Returning Evidence at the Appeals Council Level. Final rule

Area of Science:

• Administrative Law
• Legal Procedures
• Evidence Law

Background:

• The Appeals Council (AC) previously had a policy of returning additional evidence.
• This policy applied when the evidence did not pertain to the period up to the administrative law judge (ALJ) decision date.
• A notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) was published on October 21, 2015, to address this policy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To revise the rules governing the return of evidence at the Appeals Council (AC) level.
• To implement a final rule regarding the handling of additional evidence submitted to the AC.
• To clarify the criteria for accepting or returning evidence based on its relevance to the ALJ decision date.

Main Methods:

• Adoption of a final rule.
• Revision of existing regulations concerning evidence submission.
• Publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for public comment.

Main Results:

• The AC will no longer return additional evidence.
• This applies when the submitted evidence is determined to be irrelevant to the period on or before the ALJ decision date.
• The final rule codifies this revised procedure.

Conclusions:

• The revised policy streamlines the evidence review process at the AC level.
• Ensures that only relevant evidence pertaining to the established period is considered.
• This final rule represents a significant change in the AC's evidence handling procedures.