Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 445 - Energy Facility Siting Board › Chapter 00 - N/A › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 1 - Rules of Practice and Procedure › Section 445-RICR-00-00-1.9 - Preliminary Hearing

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Purpose - After
							the docketing of an application the board shall convene a preliminary hearing
							to determine the issues to be considered by the Board in evaluating
							application, to designate those agencies which shall act at the direction of
							the Board for the purpose of rendering advisory opinions, and to identify those
							licenses required by the facility which are under the direct control of the
							Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Coastal Resources Management
							Council (CRMC).
B. Notice - Public
							notice of the date on which the preliminary hearing shall begin shall be
							published within fifteen (15) days of the docketing of the application.
							Preliminary hearings shall begin not sooner than forty-five (45) days after
							publication of the public notice and not later than sixty (60) days after the
							docketing of the application.
C.
							Testimony - Within the discretion of the Board, testimony and evidence at the
							preliminary hearing may be limited to the identification of issues only.
							Presentation of substantive testimony and evidence regarding any issue may be
							limited to agency proceedings for the rendering of advisory opinions of the
							Board's final hearing.
D.
							Preliminary Decision/Time - The Board shall render a preliminary decision
							within thirty (30) days of the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, but not
							later than forty-five (45) days after the beginning of the preliminary
							hearing.
E. Preliminary
							Decision/Contents
1. Mandatory Issues - The
							Board shall consider the ability of the proposed facility to meet the
							requirements of the laws, rules, regulations and ordinances under which, absent
							the Act, the applicant would be required to obtain a license.
2. Discretionary Issues - The Board shall
							separately identity all issues of any type which in its discretion it finds
							should be considered in the Board's final hearing.
3. DEM and Coastal Resources Management
							Council Licenses - The Board shall separately identify all licenses which the
							applicant will have to obtain and over which DEM and the CRMC retain primary
							authority pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws §
											42-98-7(a).
4. Designation of Agencies and Issues - The
							Board shall designate each agency which shall act at the discretion of the
							Board for the purpose of rendering advisory opinions and the Board shall
							separately identify all licenses and other issues on which such agencies must
							render advisory opinions.
5.
							Advisory Opinions/Time - The Board shall clearly state the time in which
							designated agencies and the Public Utilities Commission and the Statewide
							Planning Program must render advisory opinions. In no event shall an agency
							render the advisory opinion more than six months after issuance of the Board's
							preliminary decision.
6. DEM and
							CRMC Proceedings - The Board may request in its preliminary decision or by
							separate communication that DEM and CRMC give priority to licenses for energy
							facilities over which DEM or CRMC exercise licensing authority pursuant to
							delegated authority of federal law, state laws and regulations which implement
							such federal law or pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws Chapters 2-1
et
							seq.
and 46-23
et seq.