Fed Regist. 2011 May 3;76(85):24802-12.
We are eliminating the Decision Review Board (DRB) portions of part 405 of our rules, which we currently use as the final step in our administrative review process for adjudicating initial disability claims in our Boston region. As of the effective date of this regulation, we will replace the DRB step with review by the Appeals Council. The Appeals Council will follow most of the rules in parts 404 and 416 that we use in the rest of the country to adjudicate disability claims at the Appeals Council level, with some differences needed to accommodate the rules that govern administrative law judge (ALJ) hearings in the Boston region. We will also authorize attorney advisors in the Boston region to conduct certain prehearing proceedings and make fully favorable decisions as they do in the rest of the country. We are making these changes to improve service to claimants and to increase consistency in our program rules.
我们正在取消规则第405部分中的决策审查委员会（DRB）环节，目前我们将其用作波士顿地区对初始残疾索赔进行行政审查程序的最后一步。自本规定生效之日起，我们将用上诉委员会的审查取代DRB环节。上诉委员会将遵循我们在该国其他地区用于在上诉委员会层面裁定残疾索赔的第404和416部分中的大多数规则，但需要一些差异以适应波士顿地区管理行政法法官（ALJ）听证会的规则。我们还将授权波士顿地区的律师顾问进行某些听证前程序，并像在该国其他地区一样做出完全有利的决定。我们做出这些改变是为了改善对索赔人的服务，并提高我们项目规则的一致性。
