(a) Within 21 days of receipt of a final determination that has
directly imposed a sanction or corrective action pursuant to
Sec. 645.250(b) of this part, a recipient, subrecipient, or a vendor
directly against which the Grant Officer has imposed a sanction or
corrective action, may request a hearing before the Department of Labor
Office of Administrative Law Judges, pursuant to the provisions of 29
CFR part 96 subpart 96.6.
(b) In accordance with 29 CFR 96.603(b)(2), the rules of practice
and procedure published at 29 CFR part 18 shall govern the conduct of
hearings under this section, except that a request for hearing under
this section shall not be considered a complaint to which the filing of
an answer by DOL or a DOL agency is required. Technical rules of
evidence shall not apply to a hearing conducted pursuant to this part;
however, rules or principles designed to assure production of the most
credible evidence available and to subject testimony to cross-
examination shall apply.
(c) The decision of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) shall
constitute final agency action unless, within 20 days of the decision,
a party dissatisfied with the decision of the ALJ has filed a petition
for review with the Administrative Review Board (ARB) (established
pursuant to the provisions of Secretary's Order No. 2-96, published at
61 FR 19977 (May 3, 1996)), specifically identifying the procedure,
fact, law or policy to which exception is taken. Any exception not
specifically urged shall be deemed to have been waived. A copy of the
petition for review must be sent to the opposing party at that time.
Thereafter, the decision of the ALJ shall constitute final agency
action unless the ARB, within 30 days of the filing of the petition for
review, has notified the parties that the case has been accepted for
review. Any case accepted by the ARB shall be decided within 120 days
of such acceptance. If not so decided, the decision of the ALJ shall
constitute final agency action.
