Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1)
Office. The office of the Department shall be open
from 8:45 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. each weekday except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
holidays.
(2)
Date of
Receipt.
(a)
By the
Department. All communications, including correspondence, motions,
and pleading, shall be deemed to be filed or received on the date on which they
are received by the Department. All such communications submitted by electronic
medium are deemed to be filed or received on the date and time on which they
are delivered if during normal business hours of the Department, otherwise such
filings are deemed filed or received on the next business day after the
communication is delivered.
(b)
By Parties and Other Persons. All communications,
including correspondence, motions, and pleading, shall be deemed to be filed or
received on the date on which they are deposited in the United States mail,
properly addressed and postage paid, delivered in person to a party or other
person, or delivered via Electronic Medium.
(3)
Identification. Communications should embrace but one
matter, should contain the name and address of the communicator and the
appropriate certificate or permit number, if there be any pertaining to the
subject of the communication. When the subject matter pertains to a pending
docket, the title of the proceeding and the docket number should be
given.
(4)
Computation
of Time. Computation of any period of time referred to in
207 CMR
1.00 shall begin with the first day following that on
which the act which initiates such period of time occurs. The last day of the
period so computed is to be included unless it is a day on which the office of
the Department is closed, in which event the period shall run until the end of
the next following business day. When such period of time, with the intervening
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays counted, is five days or less, the said
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded from the computation;
otherwise, such days shall be included in the computation.
(5)
Extensions of
Time. In the discretion of the Commissioner or the Presiding
Officer, for good cause shown, any time limit prescribed or allowed by
207 CMR
1.00 may be extended. All requests for extensions
shall be made by motion in accordance with
207 CMR
1.04(5), and shall be made
before the expiration of the period originally prescribed or as previously
extended. The Secretary of the Department shall notify all parties of the
Department's action upon the motion.
(6)
Signatures.
Every application, notice, pleading, petition, complaint, motion, brief, and
memorandum shall be signed by the filing party or by one or more attorneys, in
their individual names on behalf of the filing party.
(7)
Appearances. An
appearance shall be made in any proceeding by filing a written notice thereof
and serving a copy on all persons who have theretofore appeared.
(8)
Formal Requirements as to
Pleading, Documents, and Other Papers Filed in Proceedings.
(a)
Copies. Except
as may be otherwise required by the rules or regulations of the Department, or
ordered or requested by the Department, at the time pleading, documents, or
other papers are filed with the Department, there shall be furnished to the
Department an original of such filings.
(b)
Form. Except for
forms as may be provided by the Department, which shall be used where
appropriate, pleading, documents, or other papers filed in proceedings shall be
printed or typewritten on paper cut or folded to either letter or legal
size.
(c)
Filing. Except as may be otherwise required by the
rules or regulations of the Department, or ordered or requested by the
Department, all pleading, documents, or papers relating to matters requiring
action by the Department shall be filed with the Secretary of the Department
via personal delivery, first-class mail, or Electronic
Medium.
(9)
Ex Parte
Communications
in Adjudicatory Proceedings.
(a)
From the initial filing in an adjudicatory proceeding until the rendering of a
final decision, the Presiding Officer, may not communicate with a party or
interested person about any substantive issue of fact, law, or policy except
upon reasonable notice and opportunity for all parties to
participate.
(b) Communications not
prohibited by 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a) include:
1.
Communications concerning scheduling, administrative, and other procedural
matters.
2. Communications between
a party and assigned settlement intervention staff for the purpose of producing
a settlement, or communications between a party and staff assigned to conduct
alternative dispute resolution or mediation proceedings.
(c) If a person makes or attempts to make an
ex parte communication prohibited by 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a), the
Presiding Officer shall advise the person that the communication is prohibited
and shall immediately terminate the prohibited communication.
(d) If the Presiding Officer violates the
ex parte rule, he or she shall, no later than two business
days after determining that the communication was prohibited, serve on each
party and place in the docket file the following:
1. A written statement including the
substance and circumstances surrounding the communication; the identity of each
person who participated in the communication; the time, date, and duration of
the communication; and whether, in his or her opinion, the receipt of the
ex parte communication disqualifies him or her from further
participation in the adjudicatory proceeding; and
2. Any written or electronic documentation of
the communication.
The above documents to be placed in the docket file shall not
be made a part of the evidentiary record.
(e) The Department may, upon the motion of
any party or on its own motion, accept or require the submission of additional
evidence of the substance of a communication prohibited by 207 CMR
1.02(9)(a).
(f) Upon receipt of a
communication made or caused to be made by a party in violation of 207 CMR
1.02(9)(a), the Department may, to the extent consistent with the interests of
justice, require the party to show cause why his or her claim or interest in
the adjudicatory proceeding should not be dismissed, denied, disregarded, or
otherwise adversely affected on account of such violation.
(g) Where a party has violated 207 CMR
1.02(9)(a), the Department or Presiding Officer may take such action as is
deemed appropriate within the circumstances.
