General Provisions

(1) Office. The office of the Department shall be open from 8:45 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. each weekday except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. (2) Date of Receipt. (a) By the Department. All communications, including correspondence, motions, and pleading, shall be deemed to be filed or received on the date on which they are received by the Department. All such communications submitted by electronic medium are deemed to be filed or received on the date and time on which they are delivered if during normal business hours of the Department, otherwise such filings are deemed filed or received on the next business day after the communication is delivered. (b) ByParties and Other Persons. All communications, including correspondence, motions, and pleading, shall be deemed to be filed or received on the date on which they are deposited in the United States mail, properly addressed and postage paid, delivered in person to a party or other person, or delivered via Electronic Medium. (3) Identification. Communications should embrace but one matter, should contain the name and address of the communicator and the appropriate certificate or permit number, if there be any pertaining to the subject of the communication. When the subject matter pertains to a pending docket, the title of the proceeding and the docket number should be given. (Mass. Register #1535, 11/22/2024) (4) Computation of Time. Computation of any period of time referred to in 207 CMR 1.00 shall begin with the first day following that on which the act which initiates such period of time occurs. The last day of the period so computed is to be included unless it is a day on which the office of the Department is closed, in which event the period shall run until the end of the next following business day. When such period of time, with the intervening Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays counted, is five days or less, the said Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded from the computation; otherwise, such days shall be included in the computation. (5) Extensions of Time. In the discretion of the Commissioner or the Presiding Officer, for good cause shown, any time limit prescribed or allowed by 207 CMR 1.00 may be extended. All requests for extensions shall be made by motion in accordance with 207 CMR 1.04(5), and shall be made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed or as previously extended. The Secretary of the Department shall notify all parties of the Department's action upon the motion. (6) Signatures. Every application, notice, pleading, petition, complaint, motion, brief, and memorandum shall be signed by the filing party or by one or more attorneys, in their individual names on behalf of the filing party. (7) Appearances. An appearance shall be made in any proceeding by filing a written notice thereof and serving a copy on all persons who have theretofore appeared. (8) Formal Requirements as to Pleading, Documents, and Other Papers Filed in Proceedings. (a) Copies. Except as may be otherwise required by the rules or regulations of the Department, or ordered or requested by the Department, at the time pleading, documents, or other papers are filed with the Department, there shall be furnished to the Department an original of such filings. (b) Form. Except for forms as may be provided by the Department, which shall be used where appropriate, pleading, documents, or other papers filed in proceedings shall be printed or typewritten on paper cut or folded to either letter or legal size. (c) Filing. Except as may be otherwise required by the rules or regulations of the Department, or ordered or requested by the Department, all pleading, documents, or papers relating to matters requiring action by the Department shall be filed with the Secretary of the Department via personal delivery, first-class mail, or Electronic Medium. (9) Ex Parte Communications in Adjudicatory Proceedings. (a) From the initial filing in an adjudicatory proceeding until the rendering of a final decision, the Presiding Officer, may not communicate with a party or interested person about any substantive issue of fact, law, or policy except upon reasonable notice and opportunity for all parties to participate. (b) Communications not prohibited by 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a) include: 1. Communications concerning scheduling, administrative, and other procedural matters. 2. Communications between a party and assigned settlement intervention staff for the purpose of producing a settlement, or communications between a partyand staff assigned to conduct alternative dispute resolution or mediation proceedings. (c) If a person makes or attempts to make an ex parte communication prohibited by 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a), the Presiding Officer shall advise the person that the communication is prohibited and shall immediately terminate the prohibited communication. (d) If the Presiding Officer violates the ex parte rule, he or she shall, no later than two business days after determining that the communication was prohibited, serve on each party and place in the docket file the following: 1. A written statement including the substance and circumstances surrounding the communication; the identity of each person who participated in the communication; the time, date, and duration of the communication; and whether, in his or her opinion, the receipt of the ex parte communication disqualifies him or her from further participation in the adjudicatory proceeding; and 2. Any written or electronic documentation of the communication. The above documents to be placed in the docket file shall not be made a part of the evidentiary record. (e) The Department may, upon the motion of any party or on its own motion, accept or require the submission of additional evidence of the substance of a communication prohibited by 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a). (f) Upon receipt of a communication made or caused to be made by a party in violation of 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a), the Department may, to the extent consistent with the interests of justice, require the party to show cause why his or her claim or interest in the adjudicatory proceeding should not be dismissed, denied, disregarded, or otherwise adversely affected on account of such violation. (g) Where a party has violated 207 CMR 1.02(9)(a), the Department or Presiding Officer may take such action as is deemed appropriate within the circumstances.