567 A.2d 1124 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1989
Before us is a petition for review filed by P-I-E Nationwide, Inc. (Petitioner) seeking review of an order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), entered April 10, 1989, which denied its petition for rehearing.
Petitioner is a motor carrier corporation. It formerly held a certificate of public convenience, issued by the PUC, which authorized Petitioner to transport property to and from any point in Pennsylvania. PUC regulations required Petitioner to file an annual report by March 31 of each year;
Subsequently, the PUC received Petitioner’s annual report along with a letter on Petitioner’s letterhead, dated September 28, 1988, from John J. Cepuran, who gave his title as Manager, Operating Taxes. The letter explained that the delay in submission of the annual report was due to uncertainties regarding union contract negotiations. The final sentence of this letter requested that Petitioner’s certificate of public convenience be reinstated. PUC treated this letter as a petition for reinstatement of Petitioner’s certificate of public convenience, which petition was denied in an order entered November 21,1988. Petitioner, through counsel, then filed a petition requesting a rehearing. PUC also denied this petition in an order entered April 10, 1989. Before us is a petition for review of this April 10, 1989 order.
Petitioner contends that it was unaware that the letter from John Cepuran would be treated as a formal petition for reinstatement, and further contends that it was improper for the PUC to treat this letter as such because it failed to meet the requirements for a petition set forth in the PUC’s own regulations.
The PUC acknowledges the informality of Petitioner’s request for reinstatement of its certificate. However, it points to the fact that the letter requesting reinstatement was on Petitioner’s corporate letterhead and signed by a
While we question the PUC’s characterization of Mr. Cepuran as a corporate officer, we do not find its decision to regard his letter as a petition for reinstatement of Petitioner’s certificate of public convenience to be unreasonable or impermissible. Since the letter was on corporate letterhead and signed by a person whose title indicated that he held a position of some authority in Petitioner’s organization, it was not unreasonable for the PUC to accept this communication as an official request by Petitioner that its certificate be reinstated.
Moreover, Petitioner cites no authority which indicates that the PUC had an obligation to inquire of Petitioner as to whether Mr. Cepuran’s letter was a formal request for reinstatement or an informal request to be followed by additional communications. Nor do we construe Petitioner’s argument that Mr. Cepuran’s letter failed to comply with all of the formal requirements of a petition to mean that the PUC could not overlook any such defects.
Petitioner’s final allegation that it was denied assistance of experienced counsel in presenting its reinstatement petition is likewise without merit. Nothing prevented Petitioner from turning to counsel in presenting its reinstatement petition initially rather than making its request in a more informal manner by means of a letter.
Furthermore, it appears that Petitioner has the ability to remedy any alleged deficiencies in its initial petition for reinstatement by now filing another petition for reinstatement with the assistance of counsel. Our review of PUC regulations, found at Title 52 of the Pennsylvania Code, and the statutory provisions of the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 101-3315, does not indicate that Petitioner would be prohibited from filing a new petition for reinstatement.
Because Petitioner has not demonstrated that the PUC abused its discretion in denying Petitioner’s petition for rehearing, the order of the PUC is hereby affirmed.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 28th day of December, 1989, the order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission denying Petitioner’s petition for a rehearing is hereby affirmed.
. 52 Pa.Code § 31.9.
. Petitioner specifically notes that this letter fails to conform to the requirements for a petition found at 52 Pa.Code §§ 1.31(a) [requiring petitions to be divided into numbered paragraphs]; 1.36(a) [requiring verification]; and 5.41(a) [requiring concise presentation of the grounds, facts relied upon, and the relief sought].
. Petitioner places great reliance on our decision in Department of Transportation v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 13 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 550, 320 A.2d 403 (1974), to support its contention that the PUC could not properly have considered Mr. Cepuran’s letter to be a petition for reinstatement. However, we find this case to be distinguishable from the present case. In Department of Transportation, the PUC initially entered an order directing the department to conduct a safety inspection of a bridge. The Department did not appeal this order, however, the Secretary of Transportation did direct two letters to the PUC requesting that it reconsider and modify this order. The Chairman of the PUC ultimately responded with a letter directed to the Secretary indicating that the PUC saw no need to reconsider its order. The PUC also issued an internal directive to its Law Bureau directing it to seek compliance with the order in question. The Department of Transportation then brought the matter before this Court, characterizing the Secretary’s letters as "petitions" and seeking to appeal the PUC directive and Chairman’s letter as official orders entered by the PUC. We held that the PUC’s actions were not appealable orders and that the Secretary’s letters were not petitions:
Thus, in Department of Transportation, the Secretary’s letters were regarded as correspondence, rather than "petitions”, by the PUC. Accordingly, the PUC responded by taking actions which did not rise
