Court Opinion

ID: 9467184
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:41:13.119397+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:13.104127
License: Public Domain

SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I agree this action is barred by Selco’s failure to comply with jurisdictional requirements. However, I take issue with the majority’s conclusion that a petition for reconsideration does not alter the time for filing an appeal.
The majority’s interpretation rests upon the requirement in 7 U.S.C. § 136n(b) that a notice of appeal be filed within sixty days after entry of the EPA’s final order. The holding emphasizes that an EPA regulation *866rather than the language of the statute itself provides for a reconsideration petition.1 These considerations are not controlling. In Outland v. CAB, 284 F.2d 224 (D.C.Cir.1960), the issue was whether a petition for rehearing before the Civil Aeronautics Board changed the time from which judicial review must be sought. The statute there, 49 U.S.C. § 1486(a), contained a sixty-day limitations period and had no provision regarding motions for reconsideration. The court held that “when a motion for rehearing is made, the time for filing a petition for judicial review does not begin to run until the motion for rehearing is acted upon by the Board.” Id. at 228. The Supreme Court cited this very language in American Farm Lines v. Black Ball Freight Service, 397 U.S. 532, 541, 90 S.Ct. 1288, 1293, 25 L.Ed.2d 547 (1970), where it held that an order by the ICC was not so final as to bar the Commission’s later reopening of the record. See also CAB v. Delta Air Lines, 367 U.S. 316, 326, 81 S.Ct. 1611, 1619, 6 L.Ed.2d 869 (1961).
Significant policy reasons dictate that judicial review not precede an administrative agency’s resolution of a motion to reconsider its decision:
“[W]hen the party elects to seek a rehearing there is always a possibility that the order complained of will be modified in a way which renders judicial review unnecessary. Practical considerations, therefore, dictate that when a petition for rehearing is filed, review may properly be deferred until this has been acted upon. The contrary result ... has caused parties to file so called ‘protective’ petitions for judicial review while petitions for rehearing before the Board were pending. A whole train of unnecessary consequences flowed from this: the Board and other parties may be called upon to respond and oppose the motion for review; when the Board acts, the petition for judicial review must be amended to bring the petition up to date.”
Outland v. CAB, 284 F.2d at 227-28. “It is in the interest of judicial economy and agency responsibility to allow [a] Commission to reconsider its orders ..., rather than to compel an applicant to invoke immediate judicial review.” B. J. McAdams, Inc. v. ICC, 551 F.2d 1112, 1115 (8th Cir. 1977) .
In those instances where a statute or a regulation provides for agency reconsideration, courts have held that a motion for reconsideration delays the time for seeking judicial review until the agency has acted upon the motion. See ECEE, Inc. v. FERC, 611 F.2d 554, 557 (5th Cir. 1980); Pennsylvania v. ICC, 590 F.2d 1187, 1193 (D.C.Cir.1978); Tiger International, Inc. v. CAB, 554 F.2d 926, 931 n. 10 (9th Cir. 1977); Montship Lines, Ltd. v. Federal Maritime Board, 295 F.2d 147 (D.C.Cir.1961); Samuel B. Franklin & Co. v. SEC, 290 F.2d 719, 725 (9th Cir. 1961). See also New York v. United States, 568 F.2d 887, 892-93 (2d Cir. 1977); B. J. McAdams, Inc. v. ICC, 551 F.2d at 1114-15. Cf. Laminators Safety Glass Association v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 578 F.2d 406, 410-11 (D.C.Cir.1978) (recognizing general rule but holding petition for reconsideration does not delay time for appeal where neither statute nor regulation provides for reconsideration).
Prompt resolution of environmental orders is an important goal. It is not self-evident, however, that there is a lesser need for a quick determination of issues before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The previously cited cases demonstrate that motions for reconsideration submitted to those agencies have been held to delay the running of the time for judicial appeal until the motion has been decided. In light of the strong policies and precedent favoring such delay, I think it unadvisable for this court to create a contrary rule for EPA orders decided under FIFRA.
The majority correctly states that if Selco’s petition for reconsideration delayed the *867start of the sixty-day filing period, its notice of appeal was premature. It is for this reason, rather than the lateness in filing, that I would hold the present action untimely filed.

. The Administrator of the EPA clearly possessed the authority to pass such regulation. See 7 U.S.C. § 136w(a)(l).