These final rules extend the effective date of the regulations that authorize attorney advisors in our Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) to conduct certain prehearing proceedings and, where the documentary record developed as a result of these proceedings warrants, to issue decisions that are wholly favorable to the parties to the hearing in claims for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits based on disability. We are extending the effective date of these regulations for a twelve month period that begins June 30, 1997, when the provisions would otherwise cease to be effective, and continues through June 30, 1998.