Section 2.6. Eligibility

(a) To be eligible for an award of fees and expenses under the act, an applicant shall be a party, as defined in the act; shall prevail over the Commonwealth agency initiating the adversary adjudication; shall allege that the position of the Commonwealth agency was not substantially justified; and shall meet the conditions set forth in the act.

(b) The applicant shall provide the information required by this subchapter and by the Application for Award of Adjudicative Fees and Expenses.

(c) Each applicant shall provide a statement showing the net worth of the applicant. The statement may be in any form convenient to the applicant that provides full disclosure of assets and liabilities and is sufficient to determine eligibility under this subchapter. The net worth statement shall be made available only to the adjudicative officer and the Commonwealth agency except when an appeal is taken, in which case the net worth statement shall be included in the record of the proceeding in which an award is sought.

(d) For purposes of eligibility, the net worth and number of employes of an applicant will be determined as of the date the proceeding was initiated.

Notation

Notes of Decisions

The fact that a court reporter failed to appear at a hearing and appellant offered to pay for another court reporter were not sufficient reason, by itself, to award the appellant the costs and fees of bringing an expert witness from Alabama since appellant was not the prevailing party. Willard Agri-Service, Inc., v. Department of Agriculture, 554 A.2d 596 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1989).

Cross References

This section cited in 4 Pa. Code § 2.11 (relating to statements of policy).