Section 3.383. Applications for temporary authority and emergency temporary authority

(a) Controlling legislation. The provisions of 66 Pa.C.S. § § 1103(d) and 2509 (relating to procedure to obtain certificates of public convenience and temporary permits and licenses) are as follows:

‘‘§ 1103(d) Temporary authority—Except during the threat or existence of a labor dispute, the commission under such regulations as it shall prescribe may, without hearing, in proper cases, consider and approve applications for certificates of public convenience, and in emergencies grant temporary certificatesunder this chapter, pending action on permanent certificates; but no applications shall be denied without right of hearing thereon being tendered to the applicant.’’

‘‘§ 2509 Temporary permits and licenses—The commission, under such regulations as it shall prescribe, may, without hearing, in proper cases, consider and approve applications for permits and licenses, and in emergencies grant temporary permits and licenses under this chapter, pending action on permanent permits or licenses; but no application shall be denied without right of hearing thereon being tendered the applicant.’’

(b) Definitions and applicability.

(1) The following words and terms, when used in relation to applications for temporary authority and emergency temporary authority, have the following meanings:

Carrier—Includes motor common carriers of passengers and motor contract carriers of passengers, brokers and forwarders.

ETA—Emergency temporary authority—Limited duration operating authority issued under 66 Pa.C.S. § § 1103(d) and 2509 to authorize the transportation of passengers to meet an emergency situation and when time or circumstances do not reasonably permit the filing and processing of an application for TA.

TA—Temporary authority—Limited duration operating authority issued under 66 Pa.C.S. § § 1103(d) and 2509 to authorize the transportation of passengers to meet an emergency situation.

(2) ETA and TA are not available to motor common carriers of property and household goods in use.

(c) Filing of applications. An application shall be filed as follows:

(1) How and where filed. An original of each application for TA or ETA (Form C) is to be filed with the Secretary, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-3265. The envelope containing the application shall be clearly marked: ‘‘TA’’ APPLICATION or ‘‘ETA’’ APPLICATION.

(2) Filing fees. An application for TA, ETA and extensions of ETA shall be accompanied by a filing fee, as prescribed under the fee schedule in § 1.43 (relating to schedule of fees payable to the Commission).

(3) Supporting statements. An application shall be accompanied by supporting statements of the applicant and shippers or other witnesses which establish an immediate need for service. A statement shall contain a certification of its accuracy and shall be signed by the person submitting the statement.

(i) Applicant’s statement. The applicant’s statement, which shall be prepared by the applicant or an authorized representative of the applicant, shall contain the following information:

(A) A description of the equipment which will be used to render service, including a statement of whether it is specialized equipment.

(B) A description of the applicant’s terminal facilities and personnel.

(C) A statement of whether the filing of the application resulted from a warning, road check or investigation by the Commission.

(D) A telephone number at which the applicant or an authorized representative of the applicant may be contacted.

(E) A statement of the proposed rates, fares or charges and schedule provisions.

(F) A statement of whether there are under suspension rates, fares or charges published for its account or whether an application for special permission to file its rates, fares or charges on less than 30 days’ notice in connection with another ETA, TA or permanent authority application covering the same territory has been granted or denied.

(G) Proof of ability to comply with the Commission’s insurance requirements, or in the case of an authorized carrier, a statement indicating that it currently has evidence of insurance on file with the Commission.

(H) Names and addresses of labor unions which represent, or which within the past 12 months have represented, or which have filed a petition to represent the employes of the applicant with the National Labor Relations Board or the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. If the application seeks the temporary approval of a transfer of rights under a certificate of public convenience, this information shall be supplied for the transferor and the transferee.

(ii) Statements of supporting shippers or witnesses. The statement of a supporting shipper or witness, which shall be prepared by the shipper or witness, or an authorized representative of the shipper or witness, shall contain the following information:

(A) Points or areas to, from or between which the transportation will be provided.

(B) A statement of the shipper’s current and recent needs concerning volume of traffic, frequency of movement and manner of transportation.

(C) A statement indicating when the service shall be provided.

(D) A statement indicating how long the need for service will continue and whether the supporting shipper or witness will support the permanent authority application.

(E) An explanation of the consequences of not having the service made available.

(F) A description of the circumstances which created an immediate need for the requested service.

(G) A statement of whether efforts have been made to obtain the service from existing carriers, including the data and results of these efforts.

(H) Names and addresses of existing carriers who have failed or refused to provide the service and the reasons given for the failure or refusal.

(I) A statement of whether the supporting shipper or witness has supported a recent application for permanent, temporary or ETA covering all or part of the requested service, the carrier’s name, address and docket numbers, if known, and whether the application was granted or denied and the date of the action, if known.

