126
14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition)
§ 17.35
(n) The Director of the ODRA may
review the status of any contract dis-
pute in the Adjudicative Process with
the DRO or Special Master.
(o) A DRO or Special Master shall
submit findings and recommendations
to the Director of the ODRA or the Di-
rector’s designee. The findings and rec-
ommendations will be released to the
parties and to the public, upon
issuance of the final FAA order in the
case. Should an ODRA protective order
be issued in connection with the con-
tract dispute, or should the matter in-
volve proprietary or competition-sen-
sitive information, a redacted version
of the findings and recommendations
omitting any protected information,
shall be prepared wherever possible and
released to the public, as soon as is
practicable, along with a copy of the
final FAA order. Only persons admitted
by the ODRA under the protective
order and Government personnel shall
be provided copies of the unredacted
findings and recommendations.
(p) Attorneys’ fees of a qualified pre-
vailing contractor are allowable to the
extent permitted by the EAJA, 5 U.S.C.
504(a)(1).
See 14 CFR part 14.
(q) Other than communications re-
garding purely procedural matters or
ADR, there shall be no substantive
ex
parte communication between ODRA
personnel and any principal or rep-
resentative of a party concerning a
pending or potentially pending matter.
A potential or serving ADR neutral
may communicate on an ex parte basis
to establish or conduct the ADR.
Subpart D—Alternative Dispute
Resolution
§ 17.35
Use of alternative dispute reso-
lution.
(a) By statutory mandate, it is the
policy of the FAA to use voluntary
ADR to the maximum extent prac-
ticable to resolve matters pending at
the ODRA. The ODRA therefore uses
voluntary ADR as its primary means of
resolving all factual, legal, and proce-
dural controversies.
(b) The parties are encouraged to
make a good faith effort to explore
ADR possibilities in all cases and to
employ ADR in every appropriate case.
The ODRA uses ADR techniques such
as mediation, neutral evaluation, bind-
ing arbitration or variations of these
techniques as agreed by the parties and
approved by the ODRA. At the begin-
ning of each case, the ODRA assigns a
DRO as a potential neutral to explore
ADR options with the parties and to
convene an ADR process. See § 17.35(b).
(c) The ODRA Adjudicative Process
will be used where the parties cannot
achieve agreement on the use of ADR;
where ADR has been employed but has
not resolved all pending issues in dis-
pute; or where the ODRA concludes
that ADR will not provide an expedi-
tious means of resolving a particular
dispute. Even where the Adjudicative
Process is to be used, the ODRA, with
the parties’ consent, may employ infor-
mal ADR techniques concurrently with
the adjudication.
§ 17.37
Election of alternative dispute
resolution process.
(a) The ODRA will make its per-
sonnel available to serve as Neutrals in
ADR proceedings and, upon request by
the parties, will attempt to make
qualified non-FAA personnel available
to serve as Neutrals through neutral-
sharing programs and other similar ar-
rangements. The parties may elect to
employ a mutually acceptable com-
pensated neutral at their expense.
(b) The parties using an ADR process
to resolve a protest shall submit an ex-
ecuted ADR agreement containing the
information outlined in paragraph (d)
of this section to the ODRA pursuant
to § 17.17(c). The ODRA may extend this
time for good cause.
(c) The parties using an ADR process
to resolve a contract dispute shall sub-
mit an executed ADR agreement con-
taining the information outlined in
paragraph (d) of this section to the
ODRA pursuant to § 17.29.
(d) The parties to a protest or con-
tract dispute who elect to use ADR
must submit to the ODRA an ADR
agreement setting forth:
(1) The agreed ADR procedures to be
used; and
(2) The name of the neutral. If a com-
pensated neutral is to be used, the
agreement must address how the cost
of the neutral’s services will be reim-
bursed.
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