1997 Alaska Statutes
Title 31 OIL AND GAS
Chapter 31.05. ALASKA OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION ACT
Sec. 31.05.080. Rehearings and appeals.

(a) Within 20 days after written notice of the entry of an order or decision of the commission, or such further time as the commission grants for good cause shown, a person affected by it may file with the commission an application for the rehearing in respect of the matter determined by the order or decision, setting forth the respect in which the order or decision is believed to be erroneous. The commission shall grant or refuse the application in whole or in part within 10 days after it is filed, and failure to act on it within this period is a refusal of it and a final disposition of the application. If the hearing is granted, the commission may enter a new order or decision after rehearing as may be required under the circumstances.

(b) A party to the rehearing proceeding, dissatisfied with the disposition of the application for rehearing, may appeal from it to the superior court in the judicial district in which any property affected by the decision of the commission is located, by filing a petition for the review of the action of the commission within 20 days after the entry of the order following rehearing or after the refusal of rehearing as the case may be. The petition shall state briefly the nature of the proceedings before the commission and shall set out the order or decision of the commission complained of and the grounds of invalidity of it upon which the applicant will rely. However, the questions reviewed on appeal shall be only questions presented to the commission by the application for rehearing. Notice of appeal shall be served upon the adverse parties and the commission in the manner provided for the service of summons in civil proceedings. The trial upon appeal shall be without a jury, and the transcript of proceedings before the commission, including the evidence taken in hearings by the commission, shall be received in evidence by the court in whole or in part upon offer by either party, subject to legal objections to evidence, in the same manner as if the evidence was originally offered in the superior court. The commission's action complained of is prima facie valid and the burden is upon the party seeking review to establish the invalidity of the action of the commission. The court shall determine the issues of fact and of law and shall, upon a preponderance of the evidence introduced before the court, which may include evidence in addition to the transcript of proceedings before the commission, and the applicable law, enter its order either affirming or vacating the order of the commission. Appeals may be taken from the judgment or decision of the superior court in the same manner as provided for appeals from any other final judgment entered by a superior court.

(c) The pendency of proceedings to review does not of itself stay or suspend operation of the order or decision being reviewed, but during the pendency of the proceedings, the superior court may, upon its own motion or upon proper application of a party, stay or suspend, in whole or in part, operation of the order or decision pending review, on the terms the court considers just and proper and in accordance with the rules of civil procedure. The court, as a condition to staying or suspension of operation of an order or decision, may require that one or more parties secure, in the form and amount as the court considers just and proper, one or more other parties against loss or damage due to the staying or suspension of the commission's order or decision, if the action of the commission is affirmed.

(d) The rules of practice and procedure in civil cases govern the proceedings for review and appeal to the extent they are consistent with this chapter.