(a)The Chief Counsel may initiate an investigation of any statement in an application and utilize in his or her evaluation any relevant facts obtained by that investigation. The Chief Counsel may solicit and accept submissions from third persons relevant to an application and will provide the applicant an opportunity to respond to all third person submissions. In evaluating an application, the Chief Counsel on his or her own initiative may convene a hearing or conference, if he or she considers that a hearing or conference will advance his or her evaluation of the application.
(b)The Chief Counsel may dismiss the application without prejudice if:
(1)He or she determines that there is insufficient information upon which to base a determination;
(2)Upon his or her request, additional information is not submitted by the applicant; or
(3)The applicant fails to provide the notice required by § 107.217.
(c)The Chief Counsel will only consider an application for waiver of preemption determination if—
(1)The applicant State or political subdivision thereof or Indian tribe expressly acknowledges in its application that the State or political subdivision or Indian tribe requirement for which the determination is sought is inconsistent with the requirements of the Federal hazardous materials transportation law, regulations issued under the Federal hazardous material transportation law, or hazardous material transportation security regulations or directives issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(2)The State or political subdivision thereof or Indian tribe requirement has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction or in a ruling issued under § 107.209 to be inconsistent with the requirements of the Federal hazardous materials transportation law, regulations issued under the Federal hazardous material transportation law, or hazardous material transportation security regulations or directives issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
(d)When the Chief Counsel has received all substantive information it considers necessary to process an application for a waiver of preemption determination, it serves notice of that fact upon the applicant and all other persons who received notice of the proceeding pursuant to § 107.217.
(e)To the extent possible, each application for a waiver of preemption determination will be acted upon in a manner consistent with the disposition of previous applications for waiver of preemption determinations.