(a)(1) As specified in § 2.303, the Secretary of the Commission will maintain the official docket of the proceeding on the application for construction authorization for a high-level radioactive waste repository at a geologic repository operations area under parts 60 or 63 of this chapter, and for applications for a license to receive and possess high level radioactive waste at a geologic repository operations area under parts 60 or 63 of this Chapter.

(2) The Secretary of the Commission will establish an electronic docket to contain the official record materials of the high-level radioactive waste repository licensing proceeding in searchable full text, or, for material that is not suitable for entry in searchable full text, by header and image, as appropriate.

(b) Absent good cause, all exhibits tendered during the hearing must have been made available to the parties in electronic form before the commencement of that portion of the hearing in which the exhibit will be offered. The electronic docket will contain a list of all exhibits, showing where in the transcript each was marked for identification and where it was received into evidence or rejected. For any hearing sessions recorded stenographically or by other means, transcripts will be entered into the electronic docket on a daily basis in order to afford next-day availability at the hearing. However, for any hearing sessions recorded on videotape or other video medium, if a copy of the video recording is made available to all parties on a daily basis that affords next-day availability at the hearing, a transcript of the session prepared from the video recording will be entered into the electronic docket within twenty-four (24) hours of the time the transcript is tendered to the electronic docket by the transcription service.

(c)(1) All filings in the adjudicatory proceeding on the application for a high-level radioactive waste geologic repository under part 60 or 63 of this chapter shall be transmitted by the submitter to the Presiding Officer, parties, and Secretary of the Commission, according to the following requirements—

(i) “Simple documents” must be transmitted electronically via EIE;

(ii) “Large documents” must be transmitted electronically in multiple transmissions of 50 megabytes or less each via EIE;

(iii) “Complex documents”:

(A) Those portions that can be electronically submitted through the EIE, in 50 MB or less segments, must be transmitted electronically, along with a transmittal letter; and

(B) Those portions that are not capable of being transmitted electronically must be submitted on optical storage media which must also include those portions of the document that had been or will be transmitted electronically.

(iv) Electronic submissions must have the following resolution—

(A) Electronic submissions of files created after January 1, 2004 must have 300 dots per inch (dpi) as the minimum resolution for bi-tonal, color, and grayscale, except in limited circumstances where submitters may need to use an image scanned before January 1, 2004, in a document created after January 1, 2004, or the scanning process for a large, one-page image may not successfully complete at the 300 dpi standard resolution.

(B) Electronic submissions of files created before January 1, 2004, or electronic submissions created after January 1, 2004, which cannot meet the 300 dpi standard for color and grayscale, must meet the standard for documents placed on LSN participant Web sites in § 2.1011(b)(2)(iv) of this subpart, which is 150 dpi for color and grayscale documents and 300 dpi for bi-tonal documents.

(v) Electronic submissions must be generated in the appropriate PDF output format by using:

(A) PDF—Formatted Text and Graphics for textual documents converted from native applications;

(B) PDF—Searchable Image (Exact) for textual documents converted from scanned documents; and

(C) PDF—Image Only for graphic-, image-, and forms-oriented documents. In addition, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) images and the results of spreadsheet applications must to be converted to PDF, except in those rare instances where PDF conversion is not practicable.

(vi) Electronic submissions must not rely on hyperlinks to other documents or Web sites for completeness or access except for hyperlinks that link to material within the same PDF file. If the submittal contains hyperlinks to other documents or Web sites, then it must include a disclaimer to the effect that the hyperlinks may be inoperable or are not essential to the use of the filing. Information contained in hyperlinks to a Web site on the Internet or to another PDF file, that is necessary for the completeness of a filing, must be submitted in its entirety in the filing or as an attachment to the filing.

(vii) All electronic submissions must be free of author-imposed security restrictions.

(2) Filings required to be served shall be served upon either the parties and interested governmental participants, or their designated representatives. When a party or interested governmental participant has appeared by attorney, service must be made upon the attorney of record.

(3) Service upon a party or interested governmental participant is completed when the sender receives electronic acknowledgment (“delivery receipt”) that the electronic submission has been placed in the recipient's electronic mailbox.

(4) Proof of service, stating the name and address of the person on whom served and the manner and date of service, shall be shown for each document filed, by—

(i) Electronic acknowledgment (“delivery receipt”);

(ii) The affidavit of the person making the service; or

(iii) The certificate of counsel.

(5) All Presiding Officer and Commission issuances and orders will be transmitted electronically to the parties and interested governmental participants.

(d) Online access to the electronic docket, including a Protective Order File if authorized by a Presiding Officer, shall be provided to the Presiding Officer, the representatives of the parties and interested governmental participants, and the witnesses while testifying, for use during the hearing. Use of paper copy and other images will also be permitted at the hearing.