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About the Office of Administrative Law Judges


Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Office of Administrative Law Judges

In essentially every environmental case filed with it, the Office of Administrative Law Judges offers the parties ADR in the form of mediation. The mediation process is initiated only if it is accepted by all parties; the neutral mediator is one of the Office's judges, all of whom have had mediation training. There is no charge to either side in connection with the mediation.

This mediation is offered to the parties immediately upon arrival of the case in the Office, before the case is assigned to a judge for litigation. Later, if litigation on the case has begun, mediation is available to the parties, upon their motion, at the discretion of the presiding judge. Mediation is allowed to continue for 60 days, and, in the discretion of the neutral, may be extended up to an additional 60 days. Thus, if a case does not settle, it can still be concluded through litigation within a reasonable time of the case's arrival in the Office.

When a case does not settle during mediation with the neutral judge, it is thereafter handled by one of the Office's other judges who presides over the litigation leading to a decision resolving the case. Confidentiality is strictly observed during and after the mediation process. There is no communication on the substance of the case between the judge who served as mediator and the judge who presides over the litigation; the notes and written records of the mediator are destroyed.

Environmental cases coming before the Office of Administrative Law Judges involve one or more of the major environmental statutes. The procedure in most of these cases is governed by the EPA regulations at 40 CFR Part 22. Section 18 of this part was amended in 1999 to facilitate the use of ADR (40 Fed. Reg. 40,176, 40,182 (1999)).

The Office's experience with mediation has been favorable. For this reason, the Office has expanded the use of mediation from its inception in 1997, when mediation was offered for only a few selected cases, to the present, when it is offered for essentially every case.



Cases Concerning Nondiscrimination in Programs and Activities Receiving Federal Assistance from EPA

The Administrative Law Judges also conduct hearings and render decisions in appeals from determinations of the EPA's Office of Civil Rights in complaints of violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and of the EPA's implementing regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 7. For further information regarding OCR and the Title VI complaint process, click on the following link to the OCR web site, where the Part 7 procedures also are posted.



Videoconferencing Technology Available

EPA's Office of Administrative Law Judges now has access to videoconferencing equipment. In the Office of Administrative Law Judges' ADR proceedings, the neutral judge may employ such equipment in the ADR process, with the consent of the parties, where the neutral deems it appropriate. For proceedings in litigation before an administrative law judge, videoconferencing equipment may be used for oral arguments, prehearing conferences, and hearings, upon the parties' consent and the presiding judge's approval.

The videoconferencing equipment is available in EPA's new Administrative Courtroom, located in Room 1152 of the EPA East Building, 1201 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.



Staff of the Office of Administrative Law Judges

Mailing Address:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Administrative Law Judges
Mailcode 1900L
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Courier/FedEx Address:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Administrative Law Judges
Franklin Court, Suite 350
1099 14th St. NW
Washington, DC 20005 

                                                   Telephone:
Office of Administrative Law Judges................(202) 564-6255
Facsimile .........................................(202) 565-0044

Chief Judge Susan L. Biro
Legal Staff Assistant Maria Whiting-Beale..........(202) 564-6259
    Senior Staff Attorney Lisa Knight..............(202) 564-6291

Judge Barbara Gunning
    Legal Staff Assistant Mary Angeles.............(202) 564-6281

Judge William Moran
    Legal Staff Assistant Knolyn Jones.............(202) 564-6262
		
Judge Spencer Nissen		
    Legal Staff Assistant Maria Whiting-Beale......(202) 564-6259
		
Director of Management James McDonald
    Staff Attorney Adriane Busby...................(202) 564-8421
    Staff Attorney Sriram Gopal....................(202) 564-6288
    Staff Attorney Robyn Hanson....................(202) 564-6284
    Staff Attorney Jessica Loreto..................(202) 564-6287
    Staff Attorney James McCleary.................*(202) 564-6255
    Staff Attorney Daniel Millikin.................(202) 564-0762
    Program Assistant Mary Keemer..................(202) 564-6256
    Office of the Hearing Clerk....................(202) 564-6262
    Facsimile .....................................(202) 564-1206
    Hearing Clerk Sybil Anderson...................(202) 564-6281
    Receptionist William French....................(202) 564-6255	
	
* On detail to the Department of Energy

For Hearing Clerk only, NOT for service or filing with the Administrative Law Judges.

Mailing Address:

U.S. EPA Office of the Hearing Clerk
Mailcode 1900
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460

Courier/FedEx Address:

U.S. EPA Office of the Hearing Clerk
1099 14th St. NW
Suite 350, Franklin Court
Washington, DC 20005



Biographical Sketches of EPA Administrative Law Judges


THE HONORABLE SUSAN L. BIRO

Chief Judge Biro joined the Environmental Protection Agency as an Administrative Law Judge in November 1996 and was appointed as the Chief Administrative Law Judge in May 1997. From 1994 until 1996, she served as an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration in New York City and prior thereto was a litigation partner in law firms in the Washington metropolitan area. She received her law degree from Washington College of Law.



THE HONORABLE BARBARA A. GUNNING

Judge Gunning has been serving as an Administrative Law Judge with the Environmental Protection Agency since January 1997. From 1995 through 1996, she served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Social Security Administration in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From 1984 until 1995 Judge Gunning was a senior attorney at the Board of Immigration Appeals, Department of Justice, and from 1977 to 1984, she served as an acting Board Member and senior attorney at the Board of Veterans Appeals.



THE HONORABLE WILLIAM MORAN

Judge Moran joined the Environmental Protection Agency as an Administrative Law Judge in June, 1997. Prior to joining the Agency, from 1994-1997, he was an Administrative Law Judge with the Social Security Administration and, beforehand, was Counsel for the Department of Labor's Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and Assistant Counsel for the Mine Safety and Health Division of the Solicitor's Office. Judge Moran has also prosecuted criminal cases in the District of Columbia. A graduate of Suffolk University Law School, he also has an LL.M. from Georgetown School of Law.



THE HONORABLE SPENCER T. NISSEN

Judge Nissen joined the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Administrative Law Judges in January, 1977. During his prior government career, Judge Nissen served as a member of the Department of Interior Board of Contract Appeals, as the Chief Counsel for Procurement Litigation in the General Services Administration, and as an attorney advisor to components of the Department of Defense engaged in the award and administration of government contracts. He received his law degree from the University of South Dakota.

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