Current through Reg. 49, No. 12; March 22, 2024
(a) Applicability.
This rule applies to the permits listed in Column A of Table 1 of this section.
For purposes of this rule, the term "permit" includes any authorization issued
administratively by the Commission, through the Oil and Gas Division, the Gas
Services Division, the Surface Mining and Reclamation Division, or the
Rail/LP-Gas/Pipeline Safety Division, and required by the Commission either to
engage in or conduct a specific activity or to deviate from requirements,
standards, or conditions in statutes or Commission rules and for which the
median processing time exceeds seven days.
Attached
Graphic
(b)
Completeness. An application is complete when the division or section shown in
Column B of Table 1 has determined that the application contains information
addressing each application requirement of the regulatory program and all
information necessary to initiate the final review by the division or section
processing the application. For purposes of this section, certain applicants,
as shown in Column D of Table 1, are required to have an approved organization
report (Form P-5) on file with the Commission in order for an application to be
complete.
(c) Time periods.
(1) The date a permit application is received
under this section is the date the application reaches the designated division
or section within a division as shown in Column B of Table 1.
(2) The division or section shown in Column B
of Table 1 shall process permit applications in accordance with the time
periods shown in Columns F and G of Table 1 for a particular permit. Time
periods are counted on the basis of calendar days.
(3) The Initial Review Period, shown in
Column F of Table 1, begins on the date the designated division or section
receives the application and ends on the date the division or section gives
written notice to the applicant indicating that either:
(A) the application is complete and accepted
for filing; or
(B) the application
is incomplete, as described in paragraph (4) of this subsection.
(4) If the division or section
determines that an application is incomplete, the division or section shall
notify the applicant in writing and shall describe the specific information
required to complete the application. An applicant may make no more than two
supplemental filings to complete an application. The Initial Review Period
shall start again each time the division or section receives a supplemental
filing relating to an incomplete application. After the second supplemental
submission, if the application is complete, the division or section shall
administratively rule on the application; if the application is still
incomplete, the division or section shall administratively deny the
application. The division or section specifically does not have the authority
to accept or review any other additional supplemental submissions. The division
or section shall notify the applicant in writing of the administrative decision
and, in the case of an administrative denial, the applicant's right to request
a hearing on the application as it stands. The applicant may withdraw the
application.
(5) The Final Review
Period, shown in Column G of Table 1, begins on the date the division or
section makes a determination under paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection and
ends on the date the permit is:
(A)
administratively granted;
(B)
administratively denied; or
(C)
docketed as a contested case proceeding if the application is neither
administratively granted nor administratively denied.
(6) An applicant whose application has been
administratively denied may request a hearing by filing a written request for a
hearing addressed to the division or section processing the application, within
30 days of the date the application is administratively denied.
(7) Within seven days of either docketing an
application under paragraph (5)(C) of this subsection or receiving a written
request for a hearing under paragraph (6) of this subsection, the division or
section processing the application shall forward the file and any request for
hearing, including any memoranda or notes explaining or describing the reasons
for docketing or administrative denial, to the Docket Services Section of the
Office of General Counsel. The Office of General Counsel shall process the
application as prescribed in subsection (e) of this section.
(d) Complaint procedure.
(1) An applicant may complain directly to the
Executive Director if a division or section does not process an application
within the applicable time periods shown in Columns F and G of Table 1, and may
request a timely resolution of any dispute arising from the claimed delay. All
complaints shall be in writing and shall state the specific relief sought,
which may include the full reimbursement of the fee paid in that particular
application process, if any, as shown in Column E of Table 1. As soon as
possible after receiving a complaint, the Executive Director shall notify the
appropriate division director of the complaint.
(2) Within 30 days of receipt of a complaint,
the division director of the division or section processing the application
that is the subject of the complaint shall submit to the Executive Director a
written report of the facts relating to the processing of the application. The
report shall include the division director's explanation of the reason or
reasons the division or section did or did not exceed the established time
periods. If the Executive Director does not agree that the division or section
has violated the established periods or finds that good cause existed for the
division or section to have exceeded the established periods, the Executive
Director may deny the relief requested by the complaint.
(3) For purposes of this section, good cause
for exceeding the established period means:
(A) the number of permit applications to be
processed by the division or section exceeds by at least 15 percent the number
of permit applications processed by that division or section in the same
quarter of the previous calendar year;
(B) the division or section must rely on
another public or private entity to process all or part of the permit
application received by the agency, and the delay is caused by that entity;
or
(C) other conditions exist that
give the division or section good cause for exceeding the established period,
including but not limited to circumstances such as personnel shortages,
equipment outages, and other unanticipated events or emergencies.
(4) The Executive Director shall
make the final decision and provide written notification of the decision to the
applicant and the division or section within 60 days of receipt of the
complaint.
(e) Hearings.
If an application is docketed as a contested case proceeding, it is governed by
the time periods in this chapter (relating to Practice and Procedure) once the
application has been filed with the Docket Services Section of the Office of
General Counsel.