Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 17, September 10, 2024
a.
The following provisions will be applied in any adjudicatory proceeding before
the Commission, Administrative Law Judge, or Hearing Officer.
(1) No person will make or knowingly cause to
be made to any member of the Commission, Administrative Law Judge, or Hearing
Officer an ex parte communication concerning the merits of a proceeding for
which an application has been filed.
(2) No Commissioner, Administrative Law
Judge, or Hearing Officer will make or knowingly cause to be made to any
interested person an ex parte communication concerning the merits of a
proceeding that has been noticed for hearing.
(3) A Commissioner, Administrative Law Judge,
or Hearing Officer who receives, or who makes, or knowingly causes to be made,
a communication prohibited by this rule will place on the public record of
proceeding:
A. All such written
communications and any responses thereto; and
B. Memoranda stating the substance of any
such oral communications and any responses thereto.
(4) Upon receipt of a communication knowingly
made or knowingly caused to be made by a person in violation of this Rule 530,
the Commission, Administrative Law Judge, or Hearing Officer may require the
person to show cause why their claim or interest in the proceeding should not
be dismissed, denied, or otherwise adversely affected on account of such
violation.
(5) If Staff is a party
to an adjudicatory proceeding, they are subject to the provisions of this Rule
530.a.
b. Oral or
written communication with individual Commission members is permissible in a
rulemaking proceeding. The Commission will make any communication presented to
or considered by an individual Commissioner part of the record. After the
rulemaking record is closed, new information that is intended for the
rulemaking record will be presented to the Commission as a whole upon approval
of a request to reopen the rulemaking record.
c. This Rule 530 will not limit the right to
challenge a decision of the Commission, Administrative Law Judge, or Hearing
Officer on the grounds of bias or prejudice due to any ex parte
communication.
