ment established pursuant thereto. If the person complained against shall not satisfy the complaint and there shall appear to be any reasonable grounds for an investigation, the Commission shall investigate the matters complained of. Whenever the Commission is of the opinion that any complaint does not staté facts which warrant action on its part, it may dismiss the complaint without hearing. At least ten (10) days before the date it sets a time and place for a hearing on a complaint, the Commission shall notify the person complained of that the complaint has been made. 74 STAT. 1044. "(b) The Commission may investigate any facts, conditions, prac- 74 STAT. 1045. tices, or matters which it may find necessary or proper in order to determine whether any person has violated or is about to violate any provision of this Act or any rule, regulation, or order thereunder, or to aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this Act or in prescribing rules or regulations thereunder, or in obtaining information to serve as a basis for recommending further legislation. The Commission shall have the same power to proceed with any investigation instituted on its own motion as though it had been appealed to by complaint. "(c) If, after affording to interested persons reasonable opportunity for hearing, the Commission finds in any investigation instituted upon complaint or upon its own initiative, that any person has failed to comply with any provision of this Act or any requirement established pursuant thereto, the Commission shall issue an appropriate order to compel such person to comply therewith. "(d) For the purpose of any investigation or any other proceeding under this Act, any member of the Commission, or any other officer designated by it, is empowered to administer oaths and affirmations, subpena witnesses, compel their attendance, take evidence, and require the production of any books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, or other records which the Commission finds relevant or material to the inquiry. "Hearings; Rules of Procedure "14. Hearings under this Act may be held before the Commission, any member or members thereof, or any representative of the Commission designated by it, and appropriate records thereof shall be kept. All hearings, investigations, and proceedings under this Act shall be governed by rules of practice and procedure to be adopted by the Commission, and in the conduct thereof the technical rules of evidence need not be applied. No informality in any hearing, investigation, or proceeding or in the manner of taking testimony shall invalidate any order, decision, rule, or regulation issued under the authority of this Act. "Administration Powers of Commission; Rules, Regulations and Orders "15. The Commission shall have power to perform any and all acts, and to prescribe, issue, make, amend, and rescind such orders, rules, and regulations as it may find necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Act. Such rules and regulations may prescribe the form or forms of all statements, declarations, applications, and reports to be filed with the Commission, the information which they shall contain, and the time within which they shall be filed. Unless a different date is specified therein, rules and regulations of the Commission shall be effective thirty (30) days after publication in the manner which the Commission shall prescribe. Orders of the Com 55-598 0-71-39 74 STAT. 1045. 74 STAT. 1046. mission shall be effective on the date and in the manner which the "16. Any person affected by any final order or decision of the Commission may, within thirty days after the publication thereof, file with the Commission an application in writing requesting a reconsideration of the matters involved, and stating specífically the errors claimed as grounds for such reconsideration. No person shall in any court urge or rely on any ground not so set forth in such application. The Commission, within thirty (30) days after the filing of such application, shall either grant or deny it. If such application is granted, the Commission, after giving notice thereof to all interested persons, shall, either with or without hearing, rescind, modify, or affirm its order or decision. The filing of such an application shall act as a stay upon the execution of the order or decision of the Commission until the final action of the Commission upon the application, except that upon written consent of the applicant such order or decision shall not be stayed unless otherwise ordered by the Commission. No appeal shall lie from any order of the Commission until an application for reconsideration has been made and determined. "Judicial Review "17. (a) Any party to a proceeding under this Act aggrieved by an order issued by the Commission in such proceeding may obtain a review of such order in the court of appeals of the United States for the fourth circuit, or in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, by filing in such court, within sixty (60) days after the order of the Commission upon the application for rehearing, a written petition praying that the order of the Commission be modified or set aside. A copy of such petition shall forthwith be served upon any member of the Commission and thereupon the Commission shall certify and file with the court a transcript of the record upon which the order complained of was entered. Upon the filing of such transcript such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm, modify, or set aside such order. The finding of the Commission as to the facts, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive. If