Title 17

SECTION 240.21F-12

240.21F-12 Materials that may form the basis of an award determination and that may comprise the record on appeal.

§ 240.21F-12 Materials that may form the basis of an award determination and that may comprise the record on appeal.

(a) The following items constitute the materials that the Commission, the Claims Review Staff (as specified in § 240.21F-10(d) of this chapter), and the Office of the Whistleblower may rely upon to make an award determination pursuant to §§ 240.21F-10, 240.21F-11, and 240.21F-18 of this chapter:

(1) Any publicly available materials from the covered action or related action, including:

(i) The complaint, notice of hearing, answers and any amendments thereto;

(ii) The final judgment, consent order, or final administrative order;

(iii) Any transcripts of the proceedings, including any exhibits;

(iv) Any items that appear on the docket; and

(v) Any appellate decisions or orders.

(2) The whistleblower's Form TCR, including attachments, and other related materials provided by the whistleblower to assist the Commission with the investigation or examination;

(3) The whistleblower's Form WB-APP, including attachments, any supplemental materials submitted by the whistleblower before the deadline to file a claim for a whistleblower award for the relevant Notice of Covered Action, and any other materials timely submitted by the whistleblower in response either

(i) To a request from the Office of the Whistleblower or the Commission; or

(ii) To the Preliminary Determination or Preliminary Summary Disposition that was provided to the claimant;

(4) Sworn declarations (including attachments) from the Commission staff regarding any matters relevant to the award determination;

(5) With respect to an award claim involving a related action, any statements or other information that the entity provides or identifies in connection with an award determination, provided the entity has authorized the Commission to share the information with the claimant. (Neither the Commission nor the Claims Review Staff may rely upon information that the entity has not authorized the Commission to share with the claimant); and

(6) Any other documents or materials from third parties (including sworn declarations) that are received or obtained by the Office of the Whistleblower to resolve the claimant's award application, including information related to the claimant's eligibility. (The Commission, the Claims Review Staff, and the Office of the Whistleblower may not rely upon information that the third party has not authorized the Commission to share with the claimant.)

(b) These rules do not entitle claimants to obtain from the Commission any materials (including any pre-decisional or internal deliberative process materials that are prepared exclusively to assist the Commission in deciding the claim) other than those listed in paragraph (a) of this section. Moreover, the Office of the Whistleblower may make redactions as necessary to comply with any statutory restrictions, to protect the Commission's law enforcement and regulatory functions, and to comply with requests for confidential treatment from other law enforcement and regulatory authorities. The Office of the Whistleblower may also require you to sign a confidentiality agreement, as set forth in § 240.21F-(8)(b)(4) of this chapter, before providing these materials.

[76 FR 34363, June 13, 2011, as amended at 85 FR 70947, Nov. 5, 2020]

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