(xi) BLM Utah State Office, including all District and Area Offices within its area of jurisdiction:

<Field Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior, 6201 Federal Building, 125 South State Street, Salt Lake City, UT 841381180;

(xii) BLM Wyoming State Office, including all District and Area Offices within its area of jurisdiction:

Regular U.S. Mail: Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region, U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 25007 (D-105), Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225;

Other Delivery Services: Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region, U.S. Department of the Interior, 755 Parfet Street, Suite 151, Lakewood, CO 80215;

(3) If the appeal is taken from the decision of an administrative law judge, the appellant shall serve the attorney from the Office of the Solicitor who represented the Bureau of Land Management or the Minerals Management Service at the hearing or, in the absence of a hearing, who was served with a copy of the decision by the administrative law judge. If the hearing involved a mining claim on national forest land, the appellant shall serve the attorney from the Office of General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture, who represented the U.S. Forest Service at the hearing or, in the absence of a hearing, who was served with a copy of the decision by the administrative law judge.

(4) Parties shall serve the Office of the Solicitor as identified in this paragraph until such time that a particular attorney of the Office of the Solicitor files and serves a Notice of Appearance or Substitution of Counsel. Thereafter, parties shall serve the Office of the Solicitor as indicated by the Notice of Appearance or Substitution of Counsel.

(d) Proof of such service as required by §4.401(c) must be filed with the Board (address: Board of Land Appeals, Office of Hearings and Appeals, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22203), within 15 days after service unless filed with the notice of appeal.

[53 FR 13267, Apr. 22, 1988, as amended at 60 FR 58242, Nov. 27, 1995; 61 FR 40348, Aug. 2, 1996]

§4.414 Answers.

If any party served with a notice of appeal wishes to participate in the proceedings on appeal, he must file an answer within 30 days after service on him of the notice of appeal or statement of reasons where such statement was not included in the notice of appeal. If additional reasons, written arguments, or briefs are filed by the appellant, the adverse party shall have 30 days after service thereof on him within which to answer them. The answer must state the reasons why the answerer thinks the appeal should not be sustained. Answers must be filed with the Board (address: Board of Land Appeals, Office of Hearings and Appeals, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22203) and must be served on the appellant, in the manner prescribed in §4.401(c), not later than 15 days thereafter. Proof of such service as required by $4.401(c), must be filed with the Board (see address above) within 15 days after service. Failure to answer will not result in a default. If an answer is not filed and served within the time required, it may be disregarded in deciding the appeal, unless the delay in filing is waived as provided in §4.401(a).

ACTIONS BY BOARD OF LAND APPEALS

§4.415 Request for hearings on appeals involving questions of fact. Either an appellant or an adverse party may, if he desires a hearing to present evidence on an issue of fact, request that the case be assigned to an administrative law judge for such a hearing. Such a request must be made in writing and filed with the Board within 30 days after answer is due and a copy of the request should be served on the opposing party in the case. The allowance of a request for hearing is within the discretion of the Board, and the Board may, on its own motion, refer any case to an administrative law judge for a hearing on an issue of fact. If a hearing is ordered, the Board will specify the issues upon which the hearing is to be held and the hearing will be held in accordance with §§ 4.430 to 4.439, and the general rules in subpart B of this part.

HEARINGS PROCEDURES

HEARINGS PROCEDURES; GENERAL

§ 4.420 Applicability of general rules.

To the extent they are not inconsistent with these special rules, the general rules of the Office of Hearings and Appeals in subpart B of this part are also applicable to hearings, procedures. §4.421 Definitions.

As used in this subpart:

(a) Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or his authorized representatives.

(b) Director means the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, the Associate Director or an Assistant Director.

(c) Bureau means Bureau of Land Management.

(d) Board means the Board of Land Appeals in the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Office of the Secretary. The terms "office" or "officer" as used in this subpart include "Board" where the context requires.

(e) Administrative law judge means an administrative law judge in the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Office of the Secretary, appointed under section 3105 of title 5 of the United States Code.

(f) State Director means the supervising Bureau of Land Management officer for the State in which the particular range lies, or his authorized agent.

(g) District manager means the supervising Bureau of Land Management officer of the grazing district in which the particular range lies, or his authorized agent.

[36 FR 7186, Apr. 15, 1971, as amended at 36 FR 15117, Aug. 13, 1971]

§4.422 Documents.

(a) Grace period for filing. Whenever a document is required under this subpart to be filed within a certain time and it is not received in the proper office during that time, the delay in filing will be waived if the document is filed not later than 10 days after it was required to be filed and it is determined that the document was transmitted or probably transmitted to the office in which the filing is required before the end of the period in which it was required to be filed. Determina

tions under this paragraph shall be made by the officer before whom is pending the appeal or contest in connection with which the document is required to be filed. This paragraph does not apply to requests for postponement of hearings under §§ 4.452-1 and 4.452-2.

