Virginia Petroleum Jobbers Association v. Federal Power Commission
Headline: Gas project challengers lose review as the Court refuses to hear a dispute over an agency demanding extra pay before subpoenaing an expert, leaving the agency’s decision favoring the project intact.
Holding: The Court refused to review the challenge and left the Federal Power Commission’s refusal to subpoena an engineer who would have required extra expert pay in place, leaving the appeals court ruling intact.
- Leaves the Commission’s decision and the appeals court ruling in place.
- Makes it harder for challengers to compel agency subpoenas without paying extra fees.
Summary
Background
A trade association called the Virginia Petroleum Jobbers Association asked the Federal Power Commission to review a natural gas project by the Blue Ridge Gas Company to serve Harrisonburg, Virginia. An engineer who had earlier produced an unfavorable study for Blue Ridge was sought to rebut a later, favorable engineer. The Commission refused to subpoena that engineer unless the party seeking him agreed to pay extra expert fees beyond the ordinary witness fees set by statute (28 U.S.C. § 1821).
Reasoning
The central question presented was whether the Federal Power Commission may decline to summon a relevant expert witness because the party requesting the subpoena would not pay fees above the statutory witness amounts. Justice Black’s dissent (joined by Justice Douglas) argued the Court should hear the case. He relied on prior decisions saying only the statutory witness fees are allowable and said agencies have no power to force parties to pay larger expert fees. He also rejected the Commission’s claim that any error was harmless.
Real world impact
Because the Supreme Court refused to review the case, the Commission’s refusal and the Court of Appeals’ decision upholding it remain in place for this dispute. That outcome means the petitioner did not obtain Supreme Court relief here, and the question of agency authority to demand extra expert fees remains unresolved by this Court. The denial is not a ruling on the merits and could be revisited later.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Black (with Justice Douglas) dissented from the denial of review, warning that allowing agencies to demand burdensome expert fees could prevent parties from presenting relevant evidence and urging the Court to settle the issue.
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