(a) Hearing Officer and Panel. The secretary or secretary's designee may conduct the hearing, or may select a panel to receive evidence and question witnesses. A hearing officer will preside at the hearing. No member of the panel will be a witness.

(b) Department Exhibits. Department exhibits and Departmental proposals, if any, will be presented by a person who is not a member of the panel. Exhibits which the Department anticipates introducing at the hearing will be available for public inspection at the Department's Sacramento office not less than seven calendar days prior to the hearing. All exhibits will also be available for review during the hearing.

(c) Hearing Roster. Any person desiring to testify shall sign, at the hearing, a roster prepared for such purpose. At the hearing, the hearing officer will announce the manner in which the roster will be used to determine the order of witnesses.

(d) Testimony by Petitioners. If the hearing results from a petition, the petitioners will normally testify immediately after Department officials have introduced explanatory and statistical material, if any. Petitioners will then explain the proposal and submit supporting documents. In such cases, the petitioners, as a group, normally will be allowed up to one hour for testimony. If the hearing results from more than one petition, the multiple groups of petitioners normally will collectively be allowed up to 90 minutes for testimony. The group can (1) divide up the 90 minutes as they wish, (2) have the 90 minutes allocated to each group on a prorata basis, or (3) each have 20 minutes for testimony. In any case, if there does not appear to be large number of witnesses, the hearing officer may grant each group of petitioners up to an additional 20 minutes of time.

(e) Testimony by Persons Submitting Alternative Proposals. Any person who has submitted an alternative proposal in response to a petition for a public hearing shall be allowed up to 30 minutes for testimony. However, if there does not appear to be a large number of witnesses, the hearing officer may grant up to an additional 20 minutes of time for such testimony.

(f) Other Testimony. Oral testimony shall not exceed the time limit specified by the hearing officer. However, a witness may supplement oral testimony by submitting a written statement at the time the testimony is given. Normally, each witness, or group of witnesses appearing together, will be allowed 20 minutes for direct testimony. However, if there does not appear to be a large number of witnesses, the hearing officer may grant each witness up to an additional 20 minutes of time. After all persons wishing to testify have had an opportunity to do so, not more than an additional 20 minutes of time will be provided to each witness or petitioner who desires to present further testimony.

(g) Questioning of Witnesses. At the conclusion of their testimony, witnesses will be subject to questioning by members of the hearing panel. With respect to Department witnesses, the hearing officer shall permit additional questioning by members of the audience. Any member of the audience may submit questions to the hearing officer for possible use by the hearing panel. Questions of witnesses shall be related to their testimony and pertinent to the call of the hearing.

(h) Written Statements. Any interested person may file a written statement concerning the matter at the hearing. Written statements may be of any length, but limited to relevant matters. They must be signed. Preferably, written statements should be typewritten or printed. Written statements may be delivered personally or by mail any time after the notice of hearing, and shall be received by the Department prior to the close of the hearing. Such statements should be addressed to the hearing officer at the designated Departmental office. Written statements will be available for review during the hearing.

(i) Posthearing Briefs. With respect to posthearing briefs, the provision of Section 61903 of the Code shall be applicable.

(j) Hearing Transcripts. The hearing shall be recorded by a reporter or recorder. Copies of the transcript may be obtained directly from the hearing reporter, or from the Department at the current rate for copies of public records. The Department will maintain and make available for public inspection a hearing transcript at its Sacramento office and, upon reasonable request, at the regional office of the Department nearest the location at which the public hearing was held.