40-360.04. Hearings; procedures

A. The chairman of the committee shall, within ten days after receiving an application, provide public notice as to the time and place of a hearing on the application and provide notice by certified mail to the affected areas of jurisdiction at least twenty days prior to a scheduled hearing. If the committee subsequently proposes to condition the certificate on the use of a site other than the site or alternative sites generally described in the notice and considered at the hearing, a further hearing shall be held thereon after public notice. The hearing or hearings shall be held not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days after the date notice is first given and shall be held in the general area within which the proposed plant or transmission line is to be located or at the state capitol at Phoenix as determined by the chairman, at his discretion.

B. The committee may conduct the hearing or may appoint an attorney as a hearing officer. To be eligible for appointment the attorney must reside in a county other than the county in which the proposed site is located and have been admitted to practice in this state for not less than five years.

C. The committee or hearing officer shall receive under oath and before a court reporter the material, nonrepetitive evidence and comments of the parties to the proceedings and any rebuttal evidence of the applicant, and the committee or hearing officer may require the consolidation of the representation of nongovernmental parties having similar interests.

D. The committee shall review and consider the transcript of the public hearing or hearings and shall by a decision of a majority of the members issue or deny a certificate of environmental compatibility within one hundred eighty days after the application has been filed with or referred to the committee.

E. Should the estimated cost of the facilities or site be increased as a result of the action of the committee, such increase, as determined by an independent engineering firm selected jointly by the committee and applicant, shall be reflected in the certificate issued by the committee. The engineering firm shall include a registered professional engineer experienced in utility construction.