345-015-0415 Requests for Party or Limited Party Status (1) The Department and applicant or certificate holder are parties to the contested case proceeding, with the right to participate on all issues in the contested case proceeding. Notwithstanding OAR 137-003-0535(2) and (3), other persons requesting to participate as a party or limited party in a contested case proceeding must submit a petition to the hearing officer and provide copies to the Department and the site certificate applicant or certificate holder by the date specified in the Department’s notice issued under OAR 345-015-0230 and OAR 345-015-00403. Petitions received after the deadline will not be considered unless the hearing officer determines that good cause has been shown for failure to submit the petition by the required date. (2) Except as described in sections (3) and (4) of this rule, only those persons who have commented in person or in writing on the record of the public hearing described in OAR 345-015-0220 may request to participate as a party or limited party in a contested case proceeding on an application for a site certificate. To raise an issue in a contested case proceeding, the issue must be within the jurisdiction of the Energy Facility Siting Council, and the person must have raised the issue in person or in writing on the record of the public hearing, unless the Department did not follow the requirements of ORS 469.370(2) or (3) or unless the action recommended in the proposed order described in OAR 345-015-230 and OAR 345-015-0403, including any recommended conditions of approval, differs materially from the action recommended in the draft proposed order, in which case the person may raise only new issues within the jurisdiction of the Council that are related to such differences. (3) Subject to the exceptions in ORS 469.370(5), if a person has not raised an issue at the public hearing with sufficient specificity to afford the Council, the Department and the applicant an adequate opportunity to respond to the issue, the hearing officer may not consider the issue in the contested case proceeding. (4) To have raised an issue with sufficient specificity, the person must have: (a) identified the recommended findings of fact, conclusions of law, or conditions of approval to which they object; (b) specified the Council standard or other applicable state and local requirements on which their objection is based; and (c) presented facts or statements supporting that objection on the record of the draft proposed order. (5) The requirements in (2), (3), and (4) also apply to a Council decision to grant a contested case proceeding under OAR 345-015-0310 (Request for Expedited Review of Special Criteria Facilities), with the exception that a person must have commented in person or on the record of the public hearing described in OAR 345-015-320 as opposed to the public hearing described in OAR 345-015-0220. (6) In a petition to request party or limited party status, the person requesting such status must include: (a) The information required under OAR 137-003-0535(4); (b) A short and plain statement for each issue that the person desires to raise in the contested case proceeding; the statement should be worded the way the person requests the issue be worded for the contested case proceeding; and (c) A reference to the person’s comments on the record of the draft proposed order showing that the person raised the issue or issues on the record of the draft proposed order. (7) The applicant, the Department, or the certificate holder may submit written responses to petitions to request party or limited party status to the hearing officer by the date specified for such responses in the Department’s notice issued under OAR 345-015-0230, providing copies to one another and the person who submitted the petition for party or limited party status. (8) In ruling on petitions to participate as a party or a limited party, the Hearing Officer shall consider the criteria described in OAR 137-003-0535(8). A limited party is a person, other than the Department, an applicant, or the certificate holder, who requests to participate in the contested case and who the hearing officer determines raised one or more issues with sufficient specificity as described in subsections (3) and (4), but did not raise all the issues to be addressed in the contested case, as established by the hearing officer in the prehearing order on party status described in OAR 345-015-0430. (9) The hearing officer's determination on a request to participate as a party or limited party is final unless the requesting person submits an appeal, with supporting arguments and documents, to the Council within seven days after the date of service of the hearing officer’s determination. (10) Subject to the exceptions in ORS 469.370(5) and OAR 345-015-0445(3), a limited party may participate in the contested case only on the issues they raised with sufficient specificity, including related proposed site certificate conditions. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 469.373, ORS 469.470, ORS 469.370(5) & ORS 183.417(2) Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 469.370, ORS 469.440, ORS 469.605, ORS 469.615 & ORS 469.992 History: EFSC 2-2024, adopt filed 10/01/2024, effective 10/01/2024