16 U.S.C. § 825h — Administrative powers of Commission;

Page 1441 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 825h matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as a contempt there- of. All process in any such case may be served in the judicial district whereof such person is an inhabitant or wherever he may be found or may be doing business. Any person who willfully shall fail or refuse to attend and testify or to an- swer any lawful inquiry or to produce books, pa- pers, correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, or other records, if in his or its power so to do, in obedience to the subpena of the Commission, shall be guilty of a mis- demeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprison- ment for a term of not more than one year, or both. (d) Testimony by deposition The testimony of any witness may be taken, at the instance of a party, in any proceeding or investigation pending before the Commission, by deposition, at any time after the proceeding is at issue. The Commission may also order testi- mony to be taken by deposition in any pro- ceeding or investigation pending before it, at any stage of such proceeding or investigation. Such depositions may be taken before any per- son authorized to administer oaths not being of counsel or attorney to either of the parties, nor interested in the proceeding or investigation. Reasonable notice must first be given in writing by the party or his attorney proposing to take such deposition to the opposite party or his at- torney of record, as either may be nearest, which notice shall state the name of the witness and the time and place of the taking of his depo- sition. Any person may be compelled to appear and depose, and to produce documentary evi- dence, in the same manner as witnesses may be compelled to appear and testify and produce documentary evidence before the Commission, as hereinbefore provided. Such testimony shall be reduced to writing by the person taking the deposition, or under his direction, and shall, after it has been reduced to writing, be sub- scribed by the deponent. (e) Deposition of witness in a foreign country If a witness whose testimony may be desired to be taken by deposition be in a foreign coun- try, the deposition may be taken before an offi- cer or person designated by the Commission, or agreed upon by the parties by stipulation in writing to be filed with the Commission. All depositions must be promptly filed with the Commission. (f) Deposition fees Witnesses whose depositions are taken as au- thorized in this chapter, and the person or offi- cer taking the same, shall be entitled to the same fees as are paid for like services in the courts of the United States. (June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 307, as added Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 856; amend- ed Pub. L. 91–452, title II, § 221, Oct. 15, 1970, 84 Stat. 929; Pub. L. 109–58, title XII, § 1284(b), Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 980.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2005—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–58 inserted ‘‘, electric utility, transmitting utility, or other entity’’ after ‘‘person’’ in two places and inserted ‘‘, or in obtaining information about the sale of electric energy at whole- sale in interstate commerce and the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce’’ before period at end of first sentence. 1970—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 91–452 struck out subsec. (g) which related to the immunity from prosecution of any individual compelled to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, after claiming his privilege against self-incrimination. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1970 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 91–452 effective on 60th day following Oct. 15, 1970, and not to affect any immunity to which any individual is entitled under this section by reason of any testimony given before 60th day fol- lowing Oct. 15, 1970, see section 260 of Pub. L. 91–452, set out as an Effective Date; Savings Provision note under section 6001 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure. § 825g. Hearings; rules of procedure (a) Hearings under this chapter may be held before the Commission, any member or members thereof or any representative of the Commission designated by it, and appropriate records thereof shall be kept. In any proceeding before it, the Commission, in accordance with such rules and regulations as it may prescribe, may admit as a party any interested State, State commission, municipality, or any representative of inter- ested consumers or security holders, or any competitor of a party to such proceeding, or any other person whose participation in the pro- ceeding may be in the public interest. (b) All hearings, investigations, and pro- ceedings under this chapter shall be governed by rules of practice and procedure to be adopted by the Commission, and in the conduct thereof the technical rules of evidence need not be applied. No informality in any hearing, investigation, or proceeding or in the manner of taking testi- mony shall invalidate any order, decision, rule, or regulation issued under the authority of this chapter. (June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 308, as added Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 858.) § 825h. 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 Page 1442 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 825i 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 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 309, as added Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 858.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries COMMISSION REVIEW Pub. L. 99–495, § 4(c), Oct. 16, 1986, 100 Stat. 1248, pro- vided that: ‘‘In order to ensure that the provisions of Part I of the Federal Power Act [16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.], as amended by this Act, are fully, fairly, and efficiently implemented, that other governmental agencies identi- fied in such Part I are able to carry out their respon- sibilities, and that the increased workload of the Fed- eral Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies is facilitated, the Commission shall, consistent with the provisions of section 309 of the Federal Power Act [16 U.S.C. 825h], review all provisions of that Act [16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.] requiring an action within a 30-day period and, as the Commission deems appropriate, amend its regulations to interpret such period as mean- ing ‘working days’, rather than ‘calendar days’ unless calendar days is specified in such Act for such action.’’ § 825i. Appointment of officers and employees; compensation 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 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 310, as added Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 859; amend- ed 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’’ have been omitted as obsolete and superseded. Such appointments are subject to the civil service laws unless specifically excepted by those laws or by laws enacted subsequent to Executive Order No. 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, Government Orga- nization and Employees. 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 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. Section 5102 of Title 5 contains the applicability provi- sions of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 author- izes the Office of Personnel Management to determine the applicability to specific positions and employees. ‘‘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. § 825j. Investigations relating to electric energy; reports to Congress In order to secure information necessary or appropriate as a basis for recommending legisla- tion, the Commission is authorized and directed to conduct investigations regarding the genera- tion, transmission, distribution, and sale of elec- tric energy, however produced, throughout the United States and its possessions, whether or not otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, including the generation, trans- mission, distribution, and sale of electric energy by any agency, authority, or instrumentality of the United States, or of any State or munici- pality or other political subdivision of a State. It shall, so far as practicable, secure and keep current information regarding the ownership, operation, management, and control of all fa- cilities for such generation, transmission, dis- tribution, and sale; the capacity and output thereof and the relationship between the two; the cost of generation, transmission, and dis- tribution; the rates, charges, and contracts in respect of the sale of electric energy and its service to residential, rural, commercial, and in- dustrial consumers and other purchasers by pri- vate and public agencies; and the relation of any or all such facts to the development of naviga- tion, industry, commerce, and the national de- fense. The Commission shall report to Congress the results of investigations made under author- ity of this section. (June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 311, as added Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 859.) § 825k. Publication and sale of reports The Commission may provide for the publica- tion of its reports and decisions in such form and manner as may be best adapted for public information and use, and is authorized to sell at reasonable prices copies of all maps, atlases, and reports as it may from time to time publish. Such reasonable prices may include the cost of compilation, composition, and reproduction. The Commission is also authorized to make such charges as it deems reasonable for special statis- tical services and other special or periodic serv-