Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 860 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION › Division 1 - GENERAL › Section 860-001-0500 - Discovery in Contested Case Proceedings

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) Discovery must be commensurate with the
			 needs of the case, the resources available to the parties, and the importance
			 of the issues to which the discovery relates.
(2) Discovery that is unreasonably
			 cumulative, duplicative, burdensome, or overly broad is not allowed.
			 Instructions and definitions included in discovery requests must be consistent
			 with these rules and ORS Chapters 756, 757, and 759.
(3) Privileged material is not discoverable
			 except as provided under the Oregon Rules of Evidence.
(4) A party will not be required to develop
			 information or prepare a study for another party, unless the capability to
			 prepare the study is possessed uniquely by the party from whom discovery is
			 sought, the discovery request is not unduly burdensome, and the information
			 sought has a high degree of relevance to the issues in the
			 proceedings.
(5) Parties must make
			 every effort to engage in cooperative informal discovery and to resolve
			 disputes themselves. If a party receives a data request that is likely to lead
			 to a discovery dispute, then that party must inform the requesting party of the
			 dispute as soon as practicable and attempt to resolve it informally.
(6) If parties are unable to resolve a
			 dispute informally, then any of the parties involved in the dispute may request
			 that the ALJ conduct a conference to facilitate the resolution of discovery
			 disputes. A requesting party must identify the specific discovery sought and
			 describe the efforts of the parties to resolve the dispute
			 informally.
(7) A party may file a
			 motion to compel discovery. The motion must contain a certification that the
			 parties have conferred and been unable to resolve the dispute. A party filing a
			 motion to compel will be allowed the opportunity to file a reply to the
			 response to the motion.
(8) A
			 party's assertion that information responsive to a discovery request is
			 confidential may not be used to delay the discovery process; provided, however,
			 a party pursing protection will not be required to produce information that it
			 claims is inadequately protected until such time as its claim for the need for
			 a general protective order or a modified protective order is resolved. If an
			 answering party believes that a response to a discovery request involves
			 confidential information that is inadequately protected by the safeguards
			 existing in the docket, the answering party must notify the requesting party of
			 this belief as soon as practicable and, if appropriate, promptly move for an
			 appropriate protective order.
(9) A
			 party may by motion, or the ALJ may on the ALJ's own motion, propose that
			 sanctions be imposed if a party fails or refuses to comply with an oral or
			 written ruling resolving a discovery dispute. The ALJ may impose sanctions
			 including: default; dismissal; or striking of testimony, evidence, or
			 cross-examination.
Stat. Auth.: ORS
				  756.040 &
				  756.060
Stats. Implemented: ORS
				  183.425,
				  183.450,
				  756.040 &
				  756.500 -
				  756.575