Off-the-record communication
Off-the-record communication means a written or oral communication not on the record which is relevant to the merits of a proceeding, and about which the parties have not been given reasonable prior notice of the nature and purpose of the communication and an opportunity to be present during such communication or, in the case of a written communication, an opportunity to respond to the communication. It does not include communications concerned solely with procedures which are not relevant to the merits of a proceeding. It also does not include general background discussions about an entire industry or natural gas markets or communications of a general nature made in the course of developing agency policy for future general application, even though these discussions may relate to the merits of a particular proceeding.