15 U.S.C. § 717q — Appointment of officers and employees

Page 1198 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 717o § 717o. Administrative powers of Commission; rules, regulations, and orders The Commission shall have power to perform any and all acts, and to prescribe, issue, make, amend, and rescind such orders, rules, and regu- lations as it may find necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this chapter. Among other things, such rules and regulations may define accounting, technical, and trade terms used in this chapter; and may prescribe the form or forms of all statements, declara- tions, applications, and reports to be filed with the Commission, the information which they shall contain, and the time within which they shall be filed. Unless a different date is specified therein, rules and regulations of the Commis- sion shall be effective thirty days after publica- tion in the manner which the Commission shall prescribe. Orders of the Commission shall be ef- fective on the date and in the manner which the Commission shall prescribe. For the purposes of its rules and regulations, the Commission may classify persons and matters within its jurisdic- tion and prescribe different requirements for dif- ferent classes of persons or matters. All rules and regulations of the Commission shall be filed with its secretary and shall be kept open in con- venient form for public inspection and examina- tion during reasonable business hours. (June 21, 1938, ch. 556, § 16, 52 Stat. 830.) § 717p. Joint boards (a) Reference of matters to joint boards; com- position and power The Commission may refer any matter arising in the administration of this chapter to a board to be composed of a member or members, as de- termined by the Commission, from the State or each of the States affected or to be affected by such matter. Any such board shall be vested with the same power and be subject to the same duties and liabilities as in the case of a member of the Commission when designated by the Com- mission to hold any hearings. The action of such board shall have such force and effect and its proceedings shall be conducted in such manner as the Commission shall by regulations pre- scribe. The Board shall be appointed by the Commission from persons nominated by the State commission of each State affected, or by the Governor of such State if there is no State commission. Each State affected shall be enti- tled to the same number of representatives on the board unless the nominating power of such State waives such right. The Commission shall have discretion to reject the nominee from any State, but shall thereupon invite a new nomina- tion from that State. The members of a board shall receive such allowances for expenses as the Commission shall provide. The Commission may, when in its discretion sufficient reason ex- ists therefor, revoke any reference to such a board. (b) Conference with State commissions regard- ing rate structure, costs, etc. The Commission may confer with any State commission regarding rate structures, costs, ac- counts, charges, practices, classifications, and regulations of natural-gas companies; and the Commission is authorized, under such rules and regulations as it shall prescribe, to hold joint hearings with any State commission in connec- tion with any matter with respect to which the Commission is authorized to act. The Commis- sion is authorized in the administration of this chapter to avail itself of such cooperation, serv- ices, records, and facilities as may be afforded by any State commission. (c) Information and reports available to State commissions The Commission shall make available to the several State commissions such information and reports as may be of assistance in State regula- tion of natural-gas companies. Whenever the Commission can do so without prejudice to the efficient and proper conduct of its affairs, it may, upon request from a State commission, make available to such State commission as witnesses any of its trained rate, valuation, or other experts, subject to reimbursement of the compensation and traveling expenses of such witnesses. All sums collected hereunder shall be credited to the appropriation from which the amounts were expended in carrying out the pro- visions of this subsection. (June 21, 1938, ch. 556, § 17, 52 Stat. 830.) § 717q. Appointment of officers and employees The Commission is authorized to appoint and fix the compensation of such officers, attorneys, examiners, and experts as may be necessary for carrying out its functions under this chapter; and the Commission may, subject to civil-serv- ice laws, appoint such other officers and employ- ees as are necessary for carrying out such func- tions and fix their salaries in accordance with chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5. (June 21, 1938, ch. 556, § 18, 52 Stat. 831; Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, title XI, § 1106(a), 63 Stat. 972.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Provisions that authorized the Commission to ap- point and fix the compensation of such officers, attor- neys, examiners, and experts as may be necessary for carrying out its functions under this chapter ‘‘without regard to the provisions of other laws applicable to the employment and compensation of officers and employ- ees of the United States’’ are omitted as obsolete and superseded. As to the compensation of such personnel, sections 1202 and 1204 of the Classification Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 972, 973, repealed the Classification Act of 1923 and all other laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 1949 Act. The Classification Act of 1949 was repealed by Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, § 8(a), 80 Stat. 632, and reenacted as chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Section 5102 of Title 5 contains the applicability provisions of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to determine the ap- plicability to specific positions and employees. Such appointments are now subject to the civil serv- ice laws unless specifically excepted by those laws or by laws enacted subsequent to Executive Order 8743, Apr. 23, 1941, issued by the President pursuant to the Act of Nov. 26, 1940, ch. 919, title I, § 1, 54 Stat. 1211, which covered most