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(continued) egislative hearing may be requested at any time between the beginning of the legislative hearing and the deadline for submitting reply comments.

(c) EPA will rule on all subpoena requests filed under paragraph (b)(1) of this section no later than the beginning of the informal hearing. Such requests may be granted, denied, or deferred. EPA will rule on all subpoena requests filed under paragraph (b)(2) of this section and all deferred subpoena requests filed under paragraph (b)(1) of this section no later than the promulgation of the final rule. Such requests will be either granted or denied.

§ 750.38 Participation in informal hearing.
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(a) Each person or organization desiring to participate in the informal hearing required by section 6(c)(2)(C) of TSCA must file a written request to participate with the Hearing Clerk. This request must be received no later than seven days prior to the scheduled start of the hearing. The hearing will begin seven days after the close of the thirty day comment period or as soon thereafter as practicable. The request must include:

(1) A brief statement of the interest of the person or organization in the proceeding;

(2) A brief outline of the points to be addressed;

(3) An estimate of the time required; and

(4) If the request comes from an organization, a nonbinding list of the persons to take part in the presentation. Organizations are requested to bring with them, to the extent possible, employees with individual expertise in and responsibility for each of the areas to be addressed. No organization not filing main comments in the rulemaking will be allowed to participate at the hearing, unless a waiver of this requirement is granted in writing by the Hearing Chairman or the organization is appearing at the request of EPA or under subpoena.

(b) No later than three days prior to the start of the hearing, the Hearing Clerk will make a hearing schedule publicly available and mail or deliver it to each of the persons who requested to appear at the hearing. This schedule will be subject to change during the course of the hearing at the discretion of those presiding over it.

(c) Opening statements should be brief, and restricted either to points that could not have been made in main comments or to emphasizing points which are made in main comments, but which the participant believes can be more forcefully urged in the hearing context.

§ 750.39 Conduct of informal hearing.
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(a) A panel of EPA employees shall preside at each hearing conducted under section 6(c)(2)(C) of TSCA. In appropriate cases, other Executive Branch employees may also sit with and assist the panel. The membership of the panel may change as different topics arise during the hearing. In general, the panel membership will consist of EPA employees with special responsibility for the final rule or special expertise in the topics under discussion. One member of the panel will be named to chair the proceedings and will attend throughout the hearing, unless unavoidably prevented by sickness or similar personal circumstances.

(b) The panel may question any individual or group participating in the hearing on any subject relating to the rulemaking. Cross-examination by others will normally not be permitted at this stage. It may be granted in compelling circumstances at the sole discretion of the hearing panel. However, persons in the hearing audience may submit questions in writing for the hearing panel to ask the participants, and the hearing panel may, at their discretion, ask these questions.

(c) Participants in the hearing may submit additional material for the hearing record and shall submit such additional material as the hearing panel may request. All such submissions will become part of the record of the hearing. A verbatim transcript of the hearing shall be made. Participants will be allowed to designate testimony from prior EPA informal rulemaking hearings concerning PCBs under TSCA. The hearing panel may reject repetitive testimony previously presented at such hearings.

§ 750.40 Cross-examination.
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(a) After the close of the informal hearing conducted under §750.39, any participant in that hearing may submit a written request for cross-examination. The request must be received by EPA within one week after a full transcript of the informal hearing becomes available and must specify:

(1) The disputed issue(s) of material fact as to which cross-examination is requested. This must include an explanation of why the questions at issue are “factual”, rather than of an analytical or policy nature, the extent to which they are in “dispute” in the light of the record made thus far, and the extent to which and why they can reasonably be considered “material” to the decision on the final rule; and

(2) The person(s) the participant desires to cross-examine, and an estimate of the time necessary. This must include a statement as to how the cross-examination requested can be expected to result in “full and true disclosure” resolving the issue of material fact involved.

(b) Within one week after receipt of all requests for cross-examination under paragraph (a), the hearing panel will rule on them. The ruling will be served by the Hearing Clerk on all participants who have requested cross-examination and will be inserted in the record. Written notice of the ruling will be given to all persons requesting cross-examination and all persons to be cross-examined. The ruling will specify:

(1) The issues as to which cross-examination is granted;

(2) The persons to be cross-examined on each issue;

(3) The persons to be allowed to conduct cross-examination; and

(4) Time limits for the examination of each witness by each cross-examiner.

(c) In issuing this ruling, the panel may determine that one or more participants who have requested cross-examination have the same or similar interests and should be required to choose a single representative for purposes of cross-examination by that single representative without identifying the representative further. Subpoenas for witnesses may be issued where necessary.

(d) Within one week after the insertion into the record of the ruling under paragraph (b) of this section, the hearing at which the cross-examination will be conducted will begin. One or more members of the original panel will preside for EPA. The panel will have authority to conduct cross-examination on behalf of any participant, although as a general rule this right will not be exercised. The panel will also have authority to modify the governing ruling in any respect and to make new rulings on group representation under section 6(c)(3)(C) of TSCA. A verbatim transcript of the hearing will be made.

(e)(1) No later than the time set for requesting cross-examination, a hearing participant may request that other alternative methods of clarifying the record (such as informal conferences or the submittal of additional information) be used. Such requests may be submitted either in lieu of cross-examination requests, or in conjunction with them.

(2) The panel in passing on a cross-examination request may, as a precondition to ruling on its merits, require that alternative means of clarifying the record be used whether or not that has been requested under paragraph (e)(1) of this section. In such a case, the results of the use of such alternative means will be made available to the person requesting cross-examination for a one-week comment period, and the panel will make a final ruling on cross-examination within one week thereafter.

(f) Waivers or extensions of any deadline in this section applicable to persons other than EPA may be granted on the record of the hearing by the person chairing it or in writing by the Hearing Chairman.

§ 750.41 Final rule.
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(a) As soon as feasible after the deadline for submittal of reply comments, EPA will issue a final rule. EPA will also publish at that time:

(1) A list of all material added to the record (other than public comments and material from the hearing record) which has not previously been listed in a Federal Register document, and

(2) The effective date of the rule.

(b) Pursuant to the delegation of authority made in the Preamble to the Final Regulation for the PCB Manufacturing, Processing, Distribution in Commerce and Use Prohibitions, the Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances will grant or deny petitions under section 6(e)(3)(B) of TSCA submitted pursuant to §750.31. The Assistant Administrator will act on such petitions subsequent to opportunity for an informal hearing pursuant to this rule.

(c) In determining whether to grant an exemption to the PCB ban, EPA will apply the two standards enunciated in section 6(e)(3)(B) of TSCA.