Through the No-Action Letter (NAL) process, established by Commission order on November 18, 2005, persons may obtain written advice as to whether staff would recommend that the Commission take no enforcement action with respect to specific proposed transactions, practices, or situations. Thus, NAL responses provide increased certainty regarding staff's view on whether a particular transaction, practice or situation would be subject to agency enforcement action. As a result, the NAL process is an effective tool for entities subject to our authority to reduce the risk of failing to comply with the statutes we administer, the orders, rules or regulations thereunder, or Commission-approved tariffs.

In an order issued May 15, 2008, the Commission expanded the scope of issues for which NAL requests may be submitted to include any issue that falls within the Commission's jurisdiction, except for those issues arising under:

• Part I of the FPA;
• Sections 215 and 216 of the FPA;
• Sections 3, 7, and 15 of the NGA; and
• Section 311 of the NGPA.

In addition a request:

• May not be anonymous and
• Must relate to a situation in which the requesting party is or may be involved and not involve hypothetical circumstances or completed transactions.

Although NAL responses are not binding on the Commission, they are signed by representatives of the Office of the General Counsel and the Office of Enforcement and thus reflect the consensus view of those offices. Where appropriate, members of the Office of Energy Market Regulation and Office of Energy Policy and Innovation are also consulted when preparing an NAL response and, therefore, their views are often reflected. Until a response is issued, NAL requests are treated as non-public. Applicants can request that staff continue to treat both NAL requests and responses as non-public for an additional period of 120 days after a response is issued. Once an NAL response is public, it is posted in the Commission's eLibrary system in a searchable format.