(b) Transferees and encumbrancers. Transferees and encumbrancers of land, the title to which is claimed or is in the process of acquisition under any public land law shall, upon filing notice of the transfer or encumbrance in the proper land office, become entitled to receive and be given the same notice of any contest, appeal, or other proceeding thereafter initiated affecting such interest which is required to be given to a party to the proceeding. Every such notice of a transfer or encumbrance will be noted upon the records of the land office. Thereafter such transferee or encumbrancer must be made a party to any proceedings thereafter initiated adverse to the entry.

(c) Service of documents. (1) Wherever the regulations in this subpart require that a copy of a document be served upon a person, service may be made by delivering the copy personally to him or by sending the document by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to his address of record in the Bureau.

(2) In any case service may be proved by an acknowledgement of service signed by the person to be served. Personal service may be proved by a written statement of the person who made such service. Service by registered or certified mail may be proved by a postoffice return receipt showing that the document was delivered at the person's record address or showing that the document could not be delivered to such person at his record address because he had moved therefrom without leaving a forwarding address or because delivery was refused at that address or because no such address exists. Proof of service of a copy of a document should be filed in the same office in which the document is filed.

(3) A document will be considered to have been served at the time of personal service, of delivery of a registered or certified letter, or of the return by the post office of an undelivered registered or certified letter.

(d) Extensions of time. The Manager or the administrative law judge, as the case may be, may extend the time for filing or serving any document in a contest.

[36 FR 7186, Apr. 15, 1971, as amended at 36 FR 15117, Aug. 13, 1971]

§4.423 Subpoena power and witness provisions.

The administrative law judge is authorized to issue subpoenas directing the attendance of witnesses at hearings to be held before him or at the taking of depositions to be held before himself or other officers, for the purpose of taking testimony but not for discovery. The issuance of subpoenas, service, attendance fees, and similar matters shall be governed by the Act of January 31, 1903 (43 U.S.C. 102-106), and 28 U.S.C. 1821.

HEARINGS ON APPEALS INVOLVING QUESTIONS OF FACT

§4.430 Prehearing conferences.

(a) The administrative law judge may, in his discretion, on his own motion or motion of one of the parties or of the Bureau direct the parties or their representatives to appear at a specified time and place for a prehearing conference to consider: (1) The possibility of obtaining stipulations, admissions of facts and agreements to the introduction of documents, (2) the limitation of the number of expert witnesses, and (3) any other matters which may aid in the disposition of the proceedings.

(b) The administrative law judge shall issue an order which recites the action taken at the conference and the agreements made as to any of the matters considered, and which limits the issues for hearing to those not disposed of by admissions or agreements. Such order shall control the subsequent course of the proceeding before the administrative law judge unless modified for good cause, by subsequent order.

$4.431 Fixing of place and date for hearing; notice.

The administrative law judge shall fix a place and date for the hearing and notify all parties and the Bureau. All hearings held in connection with land

selection appeals arising under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended, shall be conducted within the State of Alaska, unless the parties agree otherwise.

[47 FR 26392, June 18, 1982]

§4.432 Postponements.

(a) Postponements of hearings will not be allowed upon the request of any party or the Bureau except upon a showing of good cause and proper diligence. A request for a postponement must be served upon all parties to the proceeding and filed in the office of the administrative law judge at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing. In no case will a request for postponement served or filed less than 10 days in advance of the hearing or made at the hearing be granted unless the party requesting it demonstrates that an extreme emergency occurred which could not have been anticipated and which justifies beyond question the granting of a postponement. In any such emergency, if time does not permit the filing of such request prior to the hearing, it may be made orally at the hearing.

(b) The request for a postponement must state in detail the reasons why a postponement is necessary. If a request is based upon the absence of witnesses, it must state what the substance of the testimony of the absent witnesses would be. No postponement will be granted if the adverse party or parties file with the examiner within 5 days after the service of the request a statement admitting that the witnesses on account of whose absence the postponement is desired would, if present, testify as stated in the request. If time does not permit the filing of such statement prior to the hearing, it may be made orally at the hearing.

(c) Only one postponement will be allowed to a party on account of the absence of witnesses unless the party requesting a further postponement shall at the time apply for an order to take the testimony of the alleged absent witness by deposition.

§4.433 Authority of the administrative law judge.

The administrative law judge is vested with general authority to conduct

the hearing in an orderly and judicial manner, including authority to subpoena witnesses and to take and cause depositions to be taken for the purpose of taking testimony but not for discovery in accordance with the Act of January 31, 1903 (32 Stat. 790; 43 U.S.C. 102 through 106), to administer oaths, to call and question witnesses, to make proposed findings of fact and to take such other actions in connection with the hearing as may be prescribed by the Board in referring the case for hearing. The issuance of subpoenas, the attendance of witnesses, and the taking of depositions shall be governed by §§4.423 and 4.26 of the general rules of subpart B of this part.

§4.434 Conduct of hearing.

So far as not inconsistent with the prehearing order, the examiner may seek to obtain stipulations as to material facts. Unless the administrative law judge directs otherwise, the appellant will present his evidence on the facts at issue following which the other parties and the Bureau of Land Management will present their evidence on such issues.

