Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 6, September 16, 2024
(a) Any person
aggrieved by a statute administered by a rule of the Authority may request a
declaratory ruling for the following reasons:
(1) to determine the validity of a
rule;
(2) to determine the
applicability to a given set of facts of a statute, rule or order administered
by the agency; or
(3) to resolve a
conflict or inconsistency within the agency regarding interpretation of a law
of rule adopted by the agency.
(b) All requests for declaratory rulings
shall be written and mailed to: Administrator, North Carolina Rural
Electrification Authority, 4321 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
27699-4321.
(c) All requests for a
declaratory ruling must include the following information:
(1) the name and address of
petitioner;
(2) the statute, rule
or order to which the petition relates;
(3) the concise statement of the manner in
which petitioner is aggrieved by the statute, rule or order or its potential
application to him or her;
(4) a
statement of whether an oral hearing is desired, and if so the reasons for such
an oral hearing; and
(5) the
date.
(d) The Authority
shall respond to a request for a declaratory ruling as follows:
(1) within 30 days of receipt of the request
for a declaratory ruling, the Authority shall make a written decision to grant
or deny the request. If the Authority fails to make a written decision to grant
or deny the request within 30 days, the failure shall be deemed a decision to
deny the request.
(2) If the
Authority denies the request, the decision is immediately subject to judicial
review in accordance with Article 4 of this Chapter.
(3) If the Authority grants the request, the
Authority shall issue a written ruling on the merits within 45 days of the
decision to grant the request. A declaratory ruling is subject to judicial
review in accordance with Article 4 of G.S. 150B.
(4) If the Authority fails to issue a
declaratory ruling within 45 days, the failure shall be deemed a denial on the
merits and the person aggrieved may seek judicial review pursuant to Article 4
of G.S. 150B. Upon review of the Authority's failure to issue a declaratory
ruling, the court shall not consider any basis for the denial that was not
presented in writing to the person aggrieved.
(e) The Board shall refuse to issue a
declaratory ruling under the following circumstances:
(1) when the Board has already made a
controlling decision on substantially similar facts in a contested
case;
(2) when the facts underlying
the request for a ruling were specifically considered at the time of the
adoption of the rule in question; or
(3) when the subject matter of the request is
involved in pending litigation in North Carolina.
Authority
G.S.
117-2(12);
150B-4;
Eff.
February 1, 1976;
Amended Eff. March 1, 2014;
Pursuant
to G.S.
150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without
substantive public interest Eff. May 23,
2015.
