California Code of Regulations › Title 17 - Public Health › Division 3 - Air Resources › Chapter 1 - Air Resources Board › Subchapter 1.25 - Administrative Procedures-Hearings › Article 2 - Administrative Hearing Procedures for Petitions for Review of Executive Officer Decisions › Subarticle 3 - Ex Parte Communications › Section 60055.13 - Prohibited Communications

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this
						section, while the proceeding is pending, the hearing officer shall not
						participate in any communications with any party, representative of a party, or
						any person who has a direct or indirect interest in the outcome of the
						proceeding about the subject matter or merits of the case at issue, without
						notice and opportunity of all parties, to participate in communication except a
						party that has been determined to be in default pursuant to section
						60055.37.
(b) No pleading, letter, document, or other
						writing shall be filed in a proceeding under these rules by a party unless
						service of a copy thereof together with any exhibit or attachment is made on
						all other parties to a proceeding. Service shall be in a manner as prescribed
						in section
						60055.5.
(c) For the purpose of this section, a
						proceeding is pending from the time that the petition for review of an
						executive officer decision is filed.
(d) Communications prohibited under paragraph
						(a) do not include communications concerning matters of procedure or practice,
						including requests for continuances that are not in controversy. It also does
						not prohibit communications between a party and the hearing officer when the
						opposing party has had a default entered pursuant to section
						60055.37.
(e) A communication between a hearing officer
						and an employee of the state board that would otherwise be prohibited by this
						section is permissible if:
(1) The employee
						is another hearing officer or other employee of the hearing office whose job
						duties include aiding the hearing officer in carrying out the hearing officer's
						adjudicative responsibilities. Upon request, the hearing office will provide a
						list of employees of the hearing office to the parties.
(2) The employee of the state board has not
						served as an investigator, prosecutor, or advocate in the proceeding or its
						preadjudicative stage, or in any factually related proceedings, and the purpose
						of the communication is to assist and advise the hearing officer in determining
						whether a document is a confidential business record (i.e., trade secrets). In
						obtaining such assistance and advice, the hearing officer shall give notice to
						the parties of the person consulted and shall provide the parties with as
						detailed a summary as possible of the substance of the advice received, while
						protecting the confidentiality of the business records at issue, and a
						reasonable opportunity to respond.
(3) The prohibitions of paragraph (a) that
						apply to the hearing officer shall also apply to all employees covered by
						subparagraphs (1) and (2) above.
(4) Communications permitted under
						subparagraphs (1) and (2) above shall not furnish, augment, diminish, or modify
						the evidence in the record.