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• Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) is an independent office in the Office of the Administrator of the EPA. The Administrative Law Judges conduct hearings and render decisions in proceedings between the EPA and persons, businesses, government entities, and other organizations which are or are alleged to be regulated under environmental laws. Administrative Law Judges preside in enforcement and permit proceedings in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Most enforcement actions initiated by the EPA are for the assessment of civil penalties.

All litigants are offered the opportunity to resolve enforcement cases through Alternative Dispute Resolution, with an Administrative Law Judge serving as a neutral, prior to assignment of the case for litigation before another Administrative Law Judge.

Federal administrative law judges are certified by the Office of Personnel Management and appointed in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 3105. They have decisional independence pursuant to Section 557 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 557, which ensures the fair and impartial resolution of proceedings.

Decisions issued by the Administrative Law Judges are subject to review by the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). The Administrative Law Judge's initial decision, which is a disposition of all of the issues in a proceeding, becomes the final order of the EPA within 45 days after service upon the parties unless a party appeals to the EAB or the EAB on its own initiative elects to review the initial decision.

OALJ has issued a Practice Manual (PDF) (45 pp, 399K, About PDF Files), and updated for 2011, which is a guide to understanding the procedural rules and practices in proceedings before the Administrative Law Judges.

OALJ has recently developed a Citizen's Guide (PDF) (44 pp, 1.3Mb, About PDF Files), which serves as an overview and procedural guide to individuals and organizations who are not represented by counsel in a proceeding before the Administrative Law Judges. It is organized differently than the Practice Manual, available above, and includes templates for common motions, contact information for each Regional Office, and background information for each type of case that comes before this office.

Filing Note: For non-EPA cases in which this office maintains the official case file, our filing hours are 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday - Friday. Any document received after 4:30 PM may be treated as having been filed the next business day. OALJ is preparing to launch a pilot e-filing program, but until such time as this program is implemented, the inked datestamp physically applied by this office serves as the official "filed" date and time.

When mailing correspondence or documents to OALJ, please note that we have two addresses, the use of either depends on the method of sending.

 

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