Presiding officer; appointment, duties, powers.

§ 1052.4 Presiding officer; appointment, duties, powers. (a) For oral presentations, the presiding officer shall either be the Chairman of the Commission or a presiding officer shall be appointed by the Chairman with the concurrence of the Commission. (b) The presiding officer shall chair the proceedings, shall make appropriate provision for testimony, comments and questions, and shall be responsible for the orderly conduct of the proceedings. The presiding officer shall have all the powers necessary or appropriate to contribute to the equitable and efficient conduct of the oral proceedings including the following: (1) The right to apportion the time of persons making presentations in an equitable manner in order to complete the presentations within the time period allotted for the proceedings. (2) The right to terminate or shorten the presentation of any party when, in the view of the presiding officer, such presentation is repetitive or is not relevant to the purpose of the proceedings. (3) The right to confine the presentations to the issues specified in the notice of oral proceeding or, where no issues are specified, to matters pertinent to the proposed rule or other proceeding. (4) The right to require a single representative to present the views of two or more persons or groups who have the same or similar interests. The presiding officer shall have the authority to identify groups or persons with the same or similar interests in the proceedings. (c) The presiding officer and Commission representatives shall have the right to question persons making an oral presentation as to their testimony and any other relevant matter.