An applicant covered by § 292.203(c) whose application for license or exemption was filed on or after October 16, 1986, but before April 16, 1988, may file a petition for exception from the requirement in § 292.208(b)(3) and the moratorium described in § 292.203(c)(2). The petition must show that prior to October 16, 1986, the applicant committed substantial monetary resources (as that term is defined in § 292.202(r)) to the development of the project.

Subject to rebuttal under paragraph (d)(7)(ii) of this section, a showing of the commitment of substantial monetary resources will be presumed if the applicant held a preliminary permit for the project and had completed environmental consultations pursuant to § 4.38 of this chapter before October 16, 1986.

Time of filing petition—(1) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the applicant must:

File the petition with the application for license or exemption; or

Submit with the application for license or exemption a request for an extension of time, not to exceed 90 days or April 16, 1988, whichever occurs first, in which to file the petition.

Exception. If the application for license or exemption was filed on or after October 16, 1986, but before March 23, 1987, the petition must have been filed by June 22, 1987.

Filing requirements. A petition filed under this section must include the following information or refer to the pages in the application for license or exemption where it can be found:

A certificate of service, conforming to the requirements set out in § 385.2010(h) of this chapter, certifying that the applicant has served the petition on the Federal and State agencies required to be consulted by the applicant pursuant to § 4.38 of this chapter;

Documentation of any issued preliminary permits for the project;

An itemized statement of the total costs expended on the application;

An itemized schedule of costs the applicant expended, or committed to be expended, before October 16, 1986, on the application, accompanied by supporting documentation including but not limited to:

Dated invoices for maps, surveys, supplies, geophysical and geotechnical services, engineering services, legal services, document reproduction, and other items related to the preparation of the application, and

Written contracts and other written documentation demonstrating a commitment made before October 16, 1986, to expend monetary resources on the preparation of the application, together with evidence that those monetary resources were actually expended; and

Correspondence or other documentation to support the items listed in paragraphs (d)(3) and (d)(4) of this section to show that the expenses presented were directly related to the preparation of the application.

The applicant must include in its total cost statement and in its schedule of the costs expended or committed to be expended before October 16, 1986, the value of services that were performed by the applicant itself instead of contracted out.

If the applicant held a preliminary permit for the project and had completed pre-filing consultation pursuant to § 4.38 of this chapter prior to October 16, 1986, the applicant may, instead of submitting the information listed in paragraphs (d)(3), (d)(4), and (d)(5) of this section, submit a statement identifying the preliminary permit by project number.

If any interested person objects (pursuant to § 385.211 of this chapter) to the presumption in paragraph (b) of this section, the applicant must supply the information listed in paragraphs (d)(3), (d)(4), and (d)(5) of this section.

If the application is deficient pursuant to § 4.32(e) of this chapter, the applicant must include with the information correcting those deficiencies a statement of the costs expended to make the corrections.

Processing of petition. (1) The Commission will issue a notice of the petition filed under this section and publish the notice in the Federal Register. The petition will be available for inspection and copying during regular business hours in the Public Reference Room maintained by the Division of Public Information.

Comments on the petition. The Commission will provide the public 45 days from the date the notice of the petition is issued to submit comments. The applicant for license or exemption has 15 days after the expiration of the public comment period to respond to the comments filed with the Commission.

Commission action on petition. The Director of the Office of Energy Projects will determine whether or not the applicant for license or exemption has made the showing required under this section.