R990-10-4. Informal Hearing Procedures

A. Within forty (40) days after receiving a request for determination, the Board shall hold a public hearing on the questions at issue.

B. The Board may appoint an administrative law judge to preside in its stead at the hearing and to hear such preliminary motions and manage such ancillary matters as the Board deems necessary and appropriate.

C. In the hearing, the parties named in the request for determination shall be permitted to testify, present evidence, comment on the issues and bring forth witnesses who may be examined and cross-examined. The hearing may be adjourned from time to time in the interest of a full and fair investigation of the facts and the law.

D. Discovery is prohibited, and the Board may not issue subpoenas or other discovery orders.

E. All parties shall have access to information contained in the Board's files and to all materials and information gathered by any investigation to the extent permitted by the law.

F. Any intervention is prohibited.

G. All hearings shall be open to all parties.

H. Within twenty (20) days after the close of the hearing, the Board or the administrative law judge shall issue a signed order in writing that states:

1. The decision;

2. The reasons for the decision;

3. A notice of any right for administrative or judicial review available to the parties; and

4. The time limits for filing a request for reconsideration or judicial review.

I. The order issued by the Board or by the administrative law judge shall be based on the facts appearing in the Board's files and on the facts presented in evidence at the hearing.

J. Any determination order issued by the Board or by the administrative law judge shall specify:

1. The direct impacts, if any, or methods determining the direct impacts to be covered; and

2. The amounts, or methods of computing the amounts, of the alleviation payments, if any, or the means to provide for impact alleviation, provisions assuring the timely completion of the facilities and the furnishing of the service, if any; and

3. Other pertinent matters.

K. A copy of the Board's or the administrative law judge's order shall be promptly sent to all parties.

L. All hearings shall be recorded at the Board's expense. Any party, at his own expense, may have a reporter approved by the Board prepare a transcript from the Board's record of the hearing.