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DEQ seeks to align contested-case procedures with Office of Administrative Hearings; temporary rule extends coverage
Summary
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality asked the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee to approve rule docket 5-801-232401 to update DEQ contested-case procedures and records rules to align with the Office of Administrative Hearings while retaining DEQ-specific filing windows and trade-secret safeguards.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality asked the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee to approve rule docket 5-801-232401 so the agency’s contested-case procedures and its rules on protection and disclosure of records align with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and retain DEQ-specific provisions.
"This rule provides procedural requirements related to administrative cases called contested cases," DEQ Director Jess Byrne said in presenting the docket. Byrne said the pending rule formally updates DEQ references to OAH procedures after the 2022 statute that established OAH as the independent agency for contested-case proceedings. He described the pending rule as largely an update to references with some DEQ-specific provisions retained.
Byrne listed items DEQ intends to keep in the state rule, including who may file a petition and how, a 35-day window to file a petition from the date an action was taken, a 21-day limit for permit holders to intervene, board notice to petitioners within 14 days, procedures for safeguarding trade secret information and clarification that a stay is not automatic. Byrne said the board adopted a temporary rule on June 26, 2024, effective July 1, 2024; that temporary rule will expire at sine die of the 2025 legislative session unless extended. The pending rule was adopted by the Board of Environmental Quality on Nov. 14, 2024 and, if approved by concurrent resolution, would be effective July 1, 2025.
Committee members asked why the temporary rule was not issued sooner after the 2022 statute; Byrne and others explained OAH took time to finalize its own rules, there were procedural and scheduling constraints for the board to adopt temporary rules, and recent changes to the state rulemaking process affected timing. Byrne said the temporary rule was a stopgap to avoid a gap in procedural coverage and the pending rule would make the updates permanent.
DEQ requested committee approval of docket 5-801-232401 (temporary and pending rules). The committee did not vote on the request during this session.
