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If an adjudication is not within the relatively narrow scope
of APA sec. 554(a), the only provision of the APA that prescribes
procedures applicable to the adjudication is APA sec. 555. That
section requires only that an agency (1) permit a party to be
represented by counsel or other authorized representative,
(2) permit a person to obtain a copy of any data or evidence she
provides, and (3) provide a brief statement of the grounds for
denying an application or petition.
3. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp.
In Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Res. Def.
Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519 (1978), the Supreme Court held that
courts cannot compel an agency to use rule making procedures
beyond those required by statute or by the Constitution. In
Pension Benefit Guar. Corporation v. LTV Corp., 496 U.S. 633
(1990), the Court made clear that its holding in Vermont Yankee
applied to agency adjudications: “Vermont Yankee stands for the
general proposition that courts are not free to impose upon
agencies specific procedural requirements that have no basis in
the APA.” Id. at 654.
4. The Meaning of the Term “Hearing”
In United States v. Fla. E. Coast Ry. Co., supra, the
Supreme Court looked to the APA to determine the meaning of the
phrase “after hearing” in a statute that empowered the Interstate
Commerce Commission, “after hearing”, to engage in certain rule
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