(a) The Electric Reliability Organization may enter into an agreement to delegate authority to a Regional Entity for the purpose of proposing Reliability Standards to the Electric Reliability Organization and enforcing Reliability Standards under § 39.7.

(b) After notice and opportunity for comment, the Commission may approve a delegation agreement. A delegation agreement shall not be effective until it is approved by the Commission.

(c) The Electric Reliability Organization shall file a delegation agreement. Such filing shall include a statement demonstrating that:

(1) The Regional Entity is governed by an independent board, a balanced stakeholder board, or a combination independent and balanced stakeholder board;

(2) The Regional Entity otherwise satisfies the provisions of section 215(c) of the Federal Power Act; and

(3) The agreement promotes effective and efficient administration of Bulk-Power System reliability.

(d) The Commission may modify such delegation.

(e) The Electric Reliability Organization shall and the Commission will rebuttably presume that a proposal for delegation to a Regional Entity organized on an Interconnection-wide basis promotes effective and efficient administration of Bulk-Power System reliability and should be approved.

(f) An entity seeking to enter into a delegation agreement that is unable to reach an agreement with the Electric Reliability Organization within 180 days after proposing a delegation agreement to the Electric Reliability Organization may apply to the Commission to assign to it the Electric Reliability Organization's authority to enforce Reliability Standards within its region. The entity must demonstrate in its application that it meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section and that continued negotiations with the Electric Reliability Organization would not likely result in an appropriate delegation agreement within a reasonable period of time. After notice and opportunity for hearing, the Commission may designate the entity as a Regional Entity and assign enforcement authority to it.

(g) An application pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section must state:

(1) Whether the Commission's Dispute Resolution Service, or other alternative dispute resolution procedures were used, or why these procedures were not used; and

(2) Whether the Regional Entity believes that alternative dispute resolution under the Commission's supervision could successfully resolve the disputes regarding the terms of the delegation agreement.