§ 501.11 - Delegation of authorities.

§ 501.11 Official sealDelegation of authorities.

(a) Description. Pursuant to section 201(c) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended ( Authority and delegation. The provision at 46 U.S.C. 301(d)), 46106 authorizes the Commission prescribes its official seal, as adopted by the Commission on August 14, 1961, which shall be judicially noticed. The design of the official seal is described as follows:

(1) A shield argent paly of six gules, a chief azure charged with a fouled anchor or; shield and anchor outlined of the third; on a wreath argent and gules, an eagle displayed proper; all on a gold disc within a blue border, encircled by a gold rope outlined in blue, and bearing in white letters the inscription “Federal Maritime Commission” in upper portion and “1961” in lower portion.

(2) The shield and eagle above it are associated with the United States of America and denote the national scope of maritime affairs. The outer rope and fouled anchor are symbolic of seamen and waterborne transportation. The date “1961” has historical significance, indicating the year in which the Commission was created.

(b) Design.

[70 FR 7659, Feb. 15, 2005, as amended at 74 FR 50714, Oct. 1, 2009]

to delegate, by published order or rule, any of its functions to a division of the Commission, an individual Commissioner, an administrative law judge, or an employee or employee board, including functions with respect to hearing, determining, ordering, certifying, reporting, or otherwise acting as to any work, business, or matter. The Commission delegates specific authorities to the delegatees designated in §§ 501.12 through 501.17, subject to the limitations prescribed in this section.

(b) Temporary redelegation. When the head of a bureau or office is absent or incapacitated, they may temporarily redelegate their authorities to subordinate personnel under their supervision and direction or to another bureau or office head for the period of their absence or incapacitation.

(c) Redelegation. Other than temporary redelegations under paragraph (b) of this section, and subject to the limitations in this section, the delegatees may redelegate their authorities to subordinate personnel under their supervision and direction only if this subpart is amended to reflect such redelegation and notice thereof is published in the Federal Register.

(d) Exercise of authority; policy and procedure. The delegatees and redelegatees shall exercise the authorities delegated or redelegated in a manner consistent with applicable laws and the established policies of the Commission, and shall consult with the General Counsel where appropriate.

(e) Exercise of delegated authority by delegator. Under any authority delegated or redelegated, the delegator (Commission), or the redelegator, respectively, shall retain full rights to exercise the authority in the first instance.

(f) Review of delegatee's action. The delegator (Commission) or redelegator of authority shall retain a discretionary right to review an action taken under delegated authority by a subordinate delegatee, either upon the filing of a written petition of a party to, or an intervenor in, such action; or upon the delegator's or redelegator's own initiative.

(1) Petition. Petitions for review of actions taken under delegated authority shall be filed within ten (10) calendar days of the action taken:

(i) If the action for which review is sought is taken by a delegatee, the petition shall be addressed to the Commission pursuant to § 502.94 of this chapter.

(ii) If the action for which review is sought is taken by a redelegatee, the petition shall be addressed to the redelegator whose decision can be further reviewed by the Commission under paragraph (f)(1)(i) of this section, unless the Commission decides to review the matter directly, such as, for example, if the redelegator is incapacitated.

(2) Discretionary review. The vote of a majority of the Commission less one member (e.g., two Commissioners if there are a total of four or five sitting Commissioners; one Commissioner if there are a total of three or fewer sitting Commissioners) shall be sufficient to bring any delegated action before the Commission for review under this paragraph (f).

(g) Action - when final. Should the right to exercise discretionary review be declined or should no such review be sought under paragraph (f) of this section, then the action taken under delegated authority shall, for all purposes, including appeal or review thereof, be deemed to be the action of the Commission.

(h) Conflicts. Where the procedures set forth in this section conflict with law or any regulation of this chapter, the conflict shall be resolved in favor of the law or other regulation.