the Bureau may in its discretion modify the apportionments to meet the requirements of the case.

(11) Whenever it is deemed to be in the best interest of the United States, lump-sum awards shall be made by the payment of a sum equal to the present value of future compensation payments commuted, computed at 4 percent true discount compounded annually. The probability of the death of the injured employee or other person entitled to compensation before the expiration of the period during which he is entitled to compensation shall be determined in accordance with the American Experience

Table of Mortality, and the probability of the remarriage of the surviving wife shall be determined in accordance with the remarriage tables of the Dutch Royal Insurance Institution. The probability of the happening of any other contingency affecting the amount or duration of the compensation shall be disregarded. There shall be no limitation on lump sum settlements to widows except as stated herein.

(5 U.S.C. 8136, 8137, 8138, 8145, 8149; Reorg. Plan No. 19 of 1950, 64 Stat. 1271, 15 F.R. 3178; General Order No. 46 (Rev.), 24 F.R. 8472) [31 F.R. 14828, Nov. 23, 1966, as amended at 35 F.R. 1288, Jan. 31, 1970]

PART 31-GENERAL ADMINISTRA

Sec. 81.1

31.2

81.8

31.4

81.5

31.6

81.7

31.8

81.9

31.10 31.11

81.12

Form of compensation orders; service thereof.

31.18 Contents of findings of fact. 81.14 Supplementary compensation orders. 31.15 Interlocutory matters to be disposed of without formal orders.

31.16 Application for review of a compensation case for modification of award; procedure.

31.17 Commutation of payments. 81.18 Same; aliens not residents or about to become nonresidents.

31.19 Compensation from special fund in cases of permanent disability. 31.20 Maintenance for employees undergoing vocational rehabilitation. 31.21 Representatives of parties in interest and fees for services.

31.22 Availability of records for inspection. 31.23 Employer's record of injury or death. 31.24 Transfer of cases.

31.25 Assessment of civil penalties. 31.26 Agreed settlements.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 31 issued under sec. 39, 44 Stat. 1442; 33 U.S.C. 939, unless otherwise noted.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 31 contained in Regulations under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, May 31, 1938, unless otherwise noted. Redesignated at 13 FR. 7670, Dec. 10, 1948.

§ 31.1 General administrative provisions; definitions; interpretation of

statute.

Every person subject to, claiming benefits under, or acting under, the provisions of the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (44 Stat. 1424; 33 U.S.C. ch. 18) shall conform to the procedure prescribed therein and in the regulations under this subchapter. The term "Bureau" as used in this chapter means the Bureau of Employees' Compensation, United States Department of Labor. All other definitions appearing in section 2 of said act (44 Stat. 1424; 33 U.S.C. 902) shall be applicable with respect to the regulations promulgated under this chapter. The responsibility for the administration of the said act is committed therein to the Bureau, which administers the act through deputy commissioners appointed by it for the several compensation districts established pursuant to law. The said Bureau is the agency which was transferred from the Federal Security

Agency to the United States Department of Labor by Reorganization Plan No. 19 of 1950 (3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., p. 1010; 64 Stat. 1271) effective May 24, 1950, the said Bureau having been established in the Federal Security Agency to perform the functions theretofore performed by the United States Employees' Compensation Commission, the latter having been abolished and its functions transferred to the Federal Security Agency by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1946 (3 CFR, 1943-1948 Comp., p. 1064, 60 Stat. 1095), effective July 16, 1946. Except in cases in which the said act otherwise requires, action upon claims shall be taken by the said deputy commissioners in conformity with law and the regulations in this subchapter. In the absence of controlling court decisions, the said deputy commissioners shall conform with the interpretation of the said act by the Bureau by regulation or otherwise, and such interpretation shall be binding upon them until held invalid by controlling judicial authority.

(1950 Reorg. Plan No. 19, 1, 3 CFR, 19491953 Comp., p. 1010; 64 Stat. 1271) [25 F.R. 10794, Nov. 15, 1960]

§ 31.2 Establishment of compensation

districts.

Pursuant to the provisions of section 39 (b) of said act (44 Stat. 1442; 33 U.S.C. 939 (b) the Bureau has established the following compensation districts:

District No. 1. Comprises the New England States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, with headquarters at Boston, Massachusetts.