any party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence, and shall show to the satisfaction of the court that such additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds for failure to adduce such evidence in the proceedings before the Commission, the court may order such additional evidence to be taken before the Commission and to be adduced upon the hearing in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as to the court may seem proper. The Commission may modify its findings as to the facts by reason of the additional evidence so taken, and it shall file with the court such modified or new findings, which if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, and its recommendations, if any, for the modification or setting aside of the original order. The court may affirm or set aside any such order of the Commission, and state the reasons therefor, and such judgment shall be final, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in sections 239 and 240 of the Judicial Code, as amended (U.S.C. Title 28, sections 346 and 347). 62 Stat. 928. "(b) The commencement of proceedings under subsection (a) of 28 USC 1254. this section shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Commission's order. 74 STAT. 1046. "(c) The Commission shall not, nor shall any of its members, 74 STAT. 1047. officers, agents, or employees, be taxed with any costs, nor shall they or any of them be required to give any supersedeas bond or security for cost or damages on any appeal whatsoever taken under this compact. Said Commission, or any of its members, officers, agents, or employees, shall not be liable to suit or action or for any judgment or decree for any damages, loss, or injury claimed by any person resulting from action taken under this compact, nor required in any case arising under this compact to make any deposit for costs or pay for any service to the clerks of any court or to the marshal of the United States. "Enforcement of Act; Penalty for Violations "18. (a) Whenever it shall appear to the Commission that any person is engaged or about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of the provisions of this Act, or of any rule, regulation, or order thereunder, it may, in its discretion, bring an action in the United States District Court for any district in which such person resides or carries on business or in which the violation occurred, to enjoin such acts or practices and to enforce compliance with this Act or any rule, regulation or order thereunder, and upon a proper showing a permanent or temporary injunction or decree or restraining order shall be granted without bond. "(b) Upon application of the Commission, the United States District Court for any district in which such person resides or carries on business, or in which the violation occurred, shall have jurisdiction to issue appropriate order or orders commanding any person to comply with the provisions of this Act or any rule, regulation, or order of the Commission thereunder. "(c) The Commission may employ such attorneys as it finds necessary for proper legal aid and service of the Commission or its members in the conduct of their work, or for proper representation of the public interest in investigations made by it, or cases or proceedings pending before it, whether at the Commission's own instance or upon complaint, or to appear for or represent the Commission in any case in court; and the expenses of such employment shall be paid out of any funds of the Commission. (d) Any person knowingly and willfully violating any provision of this statute, or any rule, regulation, requirement, or order thereto, or any term or condition of any certificate shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $100 for the first offense and not more than $500 for any subsequent offense. Each day of such violation shall constitute a separate offense. "Expenses of Investigations and Other Proceedings "19. (a) All reasonable expenses of any investigation, or other proceeding of any nature, conducted by the Commission, of or concerning any carrier, and all expenses of any litigation, including appeals, arising from any such investigation or other proceeding, shall be borne by such carrier. Such expenses, with interest at not to exceed 6 per centum (6%) per annum may be charged to operating expenses and amortized over such period as the Commission shall deem proper and 74 STAT. 1047. 74 STAT. 1048. 49 USC 1, 301, 901, 1001, 1231. be allowed for in the rates to be charged by such carrier. When any such investigation or other proceeding has been initiated it shall be the duty of the carrier to pay to the Commission, from time to time, such reasonable sum or sums as, in the opinion of the Commission, are necessary to cover the expenses which by this section are required to be borne by such carrier. The money so paid by the carrier shall be deposited in the name and to the credit of the Commission, in any bank or other depository located in the Metropolitan District designated by the Commission, and may be disbursed by the Commission for the purpose of defraying expenses of the investigation, proceeding, or litigation in question. Any unexpended balance of the sum or sums so paid by such carrier remaining after the payment of such expenses shall be returned to sueh carrier. "(b) The amount expended by the Commission in any calendar year in all investigations or other proceedings of or concerning any one carrier shall not exceed "(1) one-half of one per centum of the gross operating revenues of such carrier, derived from transportation subject to this Act, for its last preceding fiscal