Chapter 672-1 RULES OF GENERAL APPLICABILITY
| (1) |
The divisions
within the Department of Transportation shall be those deemed by the
Commissioner of the Department of Transportation to be necessary and proper for
the efficient operation of the Department. |
| (2) |
The mailing address and location of the
State Department of Transportation is the State Highway Building, No. 2 Capitol
Square, Atlanta, Georgia 30334. |
| (3) |
All legal notices and all notices and correspondence respecting administrative
proceedings should be directed to the Department of Transportation. |
The following definitions shall apply generally to all rules
and regulations of the Department of Transportation.
| (a) |
"Board" shall mean the State
Transportation Board of the State of Georgia. |
| (b) |
"Department" shall mean the Department of
Transportation of the State of Georgia. |
| (c) |
"Commissioner" shall mean the
Commissioner of the Department of Transportation of the State of
Georgia. |
| (d) |
"Hearing" shall mean a
right of the Department and of parties affected by any action of the Department
to present, either formally or informally, relevant information, testimony,
documents, evidence and argument as to why such action should or should not be
taken. |
| (e) |
"Hearing Examiner" or
"Hearing Officer" or "Reviewing Officer" shall mean an officer or employee of
the Department or other person so designated by the Commissioner who shall be
employed or appointed by the Department for this purpose as needed and shall be
authorized to exercise such powers as are given such persons by statute or
rule, except that in contested cases relating to bidder prequalification
arising under the provisions of Chapter 672-5, Rules of the State Department of
Transportation,"Hearing Examiner" or "Hearing Officer" or "Reviewing Officer"
shall mean the Board of Review as defined in Rule
672-5-.02(a), Rules
of the State Department of Transportation. |
| (f) |
Department or agency review shall mean a
Department review of the initial determination of the hearing examiner or
hearing officer designated by the Commissioner to conduct the hearing as
authorized in Rule
672-1-.05(e), and
shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in Rule
672-1-.05(f) and
(g). |
| (1) |
Availability of declaratory ruling. Any
person whose legal rights will be interfered with or impaired by the
application of any statutory provision or any rule or order of the Department
may petition the Department and request a declaratory ruling thereon. The
Department will not render advisory opinions, resolve questions which have
become moot or are abstract or hypothetical, or otherwise act hereunder except
with respect to such actual controversies or other cases upon which a superior
court would be required to act under the Georgia declaratory judgment statutes
as construed by the appellate courts of Georgia. |
| (2) |
Form of petition. Each such petition
shall be filed with the Department in writing and shall state:
| (a) |
The name and post office address of the
petitioner; |
| (b) |
The full text of
the statute, rule, or order upon which a ruling is requested; |
| (c) |
A paragraphed statement of all pertinent
and existing facts necessary to a determination of the applicability of the
quoted statute or rule; |
| (d) |
The
petitioner's contention, if any, as to the aforesaid applicability with
citations of legal authorities, if any, which authorize, support or require a
decision in accordance therewith; |
| (e) |
A statement setting forth in detail the
petitioner's interest in the matter and why and how the petitioner is uncertain
or insecure with respect to his rights. The petition shall be verified under
oath by, or in proper behalf of, the petitioner. |
|
| (3) |
Proceedings on petition. If the
Department shall determine that a decision can be rendered on the face of the
petition without further proceedings, the Department shall render a summary
decision thereon. Otherwise, parties shall be notified and the matter shall be
heard in an informal hearing. |
| (4) |
Informal request for interpretation and rulings. The provisions of this Rule
shall not be construed to preclude:
| (a) |
Any
person from requesting the Department to interpret or otherwise rule upon the
applicability of any pertinent statute or rule informally by personal
appearance before the Department, by letter or by telegram to the Department or
any officer or member thereof; or |
| (b) |
The Department from acting upon any such
request as and when it deems appropriate or from issuing any interpretative
ruling without petition therefor. |
|
| (5) |
Any request presented in any manner other
than in accordance with the provisions of Rules
672-1-.01(2),(3) and
672-1-.03(2) above shall not be deemed to be filed as a Petition for
Declaratory Ruling but shall be deemed an informal request for interpretation
or ruling and shall be acted on as such. |
| (1) |
Form of petition. Each petition for
adoption of rules made pursuant to the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act
shall be filed with the Department in writing and shall state:
| (a) |
The name and post office address of the
petitioner; |
| (b) |
The full text of
the rule requested to be amended or repealed, or the full text of the rule
desired to be promulgated; |
| (c) |
A
paragraphed statement of the reason such rule should be amended, repealed or
promulgated, including a statement of all pertinent existing facts as to
petitioner's interest in the matter; |
| (d) |
Citations of legal authorities, if any,
which authorize, support or require the action requested by petitioner. The
petition should be verified under oath, or in proper behalf of, the
petitioner. |
|
| (2) |
Proceeding on petition. Upon receipt of the petition, the Commissioner or the
Deputy Commissioner, and the Board if the rule involves its policy-making
function, shall decide upon the action to be taken. Within thirty (30) days
after receipt of the petition, the Department shall inform the petitioner by
mail of the decision reached, and shall either decline to take the action
requested, stating its reasons for so declining, or shall initiate rule-making
or rule-changing proceedings in accordance with the Georgia Administrative
Procedure Act. |
The hearing and appeal procedures provided for in the Georgia
Administrative Procedure Act shall be followed in cases which are directed by
statute to be conducted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and in
cases where no procedure is specified by law. Contested cases, including
appeals to the Commissioner demanding return of monies collected under the
provisions of Code Section
32-6-27,
O.C.G.A., heard pursuant to the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act shall be
conducted in accordance with the procedures provided therein and the following
procedures:
| (a) |
Initiating a contested
case. Any person who is legally entitled to contest a ruling or order of the
Department may do so by filing with the Department a request for hearing which
shall contain the following:
| 1. |
A title which
indicates the nature of the proceedings; |
| 2. |
The complete name and address of the party
filing the request; |
| 3. |
The name and
address of all other interested parties; |
| 4. |
A clear and concise statement of the facts
upon which the contested case arises; |
| 5. |
A prayer setting forth the relief sought;
and |
| 6. |
If the party filing the
request is represented by counsel, the name and address of counsel. |
|
| (b) |
Limitation on right to a
hearing.
