The permits
that ITD issued this week for the first four mega-loads on U.S. Highway 12 may
say they're valid as of 10 p.m. tonight, but at this point ITD says the ConocoPhillips
loads won’t be moving tonight. The permits were stayed while a hearing officer
determines whether ITD should hold a contested case hearing; that hearing
officer, attorney and former Idaho State Bar President Merlyn Clark, hasn’t yet
issued a ruling and it’s not clear how long that process will take. Plus, ITD’s
permits are contingent on Montana
also issuing permits for the giant truckloads – which will take up both lanes
of the two-lane highway – to travel in that state as well. That hasn’t yet
happened.
“We will only
issue a permit to Conoco when we are convinced that Montana is ready to issue one as well,” said
Jeff Stratten, ITD spokesman. Montana
officials were notified when ITD issued but stayed its four permits this week,
Stratten said; “They were aware of what we were doing.”At that point, he said, there was “no need”
for Montana
to issue permits because ITD’s permits were stayed and weren’t going into
effect.
Stratten said the next step in the process is setting briefing and hearing schedules for the arguments on whether or not to allow parties to intervene and participate in hearings; both should take place within the next week to 10 days, he said."The hearing officer could rule at the conclusion of the oral arguments or could issue a ruling later," Stratten said.
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.