(1) The presiding officer shall regulate the course of the proceedings, in conformity with applicable rules and the prehearing order, if any.

(2) To the extent necessary for full disclosure of all relevant facts and issues, the presiding officer shall afford to all parties the opportunity to respond, present evidence and argument, conduct cross-examination, and submit rebuttal evidence, except as restricted by a limited grant of intervention or by the prehearing order.

(3) In the discretion of the presiding officer, and where the rights of the parties will not be prejudiced thereby, all or part of the hearing may be conducted by telephone, television, or other electronic means. Each party in the hearing must have an opportunity to participate effectively in, to hear, and, if technically and economically feasible, to see the entire proceeding while it is taking place.

(4) The presiding officer shall cause the hearing to be recorded by a method chosen by the agency. The agency is not required, at its expense, to prepare a transcript, unless required to do so by a provision of law. Any party, at the party's expense, may cause a reporter approved by the agency to prepare a transcript from the agency's record, or cause additional recordings to be made during the hearing if the making of the additional recording does not cause distraction or disruption.

(5) The hearing is open to public observation, except for the parts that the presiding officer states to be closed under a provision of law expressly authorizing closure or under a protective order entered by the presiding officer pursuant to applicable rules. A presiding officer may order the exclusion of witnesses upon a showing of good cause. To the extent that the hearing is conducted by telephone, television, or other electronic means, and is not closed, the availability of public observation is satisfied by giving members of the public an opportunity, at reasonable times, to hear or inspect the agency's record, and to inspect any transcript obtained by the agency.

Effective date—1989 c 175: See note following RCW 34.05.010.