UNFAIR METHODS OF COMPETITION

SEC. 11. (a) It shall be an unfair method of competition for any producer, in the sale of coal in commerce

(1) to ship any coal which has not been ordered by or sold to any other person, or to ship any coal consigned to the producer thereof or his agent, except that coal may be shipped under consignment to such producer or his agent at rail or track yards, tidewater ports, river ports, lake ports, or docks beyond such ports when such shipment consists of bunker coal, coal applicable to existing purchase contracts, or coal intended for storage (other than in railroad cars) by such producer or his agent in rail, track, or other yards or on docks or wharves, for sale by such producer or his agent;

(2) to prepay freight charges on any shipment of coal for the purpose and with the effect of granting to the purchaser thereof a credit allowance not accorded by such producer to other purchasers of coal in like circumstances; (3) to predate or postdate any invoice or contract for the sale of coal to any purchaser unless a bona fide agreement for the sale of such coal was in fact entered into by such producer and such purchaser on the date shown on such invoice or contract; or

(4) to sell any coal to or through any broker, jobber, commission account, or sales agency which such producer knows to be an agency or instrumentality of any consumer or organization of consumers of coal for the purpose and with the effect of granting, directly or indirectly, to any such consumer or organization of consumers, any discount, dividend, allowance, rebate, or other price concession not accorded to other purchasers of coal in like circumstances.

(b) It shall be an unfair method of competition for any producer or dis'tributor, in the sale of coal in commerce

(1) to adjust any claim of any purchaser of coal for the purpose and with the effect of granting to such purchaser any discount, dividend, allowance, or other concession in price not granted to other purchasers of coal in like circumstances;

(2) after the execution of any contract for the sale of coal, to grant to the purchaser thereof any adjustment, discount, dividend, allowance, rebate, credit, refund, or other price concession not provided for in such contract for the purpose and with the effect of according to such purchaser a preference not accorded to outer purchasers in like circumstances;

(3) to discriminate among different purchasers in like c rcumstances of coal of like grade and quality by granting to any such purchaser any price concession of any kind, any service, or any privilege not extended to all such purchasers;

(4) to make any payment, gift, or concession, or to offer to make any payment, gift, or concession, to any officer or employee or any other producer, distributor, consumer, or purchaser of coal, for the purpose of (A) procuring the purchase of coal by any such distributor, consumer, or purchaser, or (B) obtaining information concerning the business of any such competing producer or distributor;

(5) knowingly to make or publish, or cause to be made or published, in any advertisement, invoice, or otherwise, any false, misleading or decept ve representation concerning the analysis, size, quality, character, nature, preparation, or origin of any coal purchased, sold, or consigned.

(6) knowingly to use any trade-mark, trade name, slogan, or advertising matter previously adopted by any competing producer or distributor, or any deceptive approximation thereof, for the purpose of misleading any consumer or purchaser of coal;

(7) to induce, or to attempt to induce, by any means, any breach of any contract between a competing producer or distributor and any customer of such producer or distributor during the term of such contract;

(8) to enter into any agreement with any other person for the splitting or division of commissions, brokers' fees, or brokerage discounts, or in any other manner, directly or indirectly, to use brokerage commissions, jobbers' arrangements, or sales agencies for the purpose of making any discount, dividend, allowance, rebate, or price concession other than those prescribed by the Commission pursuant to section 9 of this Act; or

(9) to employ or appoint any person to serve as a sales agent at a rate of compensation substantially in excess of the usual and ordinary value of the services to be rendered by such person for the purpose and with the effect of obtaining preferment in the sale of coal to any purchaser.

(c) It shall be an unfair method of competition for any producer knowingly to violate any provision of subsection (a) or for any producer or distributor knowingly to violate any provision of subsection (b) of this section indirectly by or through the use of docks or other storage or transportation facilities, or by the use of subsidiaries, affiliated sales or transportation companies, or any other intermediaries or instrumentalities, or by or through the absorption, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, of any transportation, handling, or incidental charge of any kind.

