(a) Except as provided in this rule, after a board appeal is filed or a proceeding is otherwise initiated before the board, and while the proceeding is pending, there shall be no direct or indirect communication regarding any issue in the proceeding to any board member from any party or interested person, without notice and the opportunity for all parties to participate in the communication.

(b) A communication made on the record is permissible.

(c) A document that is filed and served is permissible.

(d) A communication concerning a matter of procedure or practice is presumed to be permissible, unless the topic of the communication appears to the board member to be controversial in the context of the specific case. If so, the board member shall so inform the other participant and may terminate the communication or continue it until after giving all parties notice and opportunity to participate. Any written communication concerning a matter of procedure or practice, and any written response, or a written memorandum identifying the participant and stating the substance of any such oral communication or response, shall be added to the case file. Unless otherwise provided in the code or these rules, the board may determine a matter of procedure or practice based upon a permissible ex-parte communication. The term “matter of procedure or practice” shall be liberally construed.

(e) A communication permitted under Government Code section 11430.30 is permissible.

(f) While a proceeding is pending before the board, there shall be no communication, direct or indirect, regarding the merits of any issue in the proceeding, between any administrative law judge serving as presiding officer in the proceeding and any board member. This prohibition does not apply where a board member serves as presiding officer, or where the administrative law judge does not issue a decision in the proceeding.

(g) If a board member receives a communication in violation of this rule, he or she shall comply with the requirements of Government Code section 11430.50.

(h) If, before a proceeding is pending before the board, a board member receives a communication of a type that would be in violation of this rule if received while the proceeding was pending, the board member, promptly after the proceeding becomes pending, shall comply with the requirements of Government Code section 11430.50.