In any proceeding in which the Commission is authorized to act after opportunity for hearing, if the parties waive hearing, such opportunity will be deemed to have been afforded by service or publication in the Federal Register of notice of the application or other initial pleading, request, or other filing, such notice fixing a reasonable period of time within which any person desiring to be heard may file a protest or petition. Upon the expiration of such period of time, in the absence of a request for hearing, the Commission may forthwith dispose of the matter upon the basis of the pleadings and other submittals and the studies and recommendations of the staff. A party not requesting oral hearing in its pleadings will be deemed to have waived a hearing for the purpose of such disposition, but will not be bound by such a waiver for the purposes of any request for rehearing with respect to an order so entered.

Noncontested proceedings. In any proceeding required by statute to be set for hearing, the Commission, when it appears to be in the public interest and to be in the interest of the parties to grant the relief or authority requested in the initial pleading, and to omit the intermediate decision procedure, may, after a hearing during which no opposition or contest develops, forthwith dispose of the proceedings upon consideration of the pleadings and other evidence filed and incorporated in the record: Provided, (a) The applicant or other initial pleader requests that the intermediate decision procedure be omitted and waives oral hearing and opportunity for filing exceptions to the decision of the Commission; and (b) no issue of substance is raised by any request to be heard, protest or petition filed subsequent to publication in the Federal Register of the notice of the filing of an initial pleading and notice or order fixing of hearing, which notice or order will state that the Commission considers the proceeding a proper one for disposition under the provisions of this subpart. Requests for the procedure provided by this subpart may be contained in the initial pleading or subsequent request in writing to the Commission. The decision of the Commission in such proceeding after noncontested hearing, will be final, subject to reconsideration by the Commission upon request for rehearing as provided by statute.