§ 560.6 - Procedures for closing meetings.

§ 560.6 Procedures for closing meetings.

(a) A meeting or portions thereof may be closed and information pertaining to such meeting or portions thereof may be withheld under § 560.5 of this part only when a majority of the members of the Commission vote to take such action.

(b) A separate vote of the members of the Commission shall be taken with respect to each meeting or portion thereof proposed to be closed and with respect to information which is proposed to be withheld. A single vote may be taken with respect to a series of meetings or portions thereof which are proposed to be closed, so long as each meeting or portion thereof in such series involves the same particular matter and is scheduled to be held no more than thirty days after the initial meeting in such series. The vote of each participating Commission member shall be recorded, and no proxies shall be allowed.

(c) A person whose interests may be directly affected by a portion of a meeting may request in writing that the Commission close that portion of the meeting for any of the reasons referred to in § 560.5(a) (5), (6) or (7) of this part. Upon the request of a Commissioner, a recorded vote shall be taken whether to close such meeting or a portion thereof.

(d) Before the Commission may hold a meeting that is closed, in whole or part, a certification shall be obtained from the General Counsel that, in his or her opinion, the meeting may properly be closed. The certification shall be in writing and shall state each applicable exemptive provision from § 560.5(a) of this part.

(e) Within one day of a vote taken pursuant to this section, the Commission shall make publicly available a written copy of such vote reflecting the vote of each Commissioner.

(f) In the case of the closure of a meeting or portions thereof, the Commission shall make publicly available within one day of the vote on such action a full written explanation of the reasons for the closing together with a list of all persons expected to attend the meeting and their affiliation.