District No. 2. Comprises the Port of New York, including that part of New Jersey legally included in the Port of New York, and the State of New York, except that part of New York State north and west of a line 30 miles from the shore of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers, with headquarters at New York, N.Y.

District No. 3. Comprises the State of New Jersey, except that part legally included in the Port of New York, and the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania, except that part of the State of Pennsylvania north and west of a line 30 miles from the shore of Lake Erie, with headquarters at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

District No. 4. Comprises the State of Maryland and District of Columbia, including the Potomac River, with headquarters at Baltimore, Maryland.

District No. 5. Comprises the State of Virginia, except the Potomac River, and the State of North Carolina, with headquarters at Norfolk, Virginia.

District No. 6. Comprises the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, with headquarters at Jacksonville, Florida.

District No. 7. Comprises the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, excluding that part of the Mississippi River between Arkansas and Tennessee, with headquarters at New Orleans, Louisiana.

District No. 8. Comprises the State of Texas including that part of the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma and that part of the Sabine River between Texas and Louisiana, with headquarters at Galveston, Texas.

District No. 9. Comprises that part of the lake district in the States of Pennsylvania and New York extending thirty miles inland from the shore line of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers; the lower peninsula of the State of Michigan, except that part west and north of a line 30 miles from the shore of Lake Michigan and the Strait of Mackinac; the State of West Virginia, the State of Ohio, the State of Indiana, including the Wabash River between Indiana and Illinois, excluding the territory north of a line 30 miles from the shore of Lake Michigan; the State of Kentucky, including that part of the Ohio River between Kentucky and Illinois and that part of the Mississippi River between Kentucky and Missouri; the State of Tennessee, including that part of the Mississippi River between the States of Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas, with headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio.

District No. 10. Comprises the rest of the lake district, namely. an area thirty miles wide along the shore of Lake Michigan in the lower peninsula of Michigan, and in the State of Indiana; all of the northern peninsula of Michigan, and the States of Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas; the State of Illinois, excluding that part of the Wabash River between Illinois and Indiana, and that part of the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky; the State of Missouri, excluding the Mississippi River between Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee; the State of Oklahoma, excluding the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas, with headquarters at Chicago, Illinois.

District No. 13. Comprises the States of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, with headquarters at San Francisco, California.

District No. 14. Comprises the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and the territory of Alaska, with headquarters at Seattle, Washington.

District No. 15. Comprises the Territory of Hawaii, with headquarters at Honolulu, T.H.

[Regs. May 31, 1938, as amended at 6 F. R. 6872, Dec. 12, 1941; 25 FR. 7099, July 27, 1960.]

§ 31.3 Report by employer of injury or death.

Within 10 days from the date of any injury or death or from the date that the employer has knowledge of a disease or infection in respect of such injury, or from the date the employer has knowledge of the injury or of any disease proximately caused by the employment or of death of an employee within the purview of said act, the employer shall send to the deputy commissioner for the compensation district in which occurrence took place, upon a form prescribed for that purpose by the Bureau, a report of such injury or disease, giving the particulars thereof. Where the injury or disease results in death, the employer, immediately upon learning of the death, shall furnish on a form prescribed by the Bureau for that purpose, a supplemental report of the death. The employer shall, at the times and in the manner required, submit such additional reports in respect of the injury or death of his employee as the deputy commissioner may request.

§ 31.4 Notice of injury or death.

Within 30 days after the date of injury or death, notice thereof shall be given by the person claiming compensation or by some one on his behalf to the deputy commissioner for the compensation district in which the injury or death occurred, and for such purpose a form has been adopted by the Bureau which shall be furnished upon application therefor made to the deputy commissioner. § 31.5 Claims for compensation.

