STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Energy Resources Conservation
and Development Commission

 
 
 

In the Matter of: Application for Certification for the High Desert Power Project ____________________________

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Docket No. 97-AFC-1 NOTICE OF PREHEARING CONFERENCE and SCHEDULING ORDER

At this event, all parties shall present their respective opinions concerning: which substantive topic areas are ready for evidentiary hearings; which require further analysis, including the nature of, and timeframe for, any such analysis; which topic areas the parties have reached agreement upon; and which remain subject to disagreement and require adjudication.

Interested agencies and members of the public are encouraged to attend and may comment at this Conference.

Purposes and Procedures

The basic purposes of the Prehearing Conference are to assess the parties' readiness for evidentiary hearings, to identify areas of agreement or dispute, and to discuss procedures which will assist the Committee in concluding this licensing process in as timely a manner as feasible. In this regard, the parties shall be prepared to discuss the matters mentioned above as well as future filing dates for testimony and other evidentiary documents, briefing and comment periods, and other related items.

Each party shall serve and file a Prehearing Conference Statement. These Statements must be received at the Commission Docket Unit, 1516 Ninth Street, MS-4, Sacramento, California 95814, no later than 5:00 p.m., on Tuesday, February 9, 1999. Identify these Statements with "Docket No. 97-AFC-1."

Each Statement shall specify:

• The topic areas which a party believes are ready to proceed to evidentiary hearings

• The topic areas which a party believes are not yet ready to proceed to evidentiary hearings and the reasons therefore

• Whether or not dispute requiring adjudication exists on each topic area; for topic areas which remain disputed, include a brief summary of the precise nature of the dispute

• The identity of the witness(es) a party proposes to sponsor, the topic area upon which the witness(es) will testify, a brief summary of the testimony to be offered and of the witness(es) qualifications, and the time required to present direct testimony

• Any exhibits a party intends to offer as evidence, and

• A proposed schedule for the remainder of these proceedings

Interested members of the public or governmental agencies may comment at the Prehearing Conference.

Anyone with a legitimate interest relevant to the siting of the proposed project may file a Petition to Intervene and become a formal party to the proceeding. Party status provides the rights to present independent evidence, receive pertinent documents, and cross-examine witnesses; it also imposes the duties to comply with various orders, procedures, and filing requirements, as well as be subject to cross-examination by other parties.

The Public Adviser's Office will assist anyone interested in preparing a Petition to Intervene. Commission regulations provide that a Petition to Intervene should be filed at least 30 days prior to the beginning of evidentiary hearings. [20 Cal. Code of Regs., sec. 1207(b)]. In this instance the Committee directs that any Petition to Intervene should be filed prior to the February 18, 1999, Prehearing Conference. Typically, by the time the Committee schedules a Prehearing Conference, intervenors are not granted time extensions to review existing case materials since to do so could delay the proceeding.

Those desiring information or assistance concerning participation in these proceedings should contact Roberta Mendonca, the Public Adviser, at (916) 654-4489 or, toll free, (800) 822-6228,or at mendonc@energy.state.ca.us. Rick Buell, the Staff Project Manager, will respond to technical inquiries and may be reached at (916) 653-1614. Questions of a legal or procedural nature should be addressed to Stanley W. Valkosky, the Hearing Officer, at (916) 654-3893. Please contact Robert Sifuentes at (916) 654-5005 if you require special accommodation to participate at this meeting.

The Committee last issued a Scheduling Order on October 6, 1998. Since that time, much additional data has been submitted. Based upon the October and November status reports, we expect further information to be submitted and events to occur according to the following schedule:

ENERGY RESOURCES CONSERVATION
AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

_____//signed//_____
JANANNE SHARPLESS
Commissioner
Presiding Member

_____//signed//_____
ROBERT A. LAURIE
Commissioner
Associate Member