Virginia Code 46.2-2005: Action on applications; hearings on denials and protests.
A. The Department may act upon any application required under this chapter for a certificate of public convenience and necessity without a hearing, unless such application is protested by any aggrieved party, except that no protest shall be heard in such cases whereby the applicant has received a notice of intent to award a contract under the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.) for irregular route common carrier service to or from a public-use airport located in the City of Norfolk or the County of Henrico. Aggrieved parties may protest an application by submitting written grounds to the Department setting forth (i) a precise statement of the party’s interest and how the party could be aggrieved if the application were granted; (ii) a full and clear statement of the facts that the person is prepared to provide by competent evidence; (iii) a statement of the specific relief sought; (iv) the case number assigned to the application; and (v) a certification that a copy of the protest was sent to the applicant.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 46.2-2005
- Certificate: means a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a certificate of fitness. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- Certificate of fitness: means a certificate issued by the Department to a contract passenger carrier, a sight-seeing carrier, a transportation network company, or a nonemergency medical transportation carrier. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Common carrier: means any person who undertakes, whether directly or by a lease or any other arrangement, to transport passengers for the general public by motor vehicle for compensation over the highways of the Commonwealth, whether over regular or irregular routes, including such motor vehicle operations of carriers by rail or water under this chapter. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- License: means a license issued by the Department to a broker or a TNC broker. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- Permit: means a permit issued by the Department to carriers operating as employee haulers or nonprofit/tax-exempt passenger carriers or to operators of taxicabs or other vehicles performing taxicab service under this chapter. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- Person: means any individual, firm, copartnership, corporation, company, association, or joint-stock association, and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
- Route: when used in connection with or with respect to a certificate of public convenience and necessity, means the road or highway, or segment thereof, operated over by the holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity or proposed to be operated over by an applicant therefor, whether such road or highway is designated by one or more highway numbers. See Virginia Code 46.2-2000
B. The Department may act upon any application required under this chapter for a license or certificate of fitness without a hearing, unless such application is protested by any party based upon fitness allegations. Parties may protest an application by submitting written grounds to the Department setting forth (i) a precise statement of the party’s objections to the application being granted; (ii) a full and clear statement of the facts that the person is prepared to provide by competent evidence; (iii) the case number assigned to the application; and (iv) a certification that a copy of the protest was sent to the applicant. The Department shall have full discretion as to whether a hearing is warranted based on the merits of any protest filed.
C. Any applicant denied without a hearing an original license, permit, or certificate under subsection A or B of this section or subsection B of § 46.2-2001.1, or any request for a transfer of such a license or certificate, shall be given a hearing at a time and place determined by the Commissioner or his designee upon the applicant’s written request for such hearing made within 30 days of denial.
Code 1950, § 56-279; 1995, cc. 744, 803; 2001, c. 596; 2002, cc. 681, 734, 870; 2011, cc. 424, 881, 889; 2013, cc. 165, 582.