Review of Administrative Law Judge Activity and Hearing Process at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

An examination was conducted of the practices of Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as well as the practices of all parties in selected FERC proceedings to determine where delays were occurring in the hearing process and why. The issues addressed include: how ALJs budget their time; what is done to monitor their caseload; how assignments are made to them; how often they schedule hearings and on what days; the causes of delay in handling cases; and to what extent parties to a proceeding cause or substantially contribute to delay. All available FERC and ALJ records were examined covering progress on regulatory cases for which ALJ initial decisions were issued over the last 6 months of fiscal year 1978.