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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 188 / Friday, October 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations administrative law judge may grant the motion only if the party shows good cause.
l Requests for admission. A party may serve a written request for admission of the truth of any matter within the scope of discovery under this section or the authenticity of any document described in the request. A
party must set forth each request for admission separately. A party must serve copies of documents referenced in the request for admission unless the documents have been provided or are reasonably available for inspection and copying.
1 Time. A partys failure to respond to a request for admission, in writing and signed by the attorney or the party, not later than 30 days after service of the request, is deemed an admission of the truth of the statement or statements contained in the request for admission.
The administrative law judge may determine that a failure to respond to a request for admission is not deemed an admission of the truth if a party shows that the failure was due to circumstances beyond the control of the party or the partys attorney.
2 Response. A party may object to a request for admission and must state the reasons for objection. A party may specifically deny the truth of the matter or describe the reasons why the party is unable to truthfully deny or admit the matter. If a party is unable to deny or admit the truth of the matter, the party must show that the party has made reasonable inquiry into the matter or that the information known to, or readily obtainable by, the party is insufficient to enable the party to admit or deny the matter. A party may admit or deny any part of the request for admission. If the administrative law judge determines that a response does not comply with the requirements of this paragraph l2 or that the response is insufficient, the matter is deemed admitted.
3 Effect of admission. Any matter admitted or deemed admitted under this section is conclusively established for the purpose of the hearing and appeal.
m Motion to compel discovery. A
party may make a motion to compel discovery if a person refuses to answer a question during a deposition, a party fails or refuses to answer an interrogatory, if a person gives an evasive or incomplete answer during a deposition or when responding to an interrogatory, or a party fails or refuses to produce documents or tangible items.
During a deposition, the proponent of a question may complete the deposition or may adjourn the examination before making a motion to compel if a person
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refuses to answer. Any motion to compel must be filed with the FAA
Hearing Docket and served on the administrative law judge and other parties in accordance with 13.210
and 13.211, respectively.
n Failure to comply with a discovery order. If a party fails to comply with a discovery order, the administrative law judge may impose any of the following sanctions proportional to the partys failure to comply with the order:
1 Strike the relevant portion of a partys pleadings;
2 Preclude prehearing or discovery motions by that party;
3 Preclude admission of the relevant portion of a partys evidence at the hearing; or 4 Preclude the relevant portion of the testimony of that partys witnesses at the hearing.
13.221

Notice of hearing.

a Notice. The administrative law judge must provide each party with notice of the date, time, and location of the hearing at least 60 days before the hearing date.
b Date, time, and location of the hearing. The administrative law judge to whom the proceedings have been assigned must set a reasonable date, time, and location for the hearing. The administrative law judge must consider the need for discovery and any joint procedural or discovery schedule submitted by the parties when determining the hearing date. The administrative law judge must give due regard to the convenience of the parties, the location where the majority of the witnesses reside or work, and whether the location is served by a scheduled air carrier.
c Earlier hearing. With the consent of the administrative law judge, the parties may agree to hold the hearing on an earlier date than the date specified in the notice of hearing.
13.222

Evidence.

a General. A party is entitled to present the partys case or defense by oral, documentary, or demonstrative evidence, to submit rebuttal evidence, and to conduct any cross-examination that may be required for a full and true disclosure of the facts.
b Admissibility. A party may introduce any oral, documentary, or demonstrative evidence in support of the partys case or defense. The administrative law judge must admit any relevant oral, documentary, or demonstrative evidence introduced by a party, but must exclude irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence.

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c Hearsay evidence. Hearsay evidence is admissible in proceedings governed by this subpart. The fact that evidence submitted by a party is hearsay goes only to the weight of the evidence and does not affect its admissibility.
13.223

Standard of proof.

The administrative law judge must issue an initial decision or must rule in a partys favor only if the decision or ruling is supported by, and in accordance with, the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence contained in the record. In order to prevail, the party with the burden of proof must prove the partys case or defense by a preponderance of reliable, probative, and substantial evidence.
13.224

Burden of proof.

a Except in the case of an affirmative defense, the burden of proof is on the agency.
b Except as otherwise provided by statute or rule, the proponent of a motion, request, or order has the burden of proof.
c A party who has asserted an affirmative defense has the burden of proving the affirmative defense.
13.225

Offer of proof.

A party whose evidence has been excluded by a ruling of the administrative law judge may offer the evidence for the record on appeal.
13.226

Public disclosure of information.

a The administrative law judge may order that any information contained in the record be withheld from public disclosure. Any party or interested person may object to disclosure of information in the record by filing and serving a written motion to withhold specific information in accordance with 13.210 and 13.211 respectively. A
party may file a motion seeking to protect from public disclosure information contained in a document that the party is filing at the same time it files the document. The person or party must state the specific grounds for nondisclosure in the motion.
b The administrative law judge must grant the motion to withhold if, based on the motion and any response to the motion, the administrative law judge determines that: Disclosure would be detrimental to aviation safety;
disclosure would not be in the public interest; or the information is not otherwise required to be made available to the public.
13.227

Expert or opinion witnesses.

An employee of the agency may not be called as an expert or opinion witness for any party other than the
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