background image

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. 

VerDate Sep<11>2014 

09:06 Jun 28, 2024

Jkt 262046

PO 00000

Frm 00136

Fmt 8010

Sfmt 8010

Y:\SGML\262046.XXX

262046

jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with CFR