Right to Timely Rehearings at FERC Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6963 To amend the Federal Power Act with respect to the rehearing process, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2020 Mr. CASTEN of Illinois (for himself, Mr. MALINOWSKI, and Mr. KENNEDY) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Power Act with respect to the rehearing process, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Right to Timely Re- 4 hearings at FERC Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FEDERAL POWER ACT REHEARINGS. 6 Section 313(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 7 825l(a)) is amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(a) REHEARINGS.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6963.IH H6963 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6963 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person, electric utility, 1 State, municipality, or State commission aggrieved 2 by an order issued by the Commission in a pro- 3 ceeding under this Act to which such person, electric 4 utility, State, municipality, or State commission is a 5 party may apply for a rehearing within 30 days after 6 the issuance of such order. The application for re- 7 hearing shall set forth specifically the ground or 8 grounds upon which such application is based. Upon 9 such application the Commission shall have power to 10 grant or deny rehearing or to abrogate or modify its 11 order without further hearing. No proceeding to re- 12 view any orders of the Commission shall be brought 13 by any entity unless such entity shall have made ap- 14 plication to the Commission for a rehearing thereon. 15 Until the record in a proceeding shall have been filed 16 in a court of appeals, as provided in subsection (b), 17 the Commission may at any time, upon reasonable 18 notice and in such manner as it shall deem proper, 19 modify or set aside, in whole or in part, any finding 20 or order made or issued by it under the provisions 21 of this act. 22 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 24 subparagraph (B), the Commission shall act on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6963.IH H6963 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6963 IH the merits of an application filed under para- 1 graph (1) by the date that is 120 days after the 2 date on which the applicable order is issued. 3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.— 4 ‘‘(i) FINDING.—If, by the date that is 5 120 days after the date on which the appli- 6 cable order is issued, the Commission 7 issues a finding that additional time for 8 consideration of an application filed under 9 paragraph (1) is necessary, the Commis- 10 sion shall act on the merits of the applica- 11 tion by the date that is 210 days after the 12 date on which the applicable order is 13 issued. The Commission may not delegate 14 the authority to issue a finding under this 15 clause. 16 ‘‘(ii) LACK OF QUORUM.—If the Com- 17 mission fails to act on the merits of an ap- 18 plication filed under paragraph (1) by the 19 applicable deadline under clause (i) or sub- 20 paragraph (A) because the Commission 21 lacks a quorum on such date, the Commis- 22 sion shall act on the merits of the applica- 23 tion by the date that is 30 days after the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6963.IH H6963 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6963 IH date on which the Commission establishes 1 a quorum. 2 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Commis- 3 sion fails to act on the merits of an application 4 filed under paragraph (1) by the applicable 5 deadline under subparagraph (A) or (B), the 6 application shall be deemed to be denied.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6963.IH H6963 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS