             Statutes at Large
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     5 U.S.C. 1007.                June 11, 1946, ch.
                                                    324, Sec.  8, 60
                                                    Stat. 242.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In subsection (b), the word ``employee'' is substituted for 
``officer'' and ``officers'' in view of the definition of ``employee'' 
in section 2105. The word ``either'' is added after the word 
``requires'' in the first sentence to eliminate the need for 
parentheses. The words ``the presiding employee or an employee qualified 
to preside at hearings under section 556 of this title'' are substituted 
for ``such officers'' in the last sentence. The word ``initial'' is 
omitted before ``decision'', the final word in the first sentence and 
the sixth word of the fourth sentence, to avoid confusion between the 
``initial decision'' of the presiding employee and the ``initial 
decision'' of the agency.
    In subsection (c), the word ``employees'' is substituted for 
``officers'' in view of the definition of ``employee'' in section 2105.
    Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable 
and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

                          Codification

    Section 557 of former Title 5, Executive Departments and Government 
Officers and Employees, was transferred to section 2207 of Title 7, 
Agriculture.
    Section 557a of former Title 5, Executive Departments and Government 
Officers and Employees, was transferred to section 2208 of Title 7.


                               Amendments

    1976--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94-409 added subsec. (d).


                    Effective Date of 1976 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 94-409 effective 180 days after Sept. 13, 1976, 
see section 6 of Pub. L. 94-409, set out as an Effective Date note under 
section 552b of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 553, 554, 556, 558, 706, 
3105 of this title; title 2 sections 501, 502, 1405; title 7 sections 
86, 87e, 87f-1, 2023, 2707, 4604, 4906, 6802, 6804, 7804; title 8 
section 1375; title 15 sections 57a, 2605, 3412; title 16 sections 796, 
839f, 2602, 3636; title 20 section 1234; title 21 section 321; title 30 
sections 185, 811, 823, 1415; title 39 sections 404, 3624, 3661; title 
41 section 422; title 42 sections 1320a-7c, 1395ww, 1485, 2000e-16c, 
2241, 7407, 7502, 7511a, 7607, 11504; title 46 sections 7702, 9303; 
title 49 sections 31136, 31317; title 50 App. sections 16, 2159, 2410, 
2412.
