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Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs - 47 USC Section 155
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01/19/04 Sec. 155. Commission
(a) Chairman; duties; vacancy
The member of the Commission designated by the President as
chairman shall be the chief executive officer of the Commission. It
shall be his duty to preside at all meetings and sessions of the
Commission, to represent the Commission in all matters relating to
legislation and legislative reports, except that any commissioner
may present his own or minority views or supplemental reports, to
represent the Commission in all matters requiring conferences or
communications with other governmental officers, departments or
agencies, and generally to coordinate and organize the work of the
Commission in such manner as to promote prompt and efficient
disposition of all matters within the jurisdiction of the
Commission. In the case of a vacancy in the office of the chairman
of the Commission, or the absence or inability of the chairman to
serve, the Commission may temporarily designate one of its members
to act as chairman until the cause or circumstance requiring such
designation shall have been eliminated or corrected.
(b) Organization of staff
From time to time as the Commission may find necessary, the
Commission shall organize its staff into (1) integrated bureaus, to
function on the basis of the Commission's principal workload
operations, and (2) such other divisional organizations as the
Commission may deem necessary. Each such integrated bureau shall
include such legal, engineering, accounting, administrative,
clerical, and other personnel as the Commission may determine to be
necessary to perform its functions.
(c) Delegation of functions; exceptions to initial orders; force,
effect and enforcement of orders; administrative and judicial
review; qualifications and compensation of delegates; assignment
of cases; separation of review and investigative or prosecuting
functions; secretary; seal
(1) When necessary to the proper functioning of the Commission
and the prompt and orderly conduct of its business, the Commission
may, by published rule or by order, delegate any of its functions
(except functions granted to the Commission by this paragraph and
by paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) of this subsection and except any
action referred to in sections 204(a)(2), 208(b), and 405(b) of
this title) to a panel of commissioners, an individual
commissioner, an employee board, or an individual employee,
including functions with respect to hearing, determining, ordering,
certifying, reporting, or otherwise acting as to any work,
business, or matter; except that in delegating review functions to
employees in cases of adjudication (as defined in section 551 of
title 5), the delegation in any such case may be made only to an
employee board consisting of two or more employees referred to in
paragraph (8) of this subsection. Any such rule or order may be
adopted, amended, or rescinded only by a vote of a majority of the
members of the Commission then holding office. Except for cases
involving the authorization of service in the instructional
television fixed service, or as otherwise provided in this chapter,
nothing in this paragraph shall authorize the Commission to provide
for the conduct, by any person or persons other than persons
referred to in paragraph (2) or (3) of section 556(b) of title 5,
of any hearing to which such section applies.
(2) As used in this subsection the term "order, decision, report,
or action" does not include an initial, tentative, or recommended
decision to which exceptions may be filed as provided in section
409(b) of this title.
(3) Any order, decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant
to any such delegation, unless reviewed as provided in paragraph
(4) of this subsection, shall have the same force and effect, and
shall be made, evidenced, and enforced in the same manner, as
orders, decisions, reports, or other actions of the Commission.
(4) Any person aggrieved by any such order, decision, report or
action may file an application for review by the Commission within
such time and in such manner as the Commission shall prescribe, and
every such application shall be passed upon by the Commission. The
Commission, on its own initiative, may review in whole or in part,
at such time and in such manner as it shall determine, any order,
decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to any
delegation under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(5) In passing upon applications for review, the Commission may
grant, in whole or in part, or deny such applications without
specifying any reasons therefor. No such application for review
shall rely on questions of fact or law upon which the panel of
commissioners, individual commissioner, employee board, or
individual employee has been afforded no opportunity to pass.
(6) If the Commission grants the application for review, it may
affirm, modify, or set aside the order, decision, report, or
action, or it may order a rehearing upon such order, decision,
report, or action in accordance with section 405 of this title.
(7) The filing of an application for review under this subsection
shall be a condition precedent to judicial review of any order,
decision, report, or action made or taken pursuant to a delegation
under paragraph (1) of this subsection. The time within which a
petition for review must be filed in a proceeding to which section
402(a) of this title applies, or within which an appeal must be
taken under section 402(b) of this title, shall be computed from
the date upon which public notice is given of orders disposing of
all applications for review filed in any case.
(8) The employees to whom the Commission may delegate review
functions in any case of adjudication (as defined in section 551 of
title 5) shall be qualified, by reason of their training,
experience, and competence, to perform such review functions, and
shall perform no duties inconsistent with such review functions.
Such employees shall be in a grade classification or salary level
commensurate with their important duties, and in no event less than
the grade classification or salary level of the employee or
employees whose actions are to be reviewed. In the performance of
such review functions such employees shall be assigned to cases in
rotation so far as practicable and shall not be responsible to or
subject to the supervision or direction of any officer, employee,
or agent engaged in the performance of investigative or prosecuting
functions for any agency.
