(a) Section 9(d)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2058(d)(2), and section 4(d) of the Flammable Fabrics Act, 15 U.S.C. 1193(d), provide that certain rules under those statutes shall be promulgated pursuant to section 4 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553,except,views. Several rulemaking provisions of the statutes administered by the Commission are subject only to the rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act. Section 4(c) of the Administrative Procedure Act provides that the opportunity for oral presentations may or may not be granted in rulemaking under that section. In addition, section 27(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2076(a), authorizes informal proceedings that can be conducted in non-rulemaking investigatory situations.

(b) This part sets forth rules of procedure for the oral presentation of data, views or arguments in the informal rulemaking or investigatory situations described in subsection (a) of this section. In situations where the opportunity for an oral presentation is not required by statute, the Commission will determine whether to provide the opportunity on a case-by-case basis.

The Commission will publish in the Federal Register notice of opportunity for an oral presentation in each instance. The notice shall be sufficiently in advance of the oral presentation to allow interested persons to participate. If the oral presentation involves a proposed rule, the notice of opportunity may be in the notice proposing the rule or in a later, separate Federal Register notice.

(a) The purpose of the oral presentation is to afford interested persons an opportunity to participate in person in the Commission's rulemaking or other proceedings and to help inform the Commission of relevant data, views and arguments.

(b) The oral presentation, which shall be taped or transcribed, shall be an informal, non-adversarial legislative-type proceeding at which there will be no formal pleadings or adverse parties.

(c) The proceedings for the oral presentation shall be conducted impartially, thoroughly, and expeditiously to allow interested persons an opportunity for oral presentation of data, views or arguments.

(a) For oral presentations, the presiding officer shall either be the Chairman of the Commission or a presiding officer shall be appointed by the Chairman with the concurrence of the Commission.

(b) The presiding officer shall chair the proceedings, shall make appropriate provision for testimony, comments and questions, and shall be responsible for the orderly conduct of the proceedings. The presiding officer shall have all the powers necessary or appropriate to contribute to the equitable and efficient conduct of the oral proceedings including the following:

(1) The right to apportion the time of persons making presentations in an equitable manner in order to complete the presentations within the time period allotted for the proceedings.

(2) The right to terminate or shorten the presentation of any party when, in the view of the presiding officer, such presentation is repetitive or is not relevant to the purpose of the proceedings.

(3) The right to confine the presentations to the issues specified in the notice of oral proceeding or, where no issues are specified, to matters pertinent to the proposed rule or other proceeding.

(4) The right to require a single representative to present the views of two or more persons or groups who have the same or similar interests. The presiding officer shall have the authority to identify groups or persons with the same or similar interests in the proceedings.

(c) The presiding officer and Commission representatives shall have the right to question persons making an oral presentation as to their testimony and any other relevant matter.