Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) Rights of Parties. Subject to the
presiding member's authority to regulate a proceeding as prescribed in section
1210, and other rights identified
in specific proceedings, each party shall have the right to call and examine
witnesses, to offer oral and written testimony under oath, to introduce
exhibits, to cross-examine opposing witnesses on any matters relevant to the
issues in the proceeding, and to rebut evidence.
(b) Hearing Record.
(1) The "hearing record", in an adjudicatory
proceeding, shall contain:
(A) all documents,
materials, or testimony received into evidence by the committee or commission
at a hearing;
(B) public comment,
including comments from other government agencies, offered orally at a hearing,
or written comments received into the record at a hearing;
(C) any materials or facts officially noticed
by the committee or commission at a hearing;
(D) all transcripts of evidentiary hearings;
and
(E) for siting cases, subject
to 1212(b)(3), staff's Final Staff Assessment and any timely filed supplemental
assessments.
(2) Parties
may move to exclude information from the hearing record on the ground that it
is not relevant, is duplicative of information already in the record, or on
another basis. If the presiding member grants such a motion, the information
shall be excluded from the hearing record. While the hearing need not be
conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses,
questions of relevance and the inclusion of information into the hearing record
shall be decided by the presiding member after considering fairness to the
parties, hearing efficiency, and adequacy of the record.
(3) In a siting case, if a party requests a
staff witness be present to sponsor specific portions of the Final Staff
Assessment, or any supplemental assessments, and no witness is made available
for questioning, the relevant portions of the staff assessment or supplemental
assessments at issue shall be treated as comment and shall not be sufficient,
in and of itself, to support a finding by the commission.
(c) Basis for and Contents of Decisions.
(1) Decisions in adjudicative proceedings
shall be based on the evidence in the hearing record, explain the basis for the
decision, and shall include but need not be limited to all legally-required
findings of fact and conclusions of law.
(2) A finding may be based on any evidence in
the hearing record, if the evidence is the sort of information on which
responsible persons are accustomed to relying on in the conduct of serious
affairs. Such evidence does not include, among other things, speculation,
argument, conjecture, and unsupported conclusions or opinions. The committee or
commission shall give appropriate weight to information in the record as
allowed by law.
(3) Hearsay
evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining other
evidence but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it
would be admissible over objections in civil actions.
(4) Public comments and briefs filed by
parties in an adjudicative proceeding, as prescribed in section
1208, may be considered by the
committee or commission, but shall not be sufficient in themselves to support a
finding. The committee or commission may rely on public comment, standing
alone, to support a finding if the committee or commission provides notice of
its intent to rely upon such comment at the time the comment is presented,
other parties are provided an opportunity to question the commenter, and
parties are given a reasonable opportunity, as ordered by the presiding member,
to provide rebuttal evidence.
1. Amendment
of subsection (b) filed 1-11-83; designated effective 2-1-83 pursuant to
Government Code Section
11346.2(d)
(Register 83, No. 3).
2. Amendment of subsection (c) filed 3-8-2002;
operative 4-7-2002 (Register 2002, No. 10).
3. Repealer and new
section filed 12-21-2015; operative 1-1-2016 pursuant to Government Code
section
11343.4(b)(3)
(Register 2015, No. 52).
4. Amendment filed 12-5-2018; operative
1-1-2019 pursuant to Government Code section
11343.4(b)(3)
(Register 2018, No. 49).
Note: Authority cited: Section
25218(e),
Public Resources Code. Reference: Section
25210,
Public Resources Code; and Section
11513,
Government Code.
