Link to an amendment published at 90 FR 5619, Jan. 17, 2025.

Unless otherwise provided for in the Act, these rules, or by order, the due date for a pleading or other deadline for party or Commission action (hereinafter “due date”) is determined sequentially as follows:

1. (a) Except to the extent otherwise provided herein (see, e.g., §§ 2700.24 and 2700.45), when the period of time prescribed for action is less than 11 days, Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays shall be excluded in determining the due date.
2. (b) When a party serves a pleading by a method of delivery resulting in other than same-day service, the due date for party action in response is extended 5 additional calendar days beyond the date otherwise prescribed, after consideration of paragraph (a) of this section where applicable.
3. (c) The day from which the designated period begins to run shall not be included in determining the due date. The last day of the prescribed period for action, after consideration of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section where applicable, shall be included and be the due date, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, federal holiday, or other day on which the Commission's offices are not open or the Commission is open but unable to accept filings, in which event the due date shall be the next day which is not one of the aforementioned days.

4. (d) The time of filing with the Commission shall be determined using Washington, DC, local time. For filing by electronic means and by facsimile transmission, the due date ends at midnight Washington, DC, local time. For filing by other means, the due date ends at 5:00 p.m. Washington, DC, local time.

   Example 1:A motion is filed with the Commission on Monday, July 1, 2013. Under § 2700.10(d), other parties in the proceeding have 8 days in which to respond to the motion. Because the response period is less than 11 days, intervening weekends and holidays, such as Thursday, July 4, 2013, are excluded in determining the due date. A response is thus due by Friday, July 12, 2013. In addition, those parties not served with the motion on the day it was filed have 5 additional calendar days in which to respond, or until Wednesday, July 17, 2013.

   Example 2:A Commission Judge issues his final decision in a case on Friday, July 5, 2013. Under § 2700.70(a), parties have until August 4, 2013, to file with the Commission a petition for discretionary review of the Judge's decision. Even though the decision was mailed, 5 additional calendar days are not added, because paragraph (b) of this section only applies to actions in response to parties' pleadings. However, because August 4, 2013, is a Sunday, the actual due date for the petition is Monday, August 5, 2013.

   Example 3:Pursuant to § 2700.24(a), the Secretary of Labor files a referral of a citation arising out of a dispute over the content of an operator's emergency response plan. Certain subsequent deadlines in such cases are specifically established by reference to calendar days, and thus paragraph (a) of this section would not necessarily apply in determining due dates. For instance, if the referral was filed on Thursday, July 11, 2013, the short and plain statement the operator must file in response within 5 calendar days would be due Tuesday, July 16, 2013, because the intervening weekend days would not be excluded in determining the due date. If the fifth calendar day were to fall on a weekend, holiday, or other day on which the Commission is not open however, the terms of paragraph (c) would apply and the due date would be the next day the Commission is open.

[78 FR 77358, Dec. 23, 2013]