(a) Notice of a Board meeting will be published in the Federal Register at least one week before the meeting. Each notice will include the following information:

(1) The time of the meeting;

(2) The place where the meeting will be held;

(3) The subject and agenda of the meeting;

(4) Whether the meeting is to be open to the public or closed; and

(5) The name and telephone number of a Board official responsible for receiving inquiries regarding the meeting.

(b) The Board, by majority vote, may provide less than one week's notice. When it does so, however, it will provide notice of the meeting at the earliest practicable time.

(a) After notice of a meeting has been published, the Board may change the time or place of the meeting only if it announces the change publicly at the earliest practicable time.

(b) After notice of a meeting has been published, the Board may not change either the subject matter of the meeting or the decision that the meeting will be open to the public or closed unless both of the following conditions are met:

(1) By majority, recorded vote, the Board members determine that Board business requires the change and that no earlier announcement of the change was possible; and

(2) Notice of the change, and of the individual Board members' vote, is published in the Federal Register at the earliest practicable time.

(a) Basis. The Board, by majority vote, may decide to close a meeting in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(1) to 552b(c)(10) when closing the meeting is in the public interest.

(b) General Counsel certification. For every meeting that is closed to the public in whole or in part, the General Counsel will certify that closing the meeting is proper, and will state the basis for that opinion.

(c) Vote. Within one day after voting to close a meeting, the Board will make publicly available a record reflecting the vote of each member. In addition, within one day after any vote to close a portion or portions of a meeting to the public, the Board will make publicly available a full written explanation of its decision to close the meeting, together with a list naming all persons expected to attend the meeting and identifying their affiliation, unless that disclosure would reveal the information that the meeting was closed to protect.

(a) Closed meetings. (1) For every meeting, or portion thereof, closed pursuant to this part the presiding officer shall prepare a statement setting forth the time and place of the meeting and the persons present, which statement shall be retained by the Board. For each such meeting, or portion thereof, the Board shall maintain a copy of the General Counsel's certification under § 1206.6(b) of this part, a statement from the presiding official specifying the time and place of the meeting and naming the persons present, a record (which may be part of the transcript) of all votes and all documents considered at the meeting, and a complete transcript or electronic recording of the proceedings, except that for meetings or portions of meetings closed pursuant to section (10) of 5 U.S.C. 552b(c), the Board may maintain either a transcript, electronic recording, or a set of minutes. In lieu of a transcript or electronic recording, a set of minutes shall fully and accurately summarize any action taken, the reasons therefore and views thereon, documents considered and the members' vote on each roll call vote, if any.

(2) The Board shall make promptly available to the public copies of transcripts, recordings, or minutes maintained as provided in accordance with this paragraph (a), except to the extent the items therein contain information which the Board determines may be withheld pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552b(c). Copies of transcripts or minutes, or transcriptions of electronic recordings including the identification of speakers, shall to the extent determined to be publicly available, be furnished to any person, subject to the payment of duplication costs or the actual cost of transcription.

(3) The Board shall maintain a complete verbatim copy of the transcript, a complete copy of the minutes, or a complete electronic recording of each meeting, or portion of a meeting, closed to the public, for a period of at least two (2) years after such meeting or until one (1) year after the conclusion of any Board proceeding with respect to which the meeting or portion was held whichever occurs later.

(b) Open meetings. Transcripts or other records will be made of all open meetings of the Board. Those records will be made available upon request at a fee representing the Board's actual cost of making them available.

Information available to the public under this part will be made available by the Office of the Clerk of the Board, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, 1615 M Street, NW., Washington, DC 20419. Individuals or organizations with a special interest in activities of the Board may ask the Office of the Clerk to have them placed on a mailing list for receipt of information available under this part.

Instead of following the procedures described in §§ 1206.4 through 1206.8 of this part, and in §§ 1206.11 and 1206.12, the Board may expedite the closing of its meetings under the following conditions by using the following procedures:

(a) Finding. (1) Most regular Board business consists of reviewing initial decisions in cases adjudicated after an opportunity for a hearing has been provided. Based on a review of this circumstance, the legislative history of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-454), the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b), and the Board's regulations at 5 CFR part 1201, the Board finds that a majority of its meetings may properly be closed to the public under 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(10) and 552b(d)(4).

(2) Absent a compelling public interest to the contrary, meetings or portions of meetings that can be expected to be closed under these procedures include meetings held to consider the following: Petitions for review or cases that have been or may be reopened under 5 CFR 1201.114 through 1201.117; proposals to take action against administrative law judges under 5 CFR 1201.131 through 1201.136; and actions brought by the Special Counsel under 5 CFR 1201.129.

(b) Announcement. The Board will announce publicly, at the earliest practicable time, the time, place, and subject matter of meetings or portions of meetings that are closed under this provision.

(c) Procedure for closing meetings under this section. At the beginning of a meeting or portion of a meeting that is to be closed under this section, the Board may, by recorded vote of two of its members, decide to close the meeting or a portion of it to public observation. The Board may take this action, however, only after it receives a certification by the General Counsel under § 1206.6(b) of this part.

(d) Record Availability. When the Board has closed a meeting or portion of a meeting under this paragraph, it will make the following available as soon as practicable:

(1) A written record reflecting the vote of each participating member of the Board with respect to closing the meeting; and

(2) The General Counsel certification under § 1206.6(b).