(a) Case referral. Within 55 days after the deadline in § 221.21(a)(2) or 35 days after the expiration of any stay period under § 221.24, whichever is later, the Office of Habitat Conservation will refer the case for a hearing as follows:

(1) If the hearing is to be conducted by NOAA, the Office of Habitat Conservation will refer the case to the Department of Commerce's designated ALJ office.

(2) If the hearing is to be conducted by another Department, the Office of Habitat Conservation will refer the case to the hearings component used by that Department.

(b) Content. The case referral will consist of the following:

(1) Two copies of any preliminary condition or prescription under § 221.20;

(2) The original and one copy of any hearing request under § 221.21;

(3) The original and one copy of any notice of intervention and response under § 221.22;

(4) The original and one copy of any answer under § 221.25; and

(5) The original and one copy of a referral notice under paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) Notice. At the time the Office of Habitat Conservation refers the case for a hearing, it must provide a referral notice that contains the following information:

(1) The name, address, telephone number, and facsimile number of the Department hearings component that will conduct the hearing;

(2) The name, address, and other contact information for the representative of each party to the hearing process;

(3) An identification of any other hearing request that will be consolidated with this hearing request; and

(4) The effective date of the case referral to the appropriate Department hearings component.

(d) Delivery and service. (1) The Office of Habitat Conservation must refer the case to the appropriate Department hearings component by one of the methods identified in § 221.12(b)(1)(i) and (b)(1)(ii).

(2) The Office of Habitat Conservation must serve a copy of the referral notice on FERC and each party to the hearing by one of the methods identified in § 221.13(c)(1) and (c)(2).