(a) The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission is given and charged with the power and duty to conduct such investigations and hold such hearings as it may deem advisable and necessary for the discharge of its duties under this chapter and to authorize any member, employee, or agent appointed by it to conduct such investigations or hold such hearings.
(b) In any such hearing or investigation, any member of the commission or any employee or agent thereto authorized by the commission may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and issue, in the name of the commission, subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in such hearing or investigation.
(c) Witnesses shall receive the same fees and mileage as in civil actions, to be paid out of funds appropriated to the commission.
(d) (1) In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued under this section or refusal to testify, the circuit court of the county where the proceeding is pending or in which the person guilty of the contumacy or refusal to obey is found or resides shall have jurisdiction, upon application of the commission or its authorized member, employee, agent, or administrative law judge, to issue to the person an order requiring him or her to appear and testify or produce evidence, as the case may require.
(2) A failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as contempt.
(e) In accordance with the powers set forth in subsections (a)-(d) of this section, the commission is authorized to conduct adjudicatory hearings providing an aggrieved person with standing a forum for contesting any decision of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. For the purposes of such hearings, the commission's jurisdiction shall be construed as including all regulatory programs vested with the department.
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