Relating to the availability of certain working papers and electronic communications of certain administrative law judges and technical examiners under the public information law.

Contracts

• Outside Counsel Engagement Letters: Review agreements with external regulatory counsel. Ensure scopes of work do not include billable hours for PIA requests targeting RRC examiner communications, as these are now statutorily barred.
• Settlement Agreements: Do not condition settlements on the production of internal RRC working papers; the agency will withhold them regardless of party consent.

Hiring/Training

• Legal Team Training: In-house counsel and government affairs staff must be briefed that the "back channel" view into examiner deliberations is closed.
• Litigation Strategy: Teams must be retrained to ensure every piece of evidence and argument is formally entered into the administrative record during hearings. You can no longer rely on discovering an examiner’s "draft order" or email confusion to prove they misunderstood evidence.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Defensive Documentation: Because you can no longer access examiner emails to verify if opposing parties have influenced the docket ex parte, your team must strictly memorialize all verbal and written interactions with RRC Technical Examiners to create your own paper trail.

Fees & Costs

• Litigation Costs: While direct regulatory fees remain unchanged, anticipate potentially higher legal costs in contested cases. Proving "arbitrary and capricious" agency conduct will now require more robust briefing on the official record rather than reliance on discovered internal emails.