Opinion ID: 680702
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Threshold Considerations: Standing and Exhaustion.

Text: 15 Seashore asserts that this appeal should not be heard because appellants do not have standing and have not exhausted their administrative appeals. Specifically, it argues, the LD Broadcasting application no longer exists; therefore, because Press no longer has an application to be prosecuted, this court cannot redress any injury that might have been suffered by appellants. Consequently, appellants cannot establish Article III standing. Further, because appellants did not subsequently seek a stay of the licensing proceeding so that Press might litigate its substitution agreement with LD Broadcasting, they did not properly exhaust their administrative remedies. While these arguments are not frivolous, we hold that appellants have crossed the standing and exhaustion thresholds. 16 In order to establish Article III standing to appeal this Commission action, appellants must establish: (1) that they have suffered a concrete and particularized injury in fact as the result of the agency decision; (2) that the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged decision; and (3) that the injury is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision by this court. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 2136, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). Appellants have satisfied these standards. Press and Jersey Shore suffer injuries which are fairly traceable to the Commission decision. As a direct result of the Commission decision, each is denied the ability to obtain the Manahawkin station through the settlement agreement. Additionally, as the FCC agrees in its brief, this court could redress those injuries by remanding to the Commission with instructions either to reinstate the settlement agreement or to allow Press and Jersey Shore to file nunc pro tunc applications with the Commission. 17 Seashore's exhaustion argument is equally unavailing. The exhaustion doctrine prescribes that no one is entitled to judicial relief for a supposed or threatened injury until the prescribed administrative remedy has been exhausted. Myers v. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., 303 U.S. 41, 50-51, 58 S.Ct. 459, 463, 82 L.Ed. 638 (1938). It serves three distinct purposes: (1) preserving the autonomy of the agency by allowing it to apply its expertise and to correct its own errors and by discouraging the deliberate flouting of administrative processes; (2) aiding judicial review by allowing for the development of a factual record; and (3) promoting judicial and administrative efficiency by prohibiting repeated interruptions of agency proceedings and by decreasing the need for judicial decision. Athlone Industries, Inc. v. Consumer Product Safety Comm'n, 707 F.2d 1485, 1488 (D.C.Cir.1983). In the present case, none of these three purposes would be served by requiring appellants to seek a stay of the remanded proceedings. Appellants have respected administrative processes throughout these proceedings, filing petitions for reconsideration of each final decision. Consequently, the Commission has had the opportunity to consider appellants' arguments and to develop a sufficient factual record. Finally, administrative efficiency may actually be disserved by requiring further exhaustion here. Such a requirement would have the undesirable effect of clogging Commission proceedings with contingent appeals and a multitude of requests for stays for no other reason than to satisfy the exhaustion doctrine. Under these circumstances, the exhaustion doctrine requires no more than appellants have already done. 18