---
kind: "section"
citation: "40 C.F.R. § 179.70"
title: "40"
number: "179.70"
heading: "Authority of presiding officer."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/40/179.70"
---

# §179.70. Authority of presiding officer.


The presiding officer shall conduct the hearing in a fair and impartial manner subject to the precepts of the Administrative Procedure Act. The presiding officer has all powers necessary to conduct a fair, expeditious, and orderly hearing, including the power to:

- (a) Specify and change the date, time, and place for conferences, and issue and modify a schedule for the hearing.
- (b) Establish an orderly manner for developing evidentiary facts at preliminary conferences under [§ 179.87](/cfr/40/179.87.md), for making rulings on oral testimony and cross-examination under [§ 179.93](/cfr/40/179.93.md), and for making other similar evidentiary rulings in accord with these regulations.
- (c) **Prepare statements of the areas of factual disagreement among the participants.**
- (d) Hold conferences to settle, simplify, or determine the issues in a hearing or to consider other matters that may expedite the hearing.
- (e) **Administer oaths and affirmations.**
- (f) **Control the course of the hearing and the conduct of the participants.**
- (g) **Examine witnesses and strike their testimony if they fail to respond fully to proper questions.**
- (h) **Rule on, admit, exclude, or limit evidence.**
- (i) **Set the time for filing pleadings.**
- (j) **Rule on motions and other procedural matters.**
- (k) Rule on motions for summary decision under § l79.90.
- (l) Conduct the hearing in stages if the number of parties is large or the issues are numerous and complex.
- (m) Strike the participation of any person under § l79.42(f), or exclude any person from the hearing under § l79.50, or take other reasonable disciplinary action.
- (n) Take any other action for the fair, expeditious, and orderly conduct of the hearing that is not in conflict with law or these rules.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 21 U.S.C. 346a, 371(a); Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1970.

### Source

Source: 55 FR 50293, Dec. 5, 1990, unless otherwise noted.