(a) To facilitate meaningful consultation and collaboration about decisions of the governing body and the policy council, each agency’s governing body and policy council jointly must establish written procedures for resolving internal disputes between the governing board and policy council in a timely manner that include impasse procedures. These procedures must:

(1) Demonstrate that the governing body considers proposed decisions from the policy council and that the policy council considers proposed decisions from the governing body;

(2) If there is a disagreement, require the governing body and the policy council to notify the other in writing why it does not accept a decision; and,

(3) Describe a decision-making process and a timeline to resolve disputes and reach decisions that are not arbitrary, capricious, or illegal.

(b) If the agency’s decision-making process does not result in a resolution and an impasse continues, the governing body and policy council must select a mutually agreeable third party mediator and participate in a formal process of mediation that leads to a resolution of the dispute.

(c) For all programs except American Indian and Alaska Native programs, if no resolution is reached with a mediator, the governing body and policy council must select a mutually agreeable arbitrator whose decision is final.