(9) The secretary and seal of the Commission shall be the
secretary and seal of each panel of the Commission, each individual
commissioner, and each employee board or individual employee
exercising functions delegated pursuant to paragraph (1) of this
subsection.
(d) Meetings
Meetings of the Commission shall be held at regular intervals,
not less frequently than once each calendar month, at which times
the functioning of the Commission and the handling of its work load
shall be reviewed and such orders shall be entered and other action
taken as may be necessary or appropriate to expedite the prompt and
orderly conduct of the business of the Commission with the
objective of rendering a final decision (1) within three months
from the date of filing in all original application, renewal, and
transfer cases in which it will not be necessary to hold a hearing,
and (2) within six months from the final date of the hearing in all
hearing cases.
(e) Managing Director; appointment, functions, pay
The Commission shall have a Managing Director who shall be
appointed by the Chairman subject to the approval of the
Commission. The Managing Director, under the supervision and
direction of the Chairman, shall perform such administrative and
executive functions as the Chairman shall delegate. The Managing
Director shall be paid at a rate equal to the rate then payable for
level V of the Executive Schedule.
AMENDMENTS
1996 - Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 104-104 inserted last sentence and
struck out former last sentence which read as follows: "Nothing in
this paragraph shall authorize the Commission to provide for the
conduct, by any person or persons other than persons referred to in
clauses (2) and (3) of section 556(b) of title 5, of any hearing to
which such section 556(b) applies."
1994 - Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 103-414 redesignated subsec.
(f) as (e).
1988 - Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 100-594, Sec. 8(a), inserted "and
except any action referred to in sections 204(a)(2), 208(b), and
405(b) of this title" after "and (6) of this subsection" in first
sentence.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 100-594, Sec. 4, struck out subsec. (g)
which required an annual report to Congress and specified its
contents.
1986 - Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 99-272 substituted "March 31" for
"January 31".
1982 - Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97-259, Sec. 105(a), substituted
"From" for "Within six months after July 16, 1952, and from" at
beginning of subsection, and struck out "thereafter" after "time to
time".
Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 97-259, Sec. 105(b), (c),
redesignated subsecs. (d) and (e) as (c) and (d), respectively, and
in par. (1) of subsec. (c), as so redesignated, substituted "two"
for "three" after "employee board consisting of".
1981 - Subsecs. (f), (g). Pub. L. 97-35 added subsecs. (f) and
(g).
1980 - Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 96-470 struck out "; and the
Commission shall promptly report to the Congress each such case
which has been pending before it more than such three- or six-month
period, respectively, stating the reasons therefor" after "hearing
cases".
1961 - Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 1, repealed subsec. (c)
which provided for establishment of review staff, its composition,
responsibility and duties.
Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, substituted provisions
which authorized the delegation of functions by published rule or
by order to a panel of commissioners, and individual commissioner,
an employee board, or an individual employee, and of review
functions to an employee board of three or more employees,
enumerated the functions to be delegated, with stated exceptions,
and prescribed majority vote for order delegating review functions
for former provision which authorized the assignment of reference
of work, business or functions by order to an individual
commissioner or commissioners or to a board of one or more
employees and eliminated provision concerning force, effect and
enforcement of orders, now incorporated in par. (3) of this
subsection.
Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, added par. (2). The
subject matter was formerly covered by the introductory words of
former par. (1) of this subsection which read "Except as provided
in section 409 of this title." Sentences 1 and 2 of former par. (2)
redesignated pars. (4) and (6), respectively.
Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, redesignated second
sentence of former par. (1) as par. (3) and substituted therein
"report, or action made or taken pursuant to any such delegation,
unless reviewed as provided in paragraph (4), shall have" and
"other actions" for "report made, or other action taken, pursuant
to any such order of assignment or reference shall, unless reviewed
pursuant to paragraph (2), have" and "action", respectively. Former
par. (3) redesignated (9).
Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, redesignated first
sentence of former par. (2) as par. (4), included "action" in
enumeration, and inserted provision for review on initiative of the
Commission.
Subsec. (d)(5). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, added par. (5).
Subsec. (d)(6). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, redesignated second
sentence of former par. (2) as par. (6), inserting "for review"
after "applications" and substituting "the Commission", "the
order", "it may order" and "in accordance with" for "it", "such
order", "may order" and "under", respectively.
Subsec. (d)(7), (8). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, added pars. (7) and
(8).
Subsec. (d)(9). Pub. L. 87-192, Sec. 2, redesignated former par.
(3) as (9) and made it applicable to each panel of the Commission,
each employee board instead of each board, and each individual
employee.
1952 - Act July 16, 1952, amended section generally to provide
for the organization of the staff, integrated bureaus, and for a
review staff.
Last modified: June 19, 2006
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