Section 1848.16  Powers of Hearing Officers

Hearing Officers shall be licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and not be employed by the Department.  Hearing officers may:

a)         Administer oaths and affirmations;

b)         Issue  subpoenas;

c)         Issue appropriate orders relating to discovery;

d)         Rule on procedural requests or similar matters;

e)         Hold conferences for settlement or simplification of the issues;

f)         Regulate the course of the hearing;

g)         Rule on offers of proof and receive relevant evidence;

h)         Where applicable, conduct site inspections of the land to be affected or where the surface coal mining and reclamation operations are located;

i)          Enter appropriate orders;

j)          Examine witnesses and direct witnesses to testify, limit the number of times any witness may testify and limit repetitive or cumulative testimony;

k)         Take other actions authorized by these regulations or by the Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 96 1/2, par. 7901.01 et seq.) [225 ILCS 720].