REPORTS, RECORDS, AND ACCOUNTING

SEC. 12. (a) Each producer and distributor shall maintain such records, make such reports, and employ such uniform system of accounting with respect to the preparation, cost, sale, and distribution of coal as the Commission shall determine to be necessary for the administration of this Act and shall by regulations prescribe.

(b) Officers and employees of the Commission and the Office of the Consumers' Counsel may have access to information obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to the extent required for the proper performance of their duties under this Act, but no such officer or employee shall disclose any such information to any other person without the consent of the person furnishing such information, except when required to do so in connection with the presentation of proof in any proceeding before the Commission.

(c) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the disclosure by the Commission of any information obtained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section from any producer or distributor

(1) to any person, when such information is compiled in composite form in such manner as to make no disclosure of facts applicable only to an individual producer or distributor; or

(2) to any district board, when (A) the Commission has reasonable cause to believe, after investigation, that such producer or distributor has engaged in the sale of coal in commerce at prices below those prescribed by the Commission pursuant to section 8 of this Act, or has violated any rule or regulation issued by the Commission under such section; (B) the disclosure of such information is incident to the transmisison by the Commission of a request to such district board to investigate such alleged violation to determine whether any complaint shall be filed by such district board before the Commission on the basis of such alleged violation; and (C) the information so disclosed is relevant to such alleged violation.

(d) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the disclosure by any district board, or any member, officer, or employee thereof of any information obtained from the Commission pursuant to subsection (c) of this section when such disclosure occurs by reason of the filing by such board of any complaint with the Commission alleging any such violation.

(e) If any producer or distributor required by this Act, or by any regulation promulgated thereunder, to maintain any record, make any report, or adopt and employ any uniform system of accounting shall fail to do so within the time prescribed in such regulation, and such failure shall continue for a period of fifteen days after notice of such default shall have been sent to such producer or distributor by the Commission, the Commission may apply to the district court of the United States for any district in which such producer or distributor resides or is found for an order requiring compliance with the applicable provisions of this Act, or the applicable regulation or order requiring such action, and such court may after hearing enter such order requiring such action to be performed as the court shall determine to be appropriate.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

SEC. 13. (a) The Commission shall conduct continuously such programs of research and investigation as it shall determine to be advisable to develop ways and means of extending the uses of coal, developing the most efficient methods of mining, preparing, and marketing coal, and promoting the safest operation of coal mines. The progress of such programs shall be reported by the Commission in its annual report to the President and to the Congress.

(b) Immediately upon the appointment and qualification of a majority of its membership, the Commission shall conduct a comprehensive investigation of the coal industry and shall transmit to the President and to the Congress, not

later than December 31, 1952, its report concerning economic conditions in the coal industry, and its recommendations for such legislation as it may deem necessary or advisable to assure an ample supply of coal at all times to the consumers of the United States at fair and reasonable prices, produced and marketed by privately owned and managed industrial enterprise, with a minimum of public regulation, assistance, and interference. In the course of such investigation, the Commission shall examine and report upon the following subjects, among others

(1) production control through private cooperative action;

(2) production control through allocation of production;

(3) production control through public purchase of coal-bearing lands and production facilities;

(4) price stabilization through private cooperative action;

(5) price stabilization through public subsidization of producers and distributors; and

(6) price stabilization through public purchase of coal.

(b) In carrying out its duties under this section, the Commission

(1) may consult with, obtain information from, and utilize the assistance of other Federal, State, and local governmental agencies, and of private organizations conducting research in matters pertaining to coal; and

(2) may accept the voluntary and uncompensated services of any person, including any officer or employee of any agency of the United States, of any State or political subdivision thereof, or of any foreign government, which it may deem necessary or desirable for the purposes of this section. (c) The Commission shall have access at all reasonable times to such records of the Bituminous Coal Division established under the Bituminous Coal Act of 1937, as amended, as may be in the possession or custody of any department or agency of the United States, and of such records of the Office of Price Administration and of the Solid Fuels Administration for War, or any agency of the United States successor thereto, which pertain to the mining, preparation, distribution, or sale of coal by producers and distributors.