excepted positions into the classi- fied (competitive) civil service. The Order is set out as a note under section 3301 of Title 5. Page 1199 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 717r ‘‘Chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5’’ substituted in text for ‘‘the Classification Act of 1949, as amended’’ on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, § 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which en- acted Title 5. AMENDMENTS 1949—Act Oct. 28, 1949, substituted ‘‘Classification Act of 1949’’ for ‘‘Classification Act of 1923’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries REPEALS Act Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, cited as a credit to this sec- tion, was repealed (subject to a savings clause) by Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, § 8, 80 Stat. 632, 655. § 717r. Rehearing and review (a) Application for rehearing; time Any person, State, municipality, or State commission aggrieved by an order issued by the Commission in a proceeding under this chapter to which such person, State, municipality, or State commission is a party may apply for a re- hearing within thirty days after the issuance of such order. The application for rehearing shall set forth specifically the ground or grounds upon which such application is based. Upon such application the Commission shall have power to grant or deny rehearing or to abrogate or mod- ify its order without further hearing. Unless the Commission acts upon the application for re- hearing within thirty days after it is filed, such application may be deemed to have been denied. No proceeding to review any order of the Com- mission shall be brought by any person unless such person shall have made application to the Commission for a rehearing thereon. Until the record in a proceeding shall have been filed in a court of appeals, as provided in subsection (b), the Commission may at any time, upon reason- able notice and in such manner as it shall deem proper, modify or set aside, in whole or in part, any finding or order made or issued by it under the provisions of this chapter. (b) Review of Commission order Any party to a proceeding under this chapter aggrieved by an order issued by the Commission in such proceeding may obtain a review of such order in the court of appeals of the United States for any circuit wherein the natural-gas company to which the order relates is located or has its principal place of business, or in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, by filing in such court, within sixty days after the order of the Commission upon the application for rehearing, a written pe- tition praying that the order of the Commission be modified or set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such petition shall forthwith be trans- mitted by the clerk of the court to any member of the Commission and thereupon the Commis- sion shall file with the court the record upon which the order complained of was entered, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. Upon the fil- ing of such petition such court shall have juris- diction, which upon the filing of the record with it shall be exclusive, to affirm, modify, or set aside such order in whole or in part. No objec- tion to the order of the Commission shall be considered by the court unless such objection shall have been urged before the Commission in the application for rehearing unless there is rea- sonable ground for failure so to do. The finding of the Commission as to the facts, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive. If any party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence, and shall show to the satisfaction of the court that such addi- tional evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds for failure to adduce such evidence in the proceedings before the Commis- sion, the court may order such additional evi- dence to be taken before the Commission and to be adduced upon the hearing in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as to the court may seem proper. The Commission may modify its findings as to the facts by reason of the addi- tional evidence so taken, and it shall file with the court such modified or new findings, which is supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, and its recommendation, if any, for the modification or setting aside of the original order. The judgment and decree of the court, af- firming, modifying, or setting aside, in whole or in part, any such order of the Commission, shall be final, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certifi- cation as provided in section 1254 of title 28. (c) Stay of Commission order The filing of an application for rehearing under subsection (a) shall not, unless specifi- cally ordered by the Commission, operate as a stay of the Commission’s order. The commence- ment of proceedings under subsection (b) of this section shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Commission’s order. (d) Judicial review (1) In general The United States Court of Appeals for the circuit in which a facility subject to section 717b of this title or section 717f of this title is proposed to be constructed, expanded, or oper- ated shall have original and exclusive jurisdic- tion over any civil action for the review of an order or action of a Federal agency (other than the Commission) or State administrative agency acting pursuant to Federal law to issue, condition, or deny any permit, license, concurrence, or approval (hereinafter collec- tively referred to as ‘‘permit’’) required under Federal law, other than the Coastal Zone Man- agement Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.). (2) Agency delay The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any civil action for the review of an alleged failure to act by a Federal agency (other than the Commission) or State administrative agency acting pursu- ant to Federal law to issue, condition, or deny any permit required under Federal law, other than the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), for a facility subject to section 717b of this title or section 717f of this title. The failure of an agency to take action on a permit required under Federal law, other than the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, in accordance with the Commission