(9) Intervention and Participation

(a) Intervention. Any Person not initially a Party, who may be substantially and specifically affected thereby and wishes to intervene or participate in an Adjudicatory Proceeding shall file a written petition to do so. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the petition shall be subject to section 1.01 (7) (a).

(b) Form and Content. The petition shall state the name and address of the Person filing the petition. It shall describe the manner in which the Person making the petition may be affected by the proceeding. It shall state why the Agency or Presiding Officer should allow intervention or participation, any relief sought, and any supporting law.

(c) Filing the Petition. The petition may be filed at any time following a request for an Adjudicatory Proceeding or an order to show cause, but in no event later than the date of hearing. Petitions may be allowed at the discretion of the Presiding Officer, for any Person who is likely to be substantially and specifically affected by the proceeding, provided all existing Parties are given notice and an opportunity to respond pursuant to section 1.01 (7) (a).

(d) Rights of Intervenors. The Presiding Officer may permit any Person who is likely to be substantially and specifically affected by the proceeding to intervene. Any Person permitted to intervene shall have all the rights of a Party, subject to the discretion of the Presiding Officer to avoid undue delay or unnecessary duplication of evidence, and shall be subject to all limitations imposed upon a Party.

(e) Rights of Participants. The Presiding Officer may permit any Person who may be affected by a proceeding to participate. Permission to participate shall be limited to the right to argue orally at the close of a hearing and to file an amicus brief, but shall not necessarily make the Person allowed to participate a Party in interest who may be aggrieved by any result of the proceeding. A Person who petitioned to intervene and who was allowed only to participate may participate without waiving his rights to administrative or judicial review of the denial of his motion to intervene.

(f) Intervention to Protect the Environment. Any group of ten or more Persons may intervene collectively as a Party in any Adjudicatory Proceeding according to G.L. c. 30A, § 10A, provided that intervention is limited to the issue of actual or probable damage to the environment as defined in G.L. c. 214 § 7A, and the elimination or reduction thereof. The petition to intervene pursuant to said Section 10A shall also state the names and addresses of the members of the group and identify the member of the group, or the group's attorney, or the group's agent, who will be the group's representative before the Presiding Officer. The representative shall have the sole authority to sign papers for the group and to accept service for the group. Any Paper served on the representative of the group shall be deemed served on the entire group. If no representative is specifically stated in the petition, the first Person mentioned in the motion to intervene as a member of the group shall be deemed the representative of the group. A group that is permitted to intervene as a Party shall be collectively deemed a single Party as defined in these rules.

(g) Permissive Reference. When a Party to an action relies upon any rule or regulation issued by an Agency other than the one conducting the proceeding as grounds for a claim or defense, the Agency having promulgated the rule or regulation on timely application by a Party and in the discretion of the Presiding Officer, or at the initiative of the Presiding Officer, may offer a relevant construction, interpretation or application of the rule or regulation in aid of the resolution of one or more of the issues involved in the Adjudicatory Proceeding. Any request to the promulgating Agency shall be in writing and present a neutral statement of the issue or issues possibly affected by the rule or regulation. The promulgating Agency may respond in writing as promptly as its resources allow, but in no event later than 30 days from its receipt of the request. The promulgating Agency may expressly decline to respond and need not justify its position, and its failure to respond within the time limited shall be deemed a declination to do so.

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