Administrative Review Process; Identification and Referral of Cases for Quality Review Under the Appeals Council's Authority To Review Cases on Its Own Motion

We are amending our regulations to include rules under which a decision or order of dismissal that is issued after the filing of a request for a hearing by an administrative law judge (ALJ) may be referred to the Appeals Council for possible review under the Appeals Council's existing authority to review cases on its own motion. These final rules codify identification and referral procedures that we currently use to ensure the accuracy of decisions that ALJs and other adjudicators make at the ALJ-hearing step (hearing level) of the administrative review process. The rules also codify new quality assurance procedures to ensure the quality of dispositions at the hearing level.