(J) Names and addresses of labor unions which represent, or which within the past 12 months have represented, or which have filed a petition to represent the employes of the supporting shipper with the National Labor Relations Board or the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

(4) Procedures for filing ETA application. Procedures for filing ETA applications are as follows:

(i) An ETA application may normally be filed only when a corresponding application for permanent authority has been filed and emergency conditions exist which do not permit sufficient time to afford the notice required by paragraph (5)(i). If the application demonstrates the existence of emergency conditions, the Bureau of Transportation will make a reasonable effort to identify and communicate with those carriers who may hold the authority to provide the emergency service being sought by the applicant and those unions described in paragraph (3)(i)(H) and (ii)(K). An ETA application will be granted for an initial period not to exceed 60 days.

(ii) If the urgency of the situation warrants, the supporting statement of those having the immediate need for service may be furnished by telegram. The telegram shall contain substantially the factual information described in paragraph (3). The telegram shall be sent to the Director, Bureau of Transportation and Safety.

(iii) The filing of ETA applications by telegram or telephone shall be acceptable in exigent circumstances. Confirmation shall be made by filing written application—Form C—with the supporting statements, within 5 working days from the filing by telephone or telegram.

(iv) If an emergency continues beyond the initial 60-day period, the ETA may be extended pending disposition of the TA application. Extensions of ETA may be obtained in the following ways:

(A) Filing the ETA application simultaneously with the corresponding applications for TA and permanent authority. The simultaneous filing of ETA, TA and permanent authority applications automatically extends the grant of ETA pending disposition of the TA application. No filing fee for ETA extension is required under these circumstances.

(B) Filing corresponding TA and permanent authority applications within 15 days of the date of filing the ETA application. The filing of corresponding TA and permanent authority applications within 15 days of the filing of the ETA application automatically extends the grant of ETA pending disposition of the TA application, if the applicant states the following on the ETA application: ‘‘Applicant certifies that, within 15 days of the date of filing this application, corresponding TA and permanent authority applications will be filed, and hereby requests that an automatic extension be granted of the ETA.’’ No filing fee for ETA extension is required under these circumstances.

(C) If the corresponding TA and permanent authority applications are neither filed simultaneously with nor within 15 days of the date of filing the ETA application. A request for an extension of ETA which does not comply with subparagraph (iv)(A) or (B) shall be accompanied by corresponding applications for TA and permanent authority and a filing fee, as prescribed under the fee schedule in § 1.43 in addition to the appropriate filing fees for TA and permanent authority applications, and shall be filed with the Bureau of Transportation, prior to the expiration date of the ETA.

(5) Procedures for filing TA applications. An application for TA shall be accompanied by a corresponding application for permanent authority. Unless otherwise specified in the TA application, it will be considered as proposing service pending disposition of the permanent authority application.

(i) Notice to interested persons.

(A) Publication in Pennsylvania Bulletin. Notice of the filing of a TA application and an application for permanent authority will be given by simultaneous publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

(B) Service on unions. Service of temporary authority applications shall be made by certified mail upon the unions described in paragraph (3)(i)(H) and (ii)(J).

(ii) Filing of protests.

(A) A person who can and will provide all or part of the proposed service may file a protest to the TA application. Protests shall be consistent with § 3.381 (relating to applications for transportation of property and persons). The protest shall indicate whether it protests the application for TA or for permanent authority, or both.

(B) A union which represents the employes of a motor carrier or supporting shipper, which may be affected by the approval of an application for TA, may file a protest to the application. The protest shall be limited to the issue of whether a threatened or existing labor dispute precludes Commission consideration and approval of the TA application.

(C) Protests shall be filed with the Secretary of the Public Utility Commission.

(iii) Revocation of ETA upon approval of TA applications. Approval of a TA application is effective upon compliance with the Commission order, which results in the automatic revocation of corresponding ETA.

The provisions of this § 3.383 adopted December 2, 1983, effective December 3, 1983, 13 Pa.B. 3756; amended January 23, 1987, effective January 24, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 387; amended July 14, 1989, effective July 15, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 3037; amended February 6, 1998, effective February 7, 1998, 28 Pa.B. 647; amended January 10, 2014, effective January 11, 2014, 44 Pa.B. 249; amended May 22, 2015, effective May 23, 2015, 45 Pa.B. 2468. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (369803) to (369807).

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 3.383 issued under the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § § 501, 1103 and 2509; amended under the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § § 501, 504, 523, 1102, 1103, 1301, 1501, 1504, 2503 and 2504.

Cross References

This section cited in 52 Pa. Code § 3.12 (relating to applicability to transportation proceedings).