year; or "(2) in the case of a carrier which was not engaged in such transportation during the whole of its last preceding fiscal year, one-half of 1 per centum of the average gross operating revenues, derived from transportation subject to this Act, of all other carriers (exclusive of carriers to which this subparagraph (2) applies) for their last preceding fiscal year. "(c) For the purpose of subsections (a) and (b) of this section"The provisions of this section shall apply to any person engaged in transportation subject to the Act and any person who makes application under Section 4 for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. "Applicability of Other Laws "20. (a) Upon the date this Act becomes effective, the applicability of all laws of the signatories, relating to or affecting transportation subject to this Act and to persons engaged therein, and all rules, regulations and orders promulgated or issued thereunder, shall except to the extent in this Act specified, be suspended, except that "(1) The laws of the signatories relating to inspection of equipment and facilities, wages and hours of employees, insurance or similar security requirements, school fares, and free transportation for policemen and firemen shall remain in force and effect. "(2) Upon the date this Act becomes effective, Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity or Permits issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission to any carrier subject to the jurisdiction of this Commission shall be suspended only during the existence of this compact, provided such suspension shall not affect the authority of such certificate or permit-holder to transport special and chartered parties as now authorized by the Interstate Commerce Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the Interstate Commerce Commission, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act. "(b) In the event any provision or provisions of this Act exceed the limits imposed upon the legislature of any signatory by the Constitution of such signatory, the obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction sought to be conferred by such provision or provisions upon the Commission shall be ineffective and such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction shall remain in the signatory and shall be exercised by the agency thereof to which such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction are delegated by law in effect at the time this compact becomes effective. Such agency, however, in order to achieve the objective of this compact to effectuate the regulation of mass transit on a unified and coordinated basis throughout the Metropolitan District, shall refer to the Commission for its recommendations all matters arising under this Title so reserved to such signatory and all 74 STAT. 1048, matters exempted from this Title pursuant to the proviso clause of 74 STAT. 1049. Section 1(b) of this Title. The recommendations of the Commission with respect to such matters shall be advisory only. "Existing Rules, Regulations, Orders, and Decisions "21. All rules, regulations, orders, decisions, or other action prescribed, issued, made, or taken by the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia, the Public Service Commission of Maryland, or the State Corporation Commission of Virginia, and which are in force at the time this section takes effect, with respect to transportation or persons subject to this Act, shall remain in effect, and be enforceable under this Act and in the manner specified by this Act, according to their terms, as though they had been prescribed, issued, made, or taken by the Commission pursuant to this Act, unless and until otherwise provided by such Commission in the exercise of its powers under this Act. "Transfer of Records "22. The Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the State Corporation Commission of Virginia, and the Public Service Commission of Maryland shall transfer or make available to the Commission such of their records as pertain to matters which by this Act are placed under the jurisdiction of the latter Commission. "Pending Actions or Proceedings "23. (a) No suit, action, or other judicial proceeding commenced prior to the date this Act takes effect by or against the Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Public Service Commission of Maryland, or the State Corporation Commission of Virginia, or any officer of any such commission in his official capacity or in relation to his discharge of official duties, shall be affected by the enactment of this compact and same shall be prosecuted and determined in accordance with the law applicable at the time such proceeding was commenced. (b) To the extent that the Commission determines such action to be necessary or appropriate in the exercise of the powers and duties vested in or imposed upon it by this Act, such Commission shall continue and carry to a conclusion any proceeding, hearing, or investigation which, at the time this compact takes effect, is pending before the Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Public Service Commission of Maryland, or the State Corporation Commission of Virginia. In the event the Commission assumes jurisdiction in any such case, it shall be governed by the provisions of this compact and not by the provisions of law applicable at the time the proceedings were instituted." "Annual Report of the Commission "24. The Commission shall make an annual report to the Governor of Virginia and the Governor of Maryland, and to the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia as soon as practicable after |