(a) The Commission shall make a preliminary review of each filed agreement to determine whether the agreement is in compliance with the requirements of the Act and this part and, where applicable, whether the accompanying Information Form is complete or, where not complete, whether the deficiency is adequately explained or is excused by a waiver granted by the Commission under § 535.504.

(b)(1) The Commission shall reject any agreement that fails to comply substantially with the filing and Information Form of the Act and this part. The Commission shall notify the filing party in writing of the reason for rejection of the agreement. The original filing, along with any supplemental information or documents submitted, shall be returned to the filing party.

(2) Should a rejected agreement be refiled, the full 45-day waiting period will apply to the refiled agreement.

(a) A notice of any filed agreement will be transmitted to the Federal Register within seven days of the date of filing.

(b) The notice will include:

(1) A short title for the agreement;

(2) The identity of the parties to the agreement and the filing party;

(3) The Federal Maritime Commission agreement number;

(4) A concise summary of the agreement's contents;

(5) A statement that the agreement is available for inspection at the Commission's offices; and

(6) A request for comments, including relevant information and documents, regarding the agreement and the date by which comments should be submitted in order to be most useful to the Commission's review of the agreement.

(a) Persons may file with the Secretary written comments, including relevant information and documents, regarding a filed agreement. Commenters may submit the comment by email to [email protected] or deliver to Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, 800 N Capitol St. NW, Washington, DC 20573-0001. The Commission will treat such comments as confidential in accordance with § 535.608.

(b) The filing of a comment does not entitle a person to:

(1) A reply to the comment by the Commission;

(2) The institution of any Commission or court proceeding;

(3) Discussion of the comment in any Commission or court proceeding concerning the filed agreement; or

(4) Participation in any proceeding that may be instituted.

(a) The waiting period before an agreement becomes effective shall commence on the date that an agreement is filed with the Commission.

(b) Unless suspended by a request for additional information or extended by court order, the waiting period terminates and an agreement becomes effective on the later of the 45th day after the filing of the agreement with the Commission or on the 30th day after publication of notice of the filing in the Federal Register.

(c) The waiting period is suspended on the date when the Commission, either orally or in writing, requests additional information or documentary materials pursuant to section 6(d) of the Act (46 U.S.C. 40304(d)). A new 45-day waiting period begins on the date of receipt of all the additional material requested or of a statement of the reasons for noncompliance, and the agreement becomes effective in 45 days unless the waiting period is further extended by court order or the Commission grants expedited review.

(a) Upon written request of the filing party, the Commission may shorten the waiting period. In support of a request, the filing party should provide a full explanation, with reference to specific facts and circumstances, of the necessity for a shortened waiting period. In reviewing requests, the Commission will consider the parties' needs and the Commission's ability to complete its review of the agreement's potential impact. In no event, however, may the period be shortened to less than fourteen (14) days after the publication of the notice of the filing of the agreement in the Federal Register. When a request for expedited review is denied, the normal 45-day waiting period will apply. Requests for expedited review will not be granted routinely and will be granted only on a showing of good cause. Good cause would include, but is not limited to, the impending expiration of the agreement; an operational urgency; Federal or State imposed time limitations; or other reasons that, in the Commission's discretion, constitute grounds for granting the request.

(b) A request for expedited review will be considered for an agreement whose 45-day waiting period has begun anew after being stopped by a request for additional information.

(a) The Commission may request from the filing party any additional information and documents necessary to complete the statutory review required by the Act. The request shall be made prior to the expiration of the 45-day waiting period. All responses to a request for additional information shall be submitted to the Director, Bureau of Trade Analysis, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC 20573.

(b) Where the Commission has made a request for additional information, the agreement's effective date will be 45 days after receipt of the complete response to the request for additional information. If all questions are not fully answered or requested documents are not supplied, the parties must include a statement of reasons why questions were not fully answered or documents supplied. In the event all material is not submitted, the agreement's effective date will be 45 days after receipt of both the documents and information which are submitted, if any, and the statement indicating the reasons for noncompliance. The Commission may, upon notice to the Attorney General, and pursuant to sections 6(i) and 6(k) of the Act (46 U.S.C. 41307(c) and 41307(d)), request the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to further extend the agreement's effective date until there has been substantial compliance.

(c) A request for additional information may be made orally or in writing. In the case of an oral request, a written confirmation of the request shall be mailed to the filing party within seven days of the oral request.

(d) The Commission will publish a notice in the Federal Register that it has requested additional information and serve that notice on any commenting parties. The notice will indicate only that a request was made and will not specify what information is being sought. Interested parties will have fifteen (15) days after publication of the notice to file further comments on the agreement.

(a) A failure to comply with a request for additional information results when a person filing an agreement, or an officer, director, partner, agent, or employee thereof fails to substantially respond to the request or does not file a satisfactory statement of reasons for noncompliance. An adequate response is one which directly addresses the Commission's request. When a response is not received by the Commission within a specified time, failure to comply will have occurred.

(b) The Commission may, pursuant to section 6(i) of the Act (46 U.S.C. 41307(c)), request relief from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia when it considers that there has been a failure to substantially comply with a request for additional information. The Commission may request that the court:

(1) Order compliance with the request;

(2) Extend the review period until there has been substantial compliance; or

(3) Grant other equitable relief that under the circumstances seems necessary or appropriate.

(c) Where there has been a failure to substantially comply, section 6(i)(2) of the Act (46 U.S.C. 41307(c)(2)) provides that the court shall extend the review period until there has been substantial compliance.

(a) Except for an agreement filed under 46 U.S.C. ch. 403, all information and documents submitted to the Commission by the filing party(ies) or third parties regarding an agreement will be exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552. Included in this disclosure exemption is information provided in the Information Form, voluntary submission of additional information, reasons for noncompliance, replies to requests for additional information, and third-party comments.

(b) Information that is confidential pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section may be disclosed, however, to the extent:

(1) It is relevant to an administrative or judicial action or proceeding; or

(2) It is disclosed to either body of Congress or to a duly authorized committee or subcommittee of Congress.

(c) Parties may voluntarily disclose or make information publicly available. If parties elect to disclose information they shall promptly inform the Commission.

At any time after the filing of an agreement and prior to the conclusion of judicial injunctive proceedings, the filing party or an authorized representative may submit additional factual or legal support for an agreement or may propose modifications of an agreement. Such negotiations between Commission personnel and filing parties may continue during the pendency of injunctive proceedings. Shippers, other government departments or agencies, and other third parties may not participate in these negotiations.