MARKETING AGENCIES

SEC. 14. (a) Under such regulations as the Commission shall prescribe, and subject in each case to the approval of the Commission, any two or more producers of coal may enter into an agreement for the establishment of a common marketing agency to provide for the cooperative sale of coal in commerce at such prices, not lower than the minimum prices nor higher than the maximum prices prescribed by the Commission pursuant to this Act, as the parties to such agreement shall determine. No such marketing agreement shall be approved by the Commission unless it shall find that

(1) such agreement will not (A) unreasonably restrict the supply of coal in commerce, (B) prevent the public from receiving coal at fair and reasonable prices, or (C) otherwise operate against the public interest; and

(2) such agreement contains appropriate and effective provisions under which the parties thereto have agreed to observe the provisions of this Act and of rules and regulations lawfully promulgated thereunder by the Commission from time to time, and to conduct the operations of such market agency in conformity with such reasonable regulations for the protection of the public interest as may be prescribed from time to time by the Commission.

(b) Upon its own motion, or upon petition of any producer, distributor, or district board, the distributors' board, any State or local subdivision thereof, the Consumers' Counsel, or any other interested person, the Commisssion may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, suspend, modify, or revoke its approval of any marketing agreement theretofore approved pursuant to this section, if it shall find that any party thereto or the marketing agency created thereby has violated any of the conditions prescribed in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) No provision of the antitrust laws of the United States shall be applicable to

(1) any negotiation for, or the execution of, any agreement for the establishment of any market agency pursuant to this section;

(2) any person on account of any act taken for the establishment of any market agency pursuant to any such agreement which has been approved by the Commission; or

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(3) any person with respect to any act performed pursuant to and within the scope of the terms of any marketing agreement approved by the Commission under subsection (b) of this section while such marketing agreement remains in full force and effect and has not been suspended or revoked by the Commission.

PETITIONS TO COMMISSION FOR RELIEF

SEC. 15. Any producer, distributor, district board, distributors' board, State or any political subdivision thereof, or Consumers' Counsel who believes that any minimum price established pursuant to section 8, any maximum discount established pursuant to section 9, any maximum price established pursuant to section 10, or any other marketing rule or regulation established by the Commission under any provision of this Act, is unwarranted by law or in fact, or who believes that the Commission by its inaction has failed to carry out any duty imposed upon it by this Act, may file with the Commission a petition specifying in particularity the action or inaction of the Commission concerning which complaint is made and the nature of the remedial action sought by such petitioner. Under such rules and regulations as the Commission shall prescribe, it shall thereupon conduct a hearing upon such petition, and after taking such evidence as it shall deem pertinent thereto shall issue such order as it may deem necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. Pending final disposition of any such proceeding, the Commission, upon reasonable showing of necessity therefor, may issue such preliminary or temporary order as it shall deem appropriate.

CEASE-AND-DESIST ORDERS

SEC. 16. (a) Whenever any producer, distributor, district board, consumer, State or political subdivision thereof, or the Consumers' Counsel, the distributors' board or the chief compliance officer of the Commission acting pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, shall file with the Commission a written complaint alleging the violation by any producer or distributor of section 21 (a) of this Act, or of any marketing rule or regulation established by the Commission under any provision of this Act, the Commission shall within twenty days thereafter cause a copy of such complaint to be served upon such producer or distrbutor, together with a notice of hearing thereon to be conducted before the Commission, or any specifically designated member or examiner thereof, at a designated place not less than ten days after the date of such service. Any producer, distributor, district board, State or political subdivision thereof, the distributors' board, or the Consumers' Counsel may, in the discretion of the Commission or of the member or examiner conducting such hearing, be allowed to intervene in such proceeding.

