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PUBLIC LAW 87-192-AUG. 31, 1961
[75 S T A T.
nated authority within the Commission, shall take such action within ninety days of the filing of such petition. Rehearings shall be governed by such general rules as the Commission may establish, except that no evidence other than newly discovered evidence, evidence which has become available only since the original taking of evidence, or evidence which the Commission or designated authority within the Commission believes should have been taken in the original proceeding shall be taken on any rehearing. The time within which a peti47 USC 402. tion for review must be filed in a proceeding to which section 402(a) applies, or within which an appeal must be taken under section 402 (b) in any case, shall be computed from the date upon which public notice is given of orders disposing of all petitions for rehearing filed with the Commission in such proceeding or case, but any order, decision, report, or action made or taken after such rehearing reversing, changing, or modifying the original order shall be subject to the same provisions with respect to rehearing as an original order." Hearings. SEC. 4. Section 409(a), (b), (c), and (d) of the Communications 47 ^*s^c* '^^* '^^^ ^^ 1934, as amended, are amended to read as follows: " (a) In every case of adjudication (as defined in the Administrative 5 USC looinote. Procedure Act) which has been designated by the Commission for hearing, the person or persons conducting the hearing shall prepare and file an initial, tentative, or recommended decision, except where such person or persons become unavailable to the Commission or where the Commission finds upon the record that due and timely execution of its functions imperatively and unavoidably require that the record be certified to the Commission for initial or final decision. Exceptions. "(b) In every case of adjudication (as defined in the Administrative Procedure Act) which has been designated by the Commission for hearing, any party to the proceeding shall be permitted to file exceptions and memoranda in support thereof to the initial, tentative, or recommended decision, which shall be passed upon by the Commission or by the authority within the Commission, if any, to whom the function of passing upon the exceptions is delegated under section 5(d)(1): Provided, however, That such authority shall not be the same authority which made the decision to which the exception is taken. "(c)(1) In any case of adjudication (as defined in the Administrative Procedure Act) which has been designated by the Commission for a hearing, no person who has participated in the presentation or preparation for presentation of such case at the hearing or upon review shall (except to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law) directly or indirectly make any additional presentation respecting such case to the hearing officer or officers or to the Commission, or to any authority within the Commission to whom, in such case, review functions have been delegated by the Commission under section 5(d)(1), unless upon notice and opportunity for all parties to participate. "(2) The provision in subsection (c) of section 5 of the Admin5 USC 1004. istrative Procedure Act wiich states that such subsection shall not apply in determining applications for initial licenses, shall not be applicable hereafter in the case of applications for initial licenses before the Federal Communications Commission. " (d) To the extent that the foregoing provisions of this section and section 5(d) are in conflict with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, such provisions of this section and section 5(d) shall be held to supersede and modify the provisions of that Act." SEC. 5. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Act, the second sentence of subsection (b) of section 409 of the Communications Act of 19e34 (which relates to the filing of exceptions and the presentation of oral argument), as in force at the time of the enact-
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