§4.435 Evidence.

(a) All oral testimony shall be under oath and witnesses shall be subject to cross-examination. The administrative law judge may question any witnesses. Documentary evidence may be received if pertinent to any issue. The administrative law judge will summarily stop examination and exclude testimony which is obviously irrelevant and immaterial.

(b) Objections to evidence will be ruled upon by the administrative law judge. Such rulings will be considered, but need not be separately ruled upon, by the Board in connection with its decision. Where a ruling of an administrative law judge sustains an objection to the admission of evidence, the party affected may insert in the record, as a tender of proof, a summary written statement of the substance of the exIcluded evidence and the objecting party may then make an offer of proof in rebuttal.

§4.436 Reporter's fees.

Reporter's fees shall be borne by the Bureau.

§4.437 Copies of transcript.

Each party shall pay for any copies of the transcript obtained by him. Unless a summary of the evidence is stipulated to, the Government will file the original copy of the transcript with the case record.

§4.438 Summary of evidence.

The parties and the Bureau may, with the consent of the administrative law judge, agree that a summary of the evidence approved by the examiner may be filed in the case in lieu of a transcript. In such case the administrative law judge will prepare the summary or have it prepared and upon agreement of the parties make it a part of the case record.

§4.439 Action by administrative law judge.

Upon completion of the hearing and the incorporation of the summary or transcript in the record, the administrative law judge will send the record and proposed findings of fact on the issues presented at the hearing to the Board. The proposed findings of fact will not be served upon the parties; however, the parties and the Bureau may, within 15 days after the completion of the transcript or the summary of the evidence, file with the Board such briefs or statements as they may wish respecting the facts developed at the hearing.

CONTEST AND PROTEST PROCEEDINGS $4.450 Private contests and protests.

§4.450-1 By whom private contest may be initiated.

Any person who claims title to or an interest in land adverse to any other person claiming title to or an interest in such land or who seeks to acquire a preference right pursuant to the Act of May 14, 1880, as amended (43 U.S.C. 185), or the Act of March 3, 1891 (43 U.S.C. 329), may initiate proceedings to have the claim of title or interest adverse to his claim invalidated for any reason not shown by the records of the Bureau

of Land Management. Such a proceeding will constitute a private contest and will be governed by the regulations herein.

$4.450-2 Protests.

Where the elements of a contest are not present, any objection raised by any person to any action proposed to be taken in any proceeding before the Bureau will be deemed to be a protest and such action thereon will be taken as is deemed to be appropriate in the circumstances.

$4.450-3 Initiation of contest.

Any person desiring to initiate a private contest must file a complaint in the proper land office (see §1821.2-1 of chapter II of this title). The contestant must serve a copy of the complaint on the contestee not later than 30 days after filing the complaint and must file proof of such service, as required by §4.422(c), in the office where the complaint was filed within 30 days after service.

84.450-4 Complaints.

(a) Contents of complaint. The complaint shall contain the following information, under oath:

(1) The name and address of each party interested;

(2) A legal description of the land involved;

(3) A reference, so far as known to the contestant, to any proceedings pending for the acquisition of title to, or an interest, in such land:

(4) A statement in clear and concise language of the facts constituting the grounds of contest;

(5) A statement of the law under which contestant claims or intends to acquire title to, or an interest in, the land and of the facts showing that he is qualified to do so;

(6) A statement that the proceeding is not collusive or speculative but is insitituted and will be diligently pursued in good faith;

(7) A request that the contestant be allowed to prove his allegations and that the adverse interest be invalidated;

(8) The office in which the complaint is filed and the address to which papers

shall be sent for service on the contestant; and

(9) A notice that unless the contestee files an answer to the complaint in such office within 30 days after service of the notice, the allegations of the complaint will be taken as confessed.

(b) Amendment of complaint. Except insofar as the manager, administrative law judge, Director, Board or Secretary may raise issues in connection with deciding a contest, issues not raised in a complaint may not be raised later by the contestant unless the administrative law judge permits the complaint to be amended after due notice to the other parties and an opportunity to object.

(c) Corroboration required. All allegations of fact in the complaint which are not matters of official record or capable of being judicially noticed and which, if proved, would invalidate the adverse interest must be corroborated under oath by the statement of witnesses. Each such allegation of fact must be corroborated by the statement of at least one witness having personal knowledge of the alleged fact and such fact must be set forth in the statement. All statements by witnesses shall be attached to the complaint.

(d) Filing fee. Each complaint must be accompanied by a filing fee of $10 and a deposit of $20 toward reporter's fees. Any complaint which is not accompanied by the required fee and deposit will not be accepted for filing.

(e) Waiver of issues. Any issue not raised by a private contestant in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, which was known to him, or could have been known to him by the exercise of reasonable diligence, shall be deemed to have been waived by him, and he shall thereafter be forever barred from raising such issue.

$4.450-5 Service.

The complaint must be served upon every contestee. If the contestee is of record in the land office, service may be made and proved as provided in §4.422 (c). If the person to be served is not of record in the land office, proof of service may be shown by a written