A claim for compensation may be filed with the deputy commissioner for the compensation district in which the injury occurred at any time after the first 7 days of disability following any injury, or at any time after death. The right to com

pensation for disability shall be barred unless a claim therefor is filed within 1 year after the injury, and the right to compensation for death shall be barred unless a claim therefor is filed within 1 year after the death, except that if payment of compensation has been made without an award on account of such injury or death, a claim may be filed within 1 year after the date of the last payment, and except that where the said act provides for the running of the said year limitation from any other date, the provisions of said act shall apply. For the purpose of filing such claims the Bureau has provided separate forms for use in injury and death cases which shall be furnished to any person desiring to file such a claim, upon application therefor made to such deputy commissioner. (Sec. 19 (a), 44 Stat. 1435; 38 U. S. C. 919 (a)) § 31.6 Notification of employer; action thereafter by employer.

Within 10 days after the filing of a claim for compensation for injury or death under said act the deputy commissioner shall give written notice to the employer or insurance carrier, served personally or by registered mail, that such claim has been filed and shall call upon such employer or carrier to provide for the payment of compensation in accordance with the provisions of section 14 of said act (44 Stat. 1432; 33 U.S.C. 914) as well as to furnish other benefits provided for by said act, or, if the claim will be controverted, to give notice to that effect as provided by section 14(d) of said act upon the form provided for that purpose by the Bureau, and to file answer to the claim upon the form provided by the Bureau for that purpose, such answer, properly executed, to be filed with the deputy commissioner within 10 days from the date the employer or carrier receives such notice. The answer shall be made in duplicate, the original to be filed with the deputy commissioner and the duplicate to be served upon the claimant either personally or by mailing it to the address given in the claim.

(Sec. 19 (b), 44 Stat. 1435; 33 U. S. C. 919(b)) § 31.7 Withdrawal of claim for compen

sation.

Any claimant not desiring to proceed with a claim filed in case of injury or death pursuant to said act and the regulations in this subchapter, may apply for withdrawal of the claim to the

deputy commissioner with whom filed, stating the reason for such withdrawal. The deputy commissioner whose jurisdiction has been invoked for the filing of such claim shall in consideration of such application determine whether such withdrawal is for a proper purpose and for the claimant's best interest prior to authorizing such withdrawal. Any claim so withdrawn is withdrawn without prejudice to the filing of another claim subject to the provisions relating to the limitation of time in section 13 of said act. (Sec. 13, 44 Stat. 1432; 33 U. S. C. 913) § 31.8 Prehearing conferences.

(a) In order to expedite and simplify formal administrative proceedings, in all cases in which there are issues of fact or law, and, whenever practicable, no formal hearings will be set until after prehearing conferences. Such conferences may be held by the deputy commissioner, assistant deputy commissioner, a claims examiner or other person designated for such purpose by the deputy commissioner or the assistant deputy commissioner.

(b) The purposes of such prehearing conferences are (1) amicably to dispose of controversies wherever possible; (2) to narrow issues; and (3) to simplify the subsequent methods of proof.

(c) Prehearing conferences may be set upon 10 days' notice to the parties in interest (or a longer period if the circumstances require, or shorter period if agreed upon by the parties). They shall be kept characteristically informal, and shall not be stenographically reported. It shall be the duty of the deputy commissioner, assistant deputy commissioner, claim examiner or other person in charge of the conference to guide the discussion toward the achievement of the purposes of such conference, giving the parties the benefit of his specialized knowledge and experience.

(d) At the termination of such conferences the person in charge thereof shall prepare stipulations, for the signatures of the parties, covering agreements as to all or part of the facts, admissions, narrowing of issues, or simplification of methods of proof. Such stipulations when signed by the parties in interest shall be made and become part of the formal record of the case. Where stipulations relate to evidence to be used at a later formal hearing, such evidence may then be received as such evidence and appropriately identified by marking such

evidence, respectively, as claimant's or respondent's exhibits, consecutively numbered in each respect. At the termi. nation of such a conference, the person in charge thereof shall prepare for the file in the case a memorandum setting forth the purpose for which the conference was held, the matters discussed and the results achieved. Should a conference terminate without complete achievement of the purpose thereof, and the remaining issue or issues be of such character as not to present a difficult basis for adjustment by amicable agreement of the interested parties, the person in charge, after review of the record of the case, may by letter addressed to the parties in interest make his recommendation to dispose of the matter in controversy, setting a date for reply thereto. Every such letter should advise the interested parties that the purpose thereof is to recommend a basis for agreement, upon such issue or issues, as appears from review of the information contained in the current record of the case, and that such recommendation is not a "decision" in the case and will not affect or prejudice the rights of any party, or the further adjustment of the case, should the recommendation not be accepted by such parties and a later hearing be found necessary.

