(a) The Branch will issue a decision granting or denying the employer's application to be an authorized self-insurer. If the Branch grants the application, the decision will fix the amount of security the employer must deposit. The Branch will transmit its decision to the employer in a way it considers appropriate.

(b) The employer is authorized to self-insure beginning with the date of the Branch's decision. Each grant of authority to self-insure is conditioned, however, upon the employer's execution and filing of an Agreement and Undertaking and deposit of the security fixed in the decision in the form and within the time limits required by § 703.304. In the event the employer fails to comply with the requirements set forth in § 703.304, its authorization to self-insure will be considered never to have been effective, and the employer will be subject to appropriate penalties for failure to secure its LHWCA obligations.

(c) The Branch will require security in the amount it considers necessary to fully secure the employer's LHWCA obligations. When fixing the amount of security, the Branch may consider a number of factors including, but not limited to, the—

(1) Employer's overall financial standing;

(2) Nature of the employer's work;

(3) Hazard of the work in which the employees are employed;

(4) Employer's payroll amount for employees engaged in employment within the purview of the Act; and

(5) Employer's accident record as shown in the application and the Office's records.

(d) If an employer believes that the Branch incorrectly denied its application to self-insure, or that a lesser security deposit would fully secure its LHWCA obligations, the employer may request a hearing before the Director of the Division of Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation (Longshore Director) or the Longshore Director's representative. Requests for hearing must be in writing and sent to the Branch within ten days of the date of the Branch's decision. The employer may submit new evidence and/or argument in support of its challenge to the Branch's decision and must provide any additional documentation OWCP requests. The Longshore Director or his representative will notify the employer of the hearing date within 10 days of receiving the request. The Longshore Director or his representative will issue the final agency decision on the application within 60 days of the hearing date, or, where evidence is submitted after the hearing, within 60 days of the receipt of such evidence, but no later than 180 days after receiving the employer's request for a hearing.