Opinion ID: 359862
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Blind References

Text: 32 The failure adequately to consider antitrust implications is not the only defect in the Commission's decision approving Agreement 9902-3. Twice in the course of its decision the Commission stated that it had made critical findings on the basis of data which was not included in the record of this case and, indeed, which is nowhere specifically identified by the Commission. In making its judgment on Agreement 9902-3, the Commission stated, it considered the submissions of Protestant and Proponents, the identities of Protestant and Proponents, and The reliable data reposing in the files of the Commission. JA 87 (emphasis added). And in resolving USL's claim that approval would overtonnage the trade the only substantive issue addressed by the Commission in its decision the Commission examined that problem carefully, In the light of the data then available to the Commission, and concluded that the agreement as modified should be approved. JA 88 (emphasis added). 33 We do not know what reliable data was reposing in the files of the Commission or was then available to it. No explanation is given in the rest of the Commission's opinion, or in its briefs to this court, as to what specific information the Commission was relying upon. 40 But it is clear that the decisions made in reliance on these data were critical ones: the Commission's resolution of the overtonnage issue, which it recognized to be a serious concern, and, indeed, its overall balance to determine whether approval should be granted, were reached, according to the Commission itself, at least in part on the basis of information unknown to the parties and to this court. 34 The Commission's reliance on these data to support its decision precludes effective judicial review in this case. While our task is not to review the evidence for the purpose of determining whether the Commission's decision is supported by substantial evidence, application of the arbitrary and capricious standard of review does require us to make a searching and careful inquiry of the record in this case to ensure both that the Commission had adequately considered all relevant factors    and that it has demonstrated a 'rational connection between the facts found and the choice made.'  See 189 U.S.App.D.C. at ----, 584 F.2d at 526, Supra. This we cannot do where, as here, the data relied on by the Commission in reaching its decision is not included in the administrative record 41 and is not disclosed to the court. The reason is obvious, and has long been recognized: we simply cannot determine whether the final agency decision reflects the rational outcome of the agency's consideration of all relevant factors when we have no idea what factors or data were in fact considered by the agency. See Camp v. Pitts, supra; Overton Park, supra; Ohio Bell Telephone Co. v. Public Utilities Com'n, 301 U.S. 292, 57 S.Ct. 724, 81 L.Ed. 1093 (1937); Citizens Ass'n of Georgetown, Inc. v. Zoning Com'n of D.C., supra. We cannot, in other words, determine whether the agency action is arbitrary and capricious. 42 35 Even where the reviewing court is informed of the specific information upon which reliance was placed, a barrier to effective judicial review remains: the absence of any adversarial comment among the parties. 43 Our cases make clear the importance of such comment in allowing a court to review the action taken by the agency, as well as in facilitating informed agency decisionmaking itself. Thus we have required information in agency files or reports identified by the agency as relevant to the proceeding to be disclosed to the parties for adversarial comment. See Portland Cement Ass'n v. Ruckelshaus, 158 U.S.App.D.C 308, 326-327, 486 F.2d 375, 393-394 (1973), Cert. denied, 417 U.S. 921, 94 S.Ct. 2628, 41 L.Ed.2d 226 (1974). Similarly, we have insisted that agencies set forth their thinking, and disclose their expert knowledge, in notices of proposed rulemaking. See Environmental Defense Fund, Inc. v. EPA, 179 U.S.App.D.C. 43, 52, 548 F.2d 998, 1007 (1976); International Harvester Co. v. Ruckelshaus, 155 U.S.App.D.C. 411, 439, 478 F.2d 615, 643 (1973). Such requirements not only ensure that parties to agency proceedings are afforded the opportunities guaranteed them by statute meaningfully to participate in those proceedings; they also provide a means by which a reviewing court, called upon to determine whether agency action is arbitrary and capricious, can secure needed guidance in the performance of this function from both the parties and the agency. See