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(GLWRUV1RWH An orIicle in IIe April 2012 1266&5)RUXP(poge 3) JiecueeeJ conIocIing IIe Appeole Council,
incluJing requeeIe for exIeneion of Iine. TIe Mo, S, 2012 MenoronJun fron PoIricio A. Jonoe, 1xecuIite DirecIor,
Of[ce of AppelloIe OperoIione, JeecriIee IIe polic, for gronIing exIeneione of Iine. TIe polic, gronIe one exIeneion
ouIonoIicoll,. A euIeequenI requeeI requiree o reoeon(e) onJ uill Ie retieueJ on on inJitiJuol Ioeie.
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MEMORANDUM
Date:
May 8, 2012 ReIer To: TLC
To:
All OIIice oI Appellate Operations StaII
From:
Patricia A. Jonas /s/
Executive Director, OAO
Subject:
ClariIication oI Procedures For Providing Claimants and Appointed Representatives with an
Extension oI Time to Submit Additional Material INFORMATION
HALLEX I-3-0-84 and I-3-0-85 provide that a claimant or the claimant's appointed
representative may request copies oI the exhibits and/or hearing recording as well as an
extension oI time to submit evidence or arguments. HALLEX also provides that the Appeals
Council will routinely allow 40 days Ior the submission oI evidence and arguments. For
second requests, or request Ior more than 40 days, the Council will consider the particular set oI
circumstances in each case. The Council does not grant extensions automatically and will grant
additional time only iI there are extenuating circumstances present in the case.
Several years ago, the Executive Director authorized a reduction in the routine time-period
allowed to submit additional material Irom 40 days to 25 days. Recently, the OIIice oI
Appellate Operations (OAO) staII signiIicantly increased the volume oI duplicate copies oI
exhibits and hearing recordings provided to claimants and their appointed representatives.
Because oI this inIlux, many representatives have begun asking Ior second extensions oI time
(EOT) to submit additional material.
We will handle second requests Ior an extension oI time to submit additional material using the
Iollowing procedure:
x Upon receipt oI a request Ior a second extension oI time to submit additional material,
the support staII will add a Remark to the ARPS record indicating receipt oI this second
request and reIerral oI the request to the Branch ChieI Ior consideration.
x Support staII will scan the request Ior a second EOT into the CertiIied Electronic Folder
(CEF) or, in paper cases, hand-carry the material to the Branch ChieI.
x Support staII will place the ARPS record in |With Branch Chief (WIBC)| status with
the appropriate Branch ChieI as the assigned employee.
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x The Branch ChieI will review the request and determine whether the request should be
granted or denied.
x Upon reaching a decision, the Branch ChieI will:
R Create an incomplete diary (e.g., |Notices| |Extension of Time Only Letter
to Claimant/REP| with the appropriate support staII member as the assigned
employee.
R Add text in the |Instruction| text box that he or she either "approves" or
"disapproves" the second EOT request.
R Place the ARPS record in |Development Pending (DEVP)| status with the
appropriate support staII member as the status employee.
x The assigned support staII member will identiIy such cases using Workload Listings.
x The support staII will review the incomplete diary to determine iI the request Ior EOT
to submit additional material was approved or disapproved.
x II the Branch ChieI approved the EOT, the support staII will prepare an OAO DGS
COR 22 letter |Granting Second Extension of Time to Submit Evidence or
Contentions| using the approving Branch ChieI's name in the Signature Block. This
letter will be modiIied to remove the phrase ". except for very good reasons" Irom the
second sentence under "We Will Not Act for 30 Days." (This phrase was inadvertently
added to the COR 22 DGS letter and will be removed in the August 2012 release.)
x II the Branch ChieI disapproved the EOT, the support staII will create a notice Ior this
purpose (none currently exists in OAO DGS). The Support StaII will:
R Create a COR 19 |Erroneous HA-520 Prepared| as a template Ior the denial oI
EOT letter using the Branch ChieI's name in the Signature Block.
R Highlight the text below the "Re:" line or the salutation line iI no "Re" line
exists to the end oI the text (not signature block) and delete the highlighted text.
R Paste the Iollowing text into the letter:
This is about your request Ior another extension oI time. We do not grant your request Ior more
time.
What Happens Next
We will proceed with our action based on the record we have.
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If You Have Any Questions
II you have any questions, you may call or write the Appeals Council. Our telephone
number and address are shown at the top oI this letter. II you do call, please have this
notice with you.
x Date and Save the letter granting or denying the second request Ior EOT.
x In CEF cases, use the |Send to eFolder| button to upload the letter to the Electronic
Folder.
x In paper cases, OAO staII will place a copy oI the letter in the Modular Disability
Folder (MDF).
x Print the appropriate number oI copies oI the letter.
x Mail the letter to the claimant and representative, iI appropriate.
x Complete the Diary inIormation in ARPS Ior the previously created |Notices|
|Extension of Time Only Letter to Claimant/REP| diary:
R II the request was approved, use the deIault due date oI 45 days Irom the date
the COR 22 letter was released and change the case status to |Diary Action
Pending (DACP)| with the appropriate employee as the status employee.
R II the request was denied, use the "Cleared" Iunction to close the diary (e.g., Is
the diary ready to be closed? |Yes|. Was the requested inIormation received?
|No|. Input |Cleared Date|.) Place the case in the appropriate status, such as
|Screened - Ready for Analyst/PST (SCRN)|.
Because OAO support staII will modiIy the COR 22 letter to contain the Iollowing language:
"We will not allow more time to send information." OAO staII will NOT respond iI the
claimant or appointed representative requests a third extension oI time in which to submit
additional material.
II you have any questions concerning the above, please contact the ^ODAR ARPS
Support mailbox.
Attachment(s):
Sample oI Letter Denying 2
nd
EOT to Submit Additional Material
Sample oI Letter Approving 2
nd
EOT to Submit Additional Material