[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR904.273]

[Page 56-57]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
CHAPTER IX--NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 904_CIVIL PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart C_Hearing and Appeal Procedures
 
Sec. 904.273  Administrative review of decision.

    (a) Subject to the requirements of this section, any party may 
petition for review of an initial decision of the Judge within 30 days 
after the date the decision is served. The petition shall be addressed 
to the Administrator and filed at the following address: Administrator, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, 
Room 5128, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20230.
    (b) Review by the Administrator of an initial decision is 
discretionary and is not a matter of right. A petition for review nust 
be served upon all parties. If a party files a timely petition for 
discretionary review, or action to review is taken by the Administrator 
upon his or her own initiative, the effectiveness of the initial 
decision is stayed until further order of the Administrator.

[[Page 57]]

    (c) Petitions for discretionary review may be filed only upon one or 
more of the following grounds:
    (1) A finding of a material fact is clearly erroneous based upon the 
evidence in the record;
    (2) A necessary legal conclusion is contrary to law or precedent:
    (3) A substantial and important question of law, policy, or 
discretion is involved (including the amount of the civil penalty); or
    (4) A prejudicial procedural error has occurred.
    (d) Each issue must be separately numbered, concisely stated, and 
supported by detailed citations to the record, statutes, regulations, 
and principal authorities. Issues of fact or law not argued before the 
Judge may not be raised on review unless they were raised for the first 
time in the initial decision, or could not reasonably have been foreseen 
and raised by the parties during the hearing. The Administrator will not 
consider new or additional evidence that is not a part of the record 
before the Judge.
    (e) No oral argument on petitions for discretionary review will be 
allowed.
    (f) Within 30 days after service of a petition for discretionary 
review, any party may file and serve an answer in support or in 
opposition. No further replies are allowed.
    (g) If the Administrator declines to exercise discretionary review, 
such order will be served on all parties personally or by registered or 
certified mail, return receipt requested, and will specify the date upon 
which the Judge's decision will become effective as the final decision 
of NOAA. The Administrator need not give reasons for declining review.
    (h) If the Administrator grants a petition for discretionary review, 
he or she will issue an order specifying issues to be briefed and a 
briefing schedule. Such issues may constitute one or more of the issues 
raised in the petition for discretionary review and/or matters the 
Administrator wishes to review on his or her own initiative. Only those 
issues specified in the order may be argued in the briefs and considered 
by the Administrator. No oral argument will be permitted.
    (i) After expiration of the period for filing briefs under paragraph 
(h) of this section, the Administrator will render a written decision on 
the issues under review. The Administrator will transmit the decision to 
each of the parties by registered or certified mail, return receipt 
requested. The Administrator's decision becomes the final administrative 
decision on the date it is served, unless otherwise provided in the 
decision.