§ 2–1831.13. Interaction of the Office with other agencies; other procedural matters.

(a) All components of the District of Columbia government shall cooperate with the Chief Administrative Law Judge, the Chief Operating Officer, and Administrative Law Judges in the discharge of their duties.

(b) The Office shall be subject to audit and examination on the same basis as other District of Columbia government agencies.

(c) When a case is brought before the Office, any agency that is a party shall take no further decisional action with respect to the subject matter in issue, except in the role of a party litigant or with the consent of all parties, for so long as the Office has jurisdiction over the proceeding.

(d) All documents filed in any case before the Office shall be available to the public for review unless a statute, protective order, or other legal requirement prohibits disclosure.

(e) Beginning November 15, 2004, and by November 15 of each year thereafter, the Chief Administrative Law Judge shall transmit to the Mayor, the Council, and each agency to which this chapter applies, a written summary of the Office’s caseload during the previous fiscal year that is attributable to any provision of law administered by or under the jurisdiction of each agency. The summary shall also include comparative data on caseload from prior fiscal years. Each agency to which this chapter applies shall provide a written response to the summary to the Mayor, the Council, and the Office within 30 calendar days of issuance of the summary. The response shall state whether the agency knows or believes there is a reasonable possibility that such caseload will increase or decrease by more than 10% in the current or following fiscal year based on any planned or ongoing agency actions, or any other reason, and specifying the anticipated amount of the increase or decrease and the reasons therefor. For purposes of this subsection, the existence of a 10% or greater increase or decrease shall be measured pursuant to rules promulgated under this chapter.

(f) Prior to any agency promulgating a rule (other than an emergency rule) that will materially affect the number or types of cases heard by the Office, the agency director shall consult with the Chief Administrative Law Judge regarding fiscal and operational impact of the proposed rule, and shall submit to the Chief Administrative Law Judge a statement containing the agency’s projections regarding increases in case volume and case complexity likely to follow promulgation of the rule.

(g) The director of any agency that becomes subject to this chapter shall direct that all employees of the agency provide the Office with any financial and programmatic information requested by the Office relating to any operational or personnel responsibilities of the Office, including, without limitation, any information the Chief Administrative Law Judge deems necessary in order to absorb the transfer of an agency’s adjudication function into the Office. The information shall be provided promptly and in no event later than the 15th day after the request is received. The Chief Financial Officer shall also issue the directive called for in this subsection with respect to the employees under his or her control.

(h)(1) Whenever any applicable law or regulation requires or permits the filing in the Office of an affidavit or other writing subscribed to under oath, the subscriber, in lieu of a sworn or notarized statement, may submit a written declaration subscribed as true under penalty of perjury in substantially the following form:

“I declare (or certify, verify, or state), under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date).

“(Signature)”.

(2) Signing such a statement shall be considered the taking of an oath or affirmation for purposes of §§ 22-2402 and 22-2404.

(i) No person outside the Office shall participate in or in any way influence or attempt to influence, except through the ordinary litigation process, the fair and independent decisionmaking process in an adjudicated case before the Office.