(Sec. 28(b), 44 Stat. 1437; 33 U.S.C. 928(b)) [13 F.R. 7670, Dec. 10, 1948]

§ 31.9 Preparation of record of hearing before deputy commissioner.

Hearing before a deputy commissioner shall be open to the public and shall be stenographically reported. One original and one copy (first carbon) of the transcript of testimony taken at a hearing will be made for official purposes; the deputy commissioner shall file the original with the record of the case and shall transmit the copy to the Bureau. The transcript of testimony shall conform with specifications prepared by the Bureau and the original and the copy, at the end thereof, shall contain the certification of the reporter as to the date and place of the reporting and that the transcript contains a true and full report of the particular proceedings. All testimony and colloquy at a hearing shall be reported unless the deputy commissioner otherwise directs, in which event he shall state for the record the reason for the omission. The reporter shall receive instructions only from the deputy commissioner as to the testimony to be reported,

The

The transcript of testimony shall show at the outset the basis for the hearing; that is, whether upon the claim of the beneficiary for compensation, whether upon an application for review under section 22 of said act (44 Stat. 1437; 33 U. S. C. 922), whether for a supplementary compensation order under section 18 of said act (44 Stat. 1434; 33 U.S. C. 918), or otherwise, with the date thereof. The names of the parties and the particulars of the claim or application shall be stated in the record. transcript shall then show the admissions and denials of record, and the respective parties shall be required to state the issues with respect to which they desire to be heard. The evidence to be received shall be material to such issues. Any party confronted at a hearing with an issue with respect to which he has not received at least 10 days' notice may upon request to the deputy commissioner be granted a continuance with respect to a hearing of such issue. No witness shall testify except upon oath or affirmation. All evidence upon which the deputy commissioner relies for his action shall be contained in the transcript of testimony either directly or by approriate reference, and exhibits, medical reports, and other papers, either in whole or in material parts, shall when practicable be incorporated into such record, preferably as appendices. When evidence is given by sign, symbol, or gesture, the deputy commissioner shall state fully for the purposes of the record the import of such evidence. The deputy commissioner shall conduct the hearing so as not to burden the record with extraneous evidence or discussions, and shall eliminate reporting of legal or other argument; the parties in interest, however, may state for the record in a succinct manner their position as to any question of law or fact. At the close of the hearing the deputy commissioner shall state whether the hearing is adjourned sine die or otherwise.

(Sec. 28 (b), 44 Stat. 1487; 33 U. S. C. 923 (b))

quired for review or otherwise by any court having jurisdiction under said act, the deputy commissioner shall transmit such record with a certification thereof over his signature as the record in his official custody. Such certification shall list each transcript of testimony and other paper included in the certification. (Sec. 23 (b), 44 Stat. 1437; 38 U. S. C. 923 (b)) § 31.12 Form of compensation orders; service thereof.

(a) Orders adjudicating claims for compensation or suspending payments of compensation shall be designated by the term "compensation order" followed by a descriptive phrase designating the particular type of such order, such as "award of compensation", "rejection of claim", "suspension of compensation", "modification of award”. All compensation orders shall contain the name of the Bureau and agency, the designation of the compensation district, the names of the parties in interest, a statement of the basis for the order (that is, whether upon a claim, an application for suspension of compensation, an application for modification of award, etc., with a statement by whom made, and whether a hearing was held or applied for), findings of fact, an award, rejection, or other appropriate paragraph containing the action of the deputy commissioner, and appended thereto shall be a paragraph headed "proof of service", containing the certification of the deputy commissioner that a copy of the compensation order was on a date stated sent by registered mail, with the names and addresses of the parties to whom sent. Compensation orders shall be signed by the deputy commissioner at two places, (1) following the action paragraph, and (2) following the certification under the "proof of service".

(b) Copies of compensation orders shall be served personally or by registered mail upon the claimant, the employer and the insurance carrier at the last known address of each.