Opinion ID: 345561
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Burdensomeness Determinations

Text: 56 The FTC challenges the district court's limitation of production under Specifications G, H, and I to a random sample of 100 fields out of approximately 220 in Southern Louisiana and to the years 1969 through 1971. The Commission also disputes the district court's provision for production where the documents are located, rather than at FTC headquarters, at the option of the producer, with any reproduction costs to be borne by the FTC. These rulings ordinarily would seem to fall under the rubric of burdensomeness. In line with the Oklahoma Press requirement that the disclosure sought shall not be unreasonable, 327 U.S. at 208, 66 S.Ct. 494, the district court is authorized to impose reasonable conditions and restrictions with respect to the production of the subpoenaed material if the demand is unduly burdensome. 44 It appears that such modifications rest within the discretion of the trial judge and should be reversed by a reviewing court only for an abuse of that discretion. 45 In this case, however, it is clear that determinations of burden were intimately tied to the district court's constricted view of the FTC's investigation; that is, the district court found the subpoenas to be unreasonably broad and burdensome because they were, in the court's view, duplicative of FPC activities. 46 Since these dispositions were colored in substantial measure by an erroneous concept of the FTC's purpose, and rested at least in part on improper applications of collateral estoppel and relevance, we are not bound by an abuse of discretion standard 47 and therefore review these modifications for mere error. 48 57 We emphasize that the question is whether the demand is unduly burdensome or unreasonably broad. Some burden on subpoenaed parties is to be expected and is necessary in furtherance of the agency's legitimate inquiry and the public interest. The burden of showing that the request is unreasonable is on the subpoenaed party. 49 Further, that burden is not easily met where, as here, the agency inquiry is pursuant to a lawful purpose and the requested documents are relevant to that purpose. 50 Broadness alone is not sufficient justification to refuse enforcement of a subpoena. 51 Thus courts have refused to modify investigative subpoenas unless compliance threatens to unduly disrupt or seriously hinder normal operations of a business. 52 58 There is no doubt that these subpoenas are broad in scope, but the FTC's inquiry is a comprehensive one and must be so to serve its purposes. Further, the breadth complained of is in large part attributable to the magnitude of the producers' business operations. Although some of the producers have alleged that the time and expense involved in compliance with the subpoenas as presently drawn would be extreme, 53 it is clear that clarification of some misunderstandings and limitation of some back-up data by the FTC staff have alleviated these concerns to some extent. Mobil Oil admits that the alleged burdensomeness of its subpoena was substantially mitigated during the course of extensive negotiations with Commission attorneys. 54 Moreover, we cannot ignore the fact that those gas producers who complied with the subpoenas were able to submit the required data without undue effort. 55 59 We turn now to the specific limitations at issue. The FTC maintains that the random sample limitation would seriously undermine its ability to compare the data supplied by producers who voluntarily complied with the subpoenas with the data from these producers. Comparison of the producers' estimates with all data submitted to the AGA for this region also would be foreclosed to some extent. The Commission notes that other studies have utilized random sampling techniques and that, in its opinion, such studies are inadequate for its purposes. We are reluctant to approve such a limitation in light of the fact that the district court rested its restriction largely on collateral estoppel grounds. 56 We therefore enforce the subpoena as originally conceived, without production on a random sample basis. 60 The district court's limitation of Specifications G through I to the years 1969, 1970, and 1971 also cannot be sustained. The impetus for the FTC investigation was the drop in 1968 and 1969 of proved reserves as reported by the AGA. Clearly data from an earlier period would be necessary for comparative purposes. The Commission's requirement of data beginning in 1962 is reinstated. 57 61 The FTC argues that the producers' option to release the documents for inspection where they are stored, when coupled with the FTC's required assumption of any reproduction costs, is in derogation of the Commission's subpoena power. We agree. The FTC is specifically authorized to compel production of evidence from any place in the United States, at any designated place of hearing. 58 While room for accommodation and compromise is certainly available, the district court's placement of the entire burden of travel and expense 59 on the Commission was unwarranted on this record. 60 We enforce the subpoena without this modification.