Purpose. The purpose of a petition for review is to initiate a negotiability proceeding and provide the agency with notice that the exclusive representative requests a decision from the Authority that a proposal or provision is within the duty to bargain or not contrary to law, respectively. As more fully explained in paragraph (b) of this section, the exclusive representative is required in the petition for review to, among other things, inform the Authority of the exact wording and meaning of the proposal or provision as well as how it is intended to operate, explain technical or unusual terms, and provide copies of materials that support the exclusive representative's position.

Content. You must file a petition for review on a form that the Authority has provided for that purpose, or in a substantially similar format. You meet this requirement if you file your petition electronically through use of the eFiling system on the FLRA's Web site at www.flra.gov. That Web site also provides copies of petition forms. You must date the petition, unless you file it electronically through use of the FLRA's eFiling system. And, regardless of how you file the petition, you must ensure that it includes the following:

The exact wording and explanation of the meaning of the proposal or provision, including an explanation of special terms or phrases, technical language, or other words that are not in common usage, as well as how the proposal or provision is intended to work;

Specific citation to any law, rule, regulation, section of a collective bargaining agreement, or other authority that you rely on in your argument or that you reference in the proposal or provision, and a copy of any such material that the Authority cannot easily access (which you may upload as attachments if you file the petition electronically through use of the FLRA's eFiling system);

A statement as to whether the proposal or provision is also involved in an unfair labor practice charge under part 2423 of this subchapter, a grievance pursuant to the parties' negotiated grievance procedure, or an impasse procedure under part 2470 of this subchapter, and whether any other petition for review has been filed concerning a proposal or provision arising from the same bargaining or the same agency head review; and

Any request for a hearing before the Authority and the reasons supporting such request.

Severance. The exclusive representative may, but is not required to, include in the petition for review a statement as to whether it requests severance of a proposal or provision. If severance is requested in the petition for review, then the exclusive representative must support its request with an explanation of how each severed portion of the proposal or provision may stand alone, and how such severed portion would operate. The explanation and argument in support of the severed portion(s) must meet the same requirements for information set forth in paragraph (b) of this section.

Service. The petition for review, including all attachments, must be served in accord with § 2424.2(g).