Within 21 days after the receipt of an application, the Administrator shall determine whether the application appears to contain all of the information required by paragraph (2) of this subsection. If the Administrator determines that such information appears to be contained in the application, the Administrator shall, no later than 5 days after making such a determination, publish notice of the application and a summary of the plans in the Federal Register. If the Administrator determines that all of the required information does not appear to be contained in the application, the Administrator shall notify the applicant and take no further action with respect to the application until such deficiencies have been remedied.

Each application shall include such financial, technical, and other information as the Administrator determines by regulation to be necessary or appropriate to process the license pursuant to section 9111 of this title.

At the time notice of an application for an ocean thermal energy conversion facility is published pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, the Administrator shall publish a description in the Federal Register of an application area encompassing the site proposed in the application for such facility and within which the thermal plume of one ocean thermal energy conversion facility might be expected to impinge on so as to degrade the thermal gradient used by another ocean thermal energy conversion facility, unless the application is for a license for an ocean thermal energy conversion facility to be located within an application area which has already been designated.

The Administrator shall accompany such publication with a call for submission of any other applications for licenses for the ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility within the designated application area. Any person intending to file such an application shall submit a notice of intent to file an application to the Administrator not later than 60 days after the publication of notice pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, and shall submit the completed application no later than 90 days after publication of such notice. The Administrator shall publish notice of any such application received in accordance with subsection (d) of this section. No application for a license for the ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility within the designated application area for which a notice of intent to file was received after such 60-day period, or which is received after such 90-day period has elapsed, shall be considered until action has been completed on all timely filed applications pending with respect to such application area.

The Administrator shall approve or deny any timely filed application with respect to a facility for a designated application area submitted in accordance with the provision of this chapter not later than 90 days after public hearings on proposed licenses for that area are concluded pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. The Administrator shall approve or deny an application for a license for ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion plantship submitted pursuant to this chapter no later than 90 days after the public hearings on that application are concluded pursuant to subsection (g) of this section.

In the event more than one application for a license for ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility is submitted pursuant to this chapter for the same designated application area, the Administrator, unless one or a specific combination of the proposed facilities clearly best serves the national interest, shall make decisions on license applications in the order in which they were submitted to him.