(b) The chief compliance officer of the Commission may at any time request any district board or the distributors' board to file with the Commission a complaint under subsection (a) of this section with respect to any producer or distributor subject to the jurisdiciton of such board, and upon failure of such board to file such complaint, such compliance officer may file a complaint under subsection (a) in his own name. The district board concerned, or the distributors' board, as the case may be, shall be permitted to intervene as a matter of right in any proceeding so instituted.

(c) Upon the record of the hearing conducted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the Commission shall make its report in writing in which it shall state its findings of fact and its conclusons of law. If the Commssion shall determine that any producer or distributor so complained of has violated or is violating any such provision of law, rule, or regulation, the Commission shall issue and cause to be served upon such producer or distributor its order requiring such producer or distributor to cease and desist from such violation. If the Commission shall determine that no such violation has been shown, it shall order the dismissal of the complaint.

PROCEEDINGS OF COMMISSION

SEC. 17. (a) The Commission shall make all investigations required by this Act, and may, in its discretion, make such additional investigations as it deems necessary to determine whether any person has violated or is about to violate any provision of this Act, or any rule, regulation, or order issued by the Commission hereunder.

(b) For the purposes of any such investigation, or of any proceeding instituted before the Commission pursuant to any provision of this Act, the Commission or, when specifically so authorized by order of the Commission, any individual member or examiner thereof, shall be empowered to administer oaths and affirmations, subpena witnesses, compel their attendance, and require the production of such books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, or other records as the Commission shall deem relevant or material to such inquiry or proceeding. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of such records may be required from any place in the United States at any designated place of hearing, and subpenas issued therefor shall be as nearly as may be in the form of subpenas issued by district courts of the United States.

(c) In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpena issued to, any person, the Commission may invoke the aid of the district court of the United States for any district within which such investigaton or proceeding is carried -on, or within which such person resides or is found, in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, and other records. Upon the filing of any such petition, such court shall, either in term time or in vacation, issue an order requiring such person to appear before such court at a designated time (not later than ten days after the entry of such order unless such period shall be extended by the court upon a showing of good cause) to show cause why he should not be required to obey such subpena, and upon his failure to do so he shall be ordered by the court to appear before the Commission, or member or examiner, conducting the proceeding and to give such testimony or produce such documents touching the matter under investigation or in question as may lawfully be required by the Commission. Any failure to obey such order of the court shall be punished by such court as a contempt thereof.

(d) All proceedings instituted before the Commission under any provision of this Act shall be subject to the Administrative Procedure Act.

(e) In any such inquiry or proceeding by or before the Commission, witnesses summoned and persons whose testimony is taken by deposition, and officers taking such depositions, shall receive such fees and mileage therefore as are paid to persons performing like services in or for the district courts of the United States. (f) No person shall be excused from attending and testifying, or from producing books, papers, contracts, agreements, and other records and documents before the Commission, or in obedience to the subpena of the Commission or any member or examiner thereof, or in any cause or proceeding instituted by the Commission, on the ground that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no individual shall be prosecuted or subject to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he is compelled, after having claimed his privilege against self-incrimination, to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, except that such individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.

JUDICIAL REVIEW

SEO. 18. (a) Any person aggrieved by any order issued by the Commission in any proceeding under any provision of this Act to which such person is a party, and any district board, the distributors' board, or the Consumers' Counsel if such board or Counsel has intervened in such proceeding, may obtain a review of such order, in the court of appeals of the United States for any circuit wherein such person resides or is found, by filing in such court, within forty-five days after the entry of such order, a written petition praying that the order of the Commission be modified or set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such petition shall be served forthwith upon all parties to such proceeding, and all such parties shall be permitted to intervene as parties to the proceeding before such court. The Commission shall, upon the service upon it of such petition, certify and file in the court a transcript of the record upon which the order complained of was entered. (b) Upon the filing of such transcript, such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm, modify, and enforce or set aside such order, in whole or in part. No objection to the order of the Commission shall be considered by the court unless such objection shall have been urged before the Commission. The finding of the Commission as to the facts, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be . conclusive. If any party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence, and shall show to the satisfaction of the court that such additional