104 STAT. 2738 PUBLIC LAW 101-552—NOV. 15, 1990 (b) ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— Chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subchapter: " SUBCHAPTER IV—ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS "§581. Definitions "For the purposes of this subchapter, the term— "(1) 'agency' has the same meaning as in section 551(1) of this title; "(2) 'administrative program' includes a Federaf function which involves protection of the public interest and the determination of rights, privileges, and obligations of private persons through rule making, adjudication, licensing, or investigation, as those terms are used in subchapter II of this chapter; "(3) 'alternative means of dispute resolution' means any procedure that is used, in lieu of an adjudication as defined in section 551(7) of this title, to resolve issues in controversy, including but not limited to, settlement negotiations, conciliation, facilitation, mediation, factfinding, minitrials, and arbitration, or any combination thereof; "(4) 'award' means any decision by an arbitrator resolving the issues in controversy; "(5) 'dispute resolution communication' means any oral or written communication prepared for the purposes of a dispute resolution proceeding, including any memoranda, notes or work product of the neutral, parties or nonparty participant; except that a written agreement to enter into a dispute resolution proceeding, or final written agreement or arbitral award reached as a result of a dispute resolution proceeding, is not a dispute resolution communication; "(6) 'dispute resolution proceeding' means any process in which an alternative means of dispute resolution is used to resolve an issue in controversy in which a neutral is appointed and specified parties participate; "(7) 'in confidence' means, with respect to information, that the information is provided— "(A) with the expressed intent of the source that it not be disclosed; or "(B) under circumstances that would create the reasonable expectation on behalf of the source that the information will not be disclosed; "(8) 'issue in controversy' means an issue which is material to a decision concerning an administrative program of an agency, and with which there is disagreement between the agency and persons who would be substantially affected by the decision but shall not extend to matters specified under the provisions of sections 2302 and 7121(c) of title 5; "(9) 'neutral' means an individual who, with respect to an issue in controversy, functions specifically to aid the parties in resolving the controversy; "(10) 'party' means— "(A) for a proceeding with named parties, the same as in section 551(3) of this title; and
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