Portland Cement Ass'n v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 158 U.S.App.D.C. at 326-327, 486 F.2d at 393-394; International Harvester Co. v. Ruckelshaus, supra, 155 U.S.App.D.C. at 445, 478 F.2d at 649; Automotive Parts & Accessories Ass'n v. Boyd, 132 U.S.App.D.C. 200, 208, 407 F.2d 330, 338 (1968). Cf. National Nutritional Foods Ass'n v. Weinberger, 512 F.2d 688, 701 (2d Cir.), Cert. denied, 423 U.S. 827, 96 S.Ct. 44, 46 L.Ed.2d 44 (1975). Indeed, if the substance or identity of the data upon which the agency has relied is permitted to remain hidden until judicial review, the courts may well find themselves called upon to resolve novel disputes as to the truth of what the agency thought it knew, disputes which should have been resolved either in the initial hearings before the agency or on reconsideration. From this perspective, our insistence that this information be revealed during the agency proceedings not only serves the interests of the parties and the court, but also preserves the prerogatives of the agency to address in the first instance the questions of law and fact raised by its action. 36 This is not to say that an agency may never rely on data in its files, or on public information, in reaching its decision. 44 Rather, we hold only that the agency must either disclose the contents of what it relied upon or, in the case of publicly available information, specify what is involved in sufficient detail to allow for meaningful adversarial comment and judicial review. While such disclosure would ideally appear appropriate at the earliest stage of the agency proceeding, at the very least it is clear that it must come in the final decision so that reconsideration may be sought and judicial review meaningfully afforded. Consistent with the requirements of judicial review according to the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency decision based on reliable data reposing in the Commission's files simply cannot withstand scrutiny. 37 In reaching this decision, we are not unmindful of the legitimate claims that agency expertise in this area is deserving of the deference of the court. See L. Jaffe, Judicial Control of Administrative Action 576-585 (1965). But agency expertise does not afford the agency absolute power; the existence of judicial review, albeit under a presumption favoring the agency's decisionmaking, See Overton Park, supra, 401 U.S. at 415, 91 S.Ct. 814, negates any notion that the deference to be accorded the agency's expertise in any particular field is absolute or its discretion unreviewable. 45 While we are entitled to rely upon the expertise of the agency, and indeed are  required to give proper weight to such expertise, this court is not entitled to rely blindly on such purported expertise.    The Commission's decision and the rationale supporting it may be entirely valid, but the Commission cannot take refuge in its alleged expertise in this field, when it does not set forth convincing reasons for its determination in sufficient detail to allow the validity of those reasons to be critically examined by the parties adversely affected and to allow this Court to pass on the reasonableness of the Commission's conclusions. Public Service Com'n of State of N. Y. v. FPC,141 U.S.App.D.C. 174, 176-177, 436 F.2d 904, 906-907 (1970). 46 38 While foreclosure of effective judicial review is itself sufficient reason for this court to require the FMC to disclose the information upon which it relies, we think such disclosure is also necessary to ensure the parties to Section 15 proceedings the opportunity to participate in the Commission's decisionmaking which is guaranteed them by statute. As discussed more fully below, 47 Section 15 of the Shipping Act requires a hearing to be held prior to Commission approval or disapproval, and while a full evidentiary hearing may not be required in every case, for a 'hearing' to pass muster in this court, it must be impeccably dressed with fairness. Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. Connor, 135 U.S.App.D.C. 306, 310, 418 F.2d 1142, 1146 (1969). Such fairness, we think, requires that the parties be afforded the opportunity to be heard as to their views on the facts and expert opinions of which the Commission takes notice and upon which it relies in reaching its decision. 48 Indeed, the Commission's own rules require this, See 46 C.F.R. § 502.226(d) (1976), and its reliance in this case on data within its own files, without disclosing what these data include or affording an opportunity to the parties to rebut their accuracy or validity, violates its own regulations. 49 39