§107d–2 Arbitration

Summary

When the Secretary receives a complaint filed under section 107d–1, the Secretary must set up a temporary three-person arbitration panel. The panel must give notice, hold a hearing, and issue a decision. That decision can be appealed and is treated as a final agency action under chapter 7 of title 5. If a blind licensee files the grievance, the panel has three people: one picked by the State licensing agency, one picked by the blind licensee, and a chair who is not a State agency employee and is chosen jointly by the other two. If a State licensing agency files the complaint, the panel has three people: one picked by the State licensing agency, one picked by the head of the federal department or agency in charge of the federal property, and a chair who is not an employee of that federal agency and is chosen jointly by the other two. Panel decisions are public and published in the Federal Register. The Secretary must pay reasonable arbitration costs under a fee schedule the Secretary publishes in the Federal Register.