01-31534. Order Delegating Authority to the General Counsel Before Chairman Peter J. Hurtgen, and Members Wilma B. Liebman and Dennis P. Walsh

December 14, 2001.

The Board anticipates that in the near future it may for a temporary period have fewer than three Members of its statutorily-prescribed full complement of five Members.^[1] The Board also recognizes that it has a continuing responsibility to fulfill its statutory obligations in the most effective and efficient manner possible. To assure that the Agency will be able to meet its obligations to the public, the Board has decided to temporarily delegate to the General Counsel full authority on all court litigation matters that would otherwise require Board authorization. This delegation shall be effective during any time at which the Board has fewer than three Members and is made under the authority granted to the Board under sections 3, 4, 6, and 10 of the National Labor Relations Act.

Accordingly, the Board delegates to the General Counsel full and final authority and responsibility on behalf of the Board to initiate and prosecute injunction proceedings under section 10(j) or section 10(e) and (f) of the Act, contempt proceedings pertaining to the enforcement of or compliance with any order of the Board, and any other court litigation that would otherwise require Board authorization; and to institute and conduct appeals to the Supreme Court by writ of error or on petition for certiorari. This delegation shall be revoked whenever the Board has at least three Members.

This delegation relates to the internal management of the National Labor Relations Board and is therefore, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, exempt from the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. Further, public notice and comment is impractical because of the immediate need for Board action. The public interest requires that this delegation take effect immediately.

All existing delegations of authority to the General Counsel and to staff in effect prior to the date of this order remain in full force and effect. For the reasons stated above, the Board finds good cause to make this order effective immediately in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(d).

By direction of the Board.

Dated: Washington, DC, December 18, 2001.

John J. Toner,

Executive Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  The five-Member Board presently has three Members, one of whom, Member Walsh, is in recess appointment which will expire at the sine die adjournment of the current session of Congress.