| 1. |
The Department will grant hearings
as a matter of right only upon timely receipt of a request therefor as
described in (a) above, but may, in its discretion, allow extensions of time
and amendment of requests for good cause shown, except where an extension of
time for a request for a hearing is not permitted by law. |
| 2. |
Limitation on right to a hearing in cases
involving over weight vehicle enforcement statutes. The Department will grant
an agency review as a matter of right only upon a timely receipt of a request
as prescribed in Georgia Laws 1974, p. 1422, but may, in its discretion, allow
extensions of time and amendments of request for good cause shown except where
an extension of time for a request for a hearing is not permitted by
law. |
|
| (c) |
Responses to
requests for hearing. The Department will respond to all requests for hearings
with a notice scheduling a hearing or with an order denying the request for
hearing and stating the reasons for a denial. |
| (d) |
Motions. Any application to the
Department to enter any order or take any action after the filing of a request
for hearing shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing, shall be
made in writing, shall state specifically the grounds therefor, and shall set
forth the action or order sought. No motion shall be ruled upon except when the
case in chief is ruled upon unless the moving party specifically requests a
ruling at some other time and the agency deems such ruling
appropriate. |
| (e) |
Hearings. Hearings
in all contested cases shall be conducted before a hearing officer appointed by
the Department. Upon conclusion of a hearing, the hearing officer shall prepare
an initial decision, a copy of which shall be mailed to the party requesting
the hearing. Such a decision on bidder prequalification will be mailed no later
than ten (10) days after the hearing. |
| (f) |
Practice on agency review. The practice
and proceedings for securing agency review of an initial decision of a hearing
officer shall be as follows:
| 1. |
Requests for
agency review shall be submitted in writing to the Department within thirty
days from the date of the initial decision. No review shall be held if
requested thereafter except where events uncontrollable by the aggrieved party
are shown to have prevented a timely request. In this regard, the decision of
the agency shall be final. |
| 2. |
A
party desiring agency review may submit to the agency written arguments, briefs
and motions within the same limitations as prescribed for a request for an
agency hearing. On agency review, both parties shall be allowed to present oral
arguments if requested by either party. |
| 3. |
The agency decision on agency review shall
be based solely on the record developed before the hearing officer and such
arguments, briefs, and motions as have been submitted in accordance with
subsection (f)2. above. No new evidence will be received by the agency in any
form. |
| 4. |
If the party requesting
agency review desires that the agency consider matters which are not part of
the record, the agency should be requested to remand the matter of the hearing
officer for receipt of such additional evidence. Remands for the purpose of
receiving additional evidence will be granted only if deemed by the agency to
be justified upon a showing that the evidence was not available at the time of
the hearing, through no fault of the party requesting the remand, and could not
have been made available by the exercise of reasonable diligence. |
|
| (g) |
Conduct of agency review.
| 1. |
Agency review shall be conducted by the
Commissioner, or either the Deputy Commissioner or the State Highway Engineer
upon designation by the Commissioner, in all cases which do not require an
exercise of the policy-making functions of the Department. All cases which do
require an exercise of the policy-making functions of the Department shall be
reviewed by the Board. |
| 2. |
The
Commissioner may, if he determines that conduct of agency review in any case
may involve exercise of a policy-making function, refer such case to the Board
for agency review. |
| 3. |
The Agency
may dispose of the case in any of the following ways:
| (i) |
Affirm the initial decision of the
hearing officer and adopt his findings and conclusions as is deemed
appropriate; |
| (ii) |
Adopt a new
decision based on the record; |
| (iii) |
Remand the case to the hearing officer for such further proceedings as the
Agency may order; or |
| (iv) |
Reverse
the hearing officer's decision and enter such order in the case as is deemed
appropriate. |
|
|
| (h) |
Rehearings. Motion to reconsider an
agency decision or ruling must be received at Department of Transportation
Headquarters within ten (10) days after the decision or ruling is
rendered. |
Upon application, and sufficient cause being shown, the
Commissioner may issue an emergency permit, from which he may exclude, as he
deems necessary and appropriate, certain conditions otherwise applicable to
overweight and overdimensional permits as outlined in Chapters 672-2, 672-3,
and 672-4 of these Rules and Regulations. Such emergency permit may be issued
only where the anticipated movement for which a permit is necessary is required
by a governmental agency or a public utility in an effort to alleviate hardship
and suffering in situations where an emergency or disaster
exists.
All contested cases arising from a decision made by the
Department under the Georgia Rural Transportation Program shall be handled in
accordance with the practices and procedures set forth in Rule
672-1-.05, Rules of the Georgia
Department of Transportation.
Upon application, and sufficient cause being shown, the
Commissioner may issue a special permit, for mobile homes traveling the public
roads of this State, which would allow a mobile home in excess of twelve feet
wide up to and including fourteen feet wide to have a total overall combination
length of 95 feet, to include a towing vehicle no smaller than a 15 foot mobile
home toter.
