698
Appointment of employees.
63 Stat. 954. 5 USC 1071note. Quorum.
Hearings and determinations.
Rules.
Subpenas.
Depositions.
Contumacy, etc.
PUBLIC LAW 5 5 2 - J U L Y 16, 1952
[66
ST AT.
public or of the parties may be promoted, or delay or expense may be minimized, it may hold hearings or conduct other proceedings at any other place. The Board shall have an official seal which shall be judicially noticed and which shall be preserved in the custody of the secretary of the Board. "(e) The Board shall, without regard to the civil service laws, appoint and prescribe the duties of a secretary of the Board and such legal counsel as it deems necessary. Subject to the civil-service laws, the Board shall appoint such other employees as it deems necessary in exercising its powers and duties. The compensation of all employees appointed by the Board shall be fixed in accordance with the Classification Act of 1949, as amended. " (f) Two members of the Board shall constitute a quorum, and official actions of the Board can be taken only on the affirmative vote of at least two members; but any one member, or any two members, upon order of the Board, shall conduct any hearing provided for in section 207 and submit the transcript of such hearing to the entire Board for its action thereon. Every official act of the Board shall be entered of record, and its hearings and records thereof shall be open to the public. " (g) The Board shall hear and determine applications filed pursuant to section 207 for annulment or revision of orders made pursuant to section 203 or section 206. The Board shall not make or cause to be made any inspection of a mine for the purpose of determining any pending application. " (h) The Board is authorized to make such rules as are necessary for the orderly transaction of its proceedings, which shall include requirement for adequate notice of hearings to all parties. "(i) Any member of the Board may sign and issue subpenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant papers, books and documents, and administer oaths. Witnesses summoned before the Board shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States. "(j) The Board may order testimony to be taken by deposition in any proceeding pending before it, at any stage of such proceeding. Keasonable notice must first be given in writing by the party or his attorney proposing to take such deposition to the opposite party or his attorney of record, which notice shall state the name of the witness and the time and place of the taking of his deposition. Any person may be compelled to appear and depose, and to produce books, papers, or documents, in the same manner as witnesses may be compelled to appear and testify and produce like documentary evidence before the Board, as provided in subsection (i). Witnesses whose depositions are taken under this subsection, and the persons taking such depositions shall be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like services in the courts of the United States. " (k) In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpena served upon, any person under this section, the Federal district court for any district in which such person is found or resides or transacts business, upon application by the United States, and after notice to such person and hearing, shall have jurisdiction to issue an order requiring such person to appear and give testimony before the Board or to appear and produce documents before the Board, or both; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt thereof.
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