(a) The Administrator may initiate an investigation of any statement in an application and utilize any relevant facts obtained by that investigation. The Administrator 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 Administrator may convene a hearing or conference, if a hearing or conference will advance the evaluation of the application.

(b) The Administrator 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 this subpart.

(c) Except as provided in this subpart, the Administrator will only consider an application for a waiver of preemption determination if:

(1) The applicant expressly acknowledges in its application that the highway routing designation of the State, political subdivision thereof, or Indian tribe for which the determination is sought is preempted by the Act or the regulations thereunder; or

(2) The highway routing designation of the State, political subdivision thereof, or Indian tribe has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction or in a determination issued pursuant to §397.211 to be preempted by the Act or the regulations issued thereunder.

(d) When the Administrator has received all substantive information necessary to process an application for a waiver of preemption determination, notice of that fact will be served upon the applicant. Additional notice to all other persons who received notice of the proceeding may be served by publishing a notice in the Federal Register.