[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 10, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 10CFR205.85]

[Page 18-19]
 
                            TITLE 10--ENERGY
 
                    CHAPTER II--DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
 
PART 205_ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND SANCTIONS--Table of Contents
 
                        Subpart F_Interpretation
 
Sec. 205.85  Decision and effect.

    (a) An interpretation may be issued after consideration of the 
request for interpretation and other relevant information received or 
obtained during the proceeding.
    (b) The interpretation shall contain a statement of the information 
upon which it is based and a legal analysis of and conclusions regarding 
the application of rulings, regulations and other precedent to the 
situation presented in the request.
    (c) Only those persons to whom an interpretation is specifically 
addressed and other persons upon whom the DOE serves the interpretation 
and who are directly involved in the same transaction or act may rely 
upon it. No person entitled to rely upon an interpretation shall be 
subject to civil or criminal penalties stated in subpart P of this part 
for any act taken in reliance upon the interpretation, notwithstanding 
that the interpretation shall thereafter be declared by judicial or 
other competent authority to be invalid.
    (d) An interpretation may be rescinded or modified at any time. 
Rescission or modification may be effected by notifying persons entitled 
to rely on the interpretation that it is rescinded or modified. This 
notification shall include a statement of the reasons for the recision 
or modification and, in the case of a modification, a restatement of the 
interpretation as modified.
    (e) An interpretation is modified by a subsequent amendment to the 
regulations or ruling to the extent that it is

[[Page 19]]

inconsistent with the amended regulation or ruling.
    (f)(1) Any person aggrieved by an interpretation may submit a 
petition for reconsideration to the General Counsel within 30 days of 
service of the interpretation from which the reconsideration is sought. 
There has not been an exhaustion of administrative remedies until a 
period of 30 days from the date of service of the interpretation has 
elapsed without receipt by the General Counsel of a petition for 
reconsideration or, if a petition for reconsideration of the 
interpretation has been filed in a timely manner, until that petition 
has been acted on by the General Counsel. However, a petition to which 
the General Counsel does not respond within 60 days of the date of 
receipt thereof, or within such extended time as the General Counsel may 
prescribe by written notice to the petitioner concerned within that 60 
day period, shall be considered denied.
    (2) A petition for reconsideration may be summarily denied if--
    (i) It is not filed in a timely manner, unless good cause is shown; 
or
    (ii) It is defective on its face for failure to state, and to 
present facts and legal argument in support thereof, that the 
interpretation was erroneous in fact or in law, or that it was arbitrary 
or capricious.
    (3) The General Counsel may deny any petition for reconsideration if 
the petitioner does not establish that--
    (i) The petition was filed by a person aggrieved by an 
interpretation;
    (ii) The interpretation was erroneous in fact or in law; or
    (iii) The interpretation was arbitrary or capricious. The denial of 
a petition shall be a final order of which the petitioner may seek 
judicial review.

(Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, Pub. L. 93-159, as amended, 
Pub. L. 93-511, Pub. L. 94-99, Pub. L. 94-133, Pub. L. 94-163, and Pub. 
L. 94-385, Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-275, as 
amended, Pub. L. 94-385, Energy Policy and Conservation Act, Pub. L. 94-
163, as amended, Pub. L. 94-385; E.O. 11790, 39 FR 23185; Department of 
Energy Organization Act, Pub. L. 95-91; E.O. 12009, 42 FR 46267)

[39 FR 35489, Oct. 1, 1974, as amended at 43 FR 14437, Apr. 6, 1978]