§ 20.603 Interrogatories.

(a) Any party requesting interrogatories shall so move to the ALJ. The motion must include—

(1) A statement of the purpose and scope of the interrogatories; and

(2) The proposed interrogatories.

(b) The ALJ shall review the proposed interrogatories, and may enter an order either—

(1) Approving the service of some or all of the proposed interrogatories; or

(2) Denying the motion.

(c) The party requesting interrogatories shall serve on the party named in the interrogatories the approved written interrogatories.

(d) Each interrogatory must be answered separately and fully in writing under oath or affirmation, unless it is objected to, in which event the party named shall state the reasons for the objection instead of a response. This party, the party's attorney, or the party's representative shall sign the party's responses to interrogatories.

(e) Responses or objections must be filed within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories.

(f) A response to an interrogatory is sufficient when—

(1) The responder lists the records from which such answers may be derived or ascertained; and

(2) The burden of ascertaining the information in a response to an interrogatory is substantially the same for all parties involved in the action; and

(3) The information may be obtained from an examination, audit, or inspection of records, or from a compilation, abstract, or summary based on such records.

(g) The party serving the interrogatory shall be afforded reasonable opportunity to examine, audit, or inspect the resource and to make copies, compilations, abstracts, or summaries. The specification must include sufficient detail to permit the interrogating party to locate and identify the individual records from which the answer may be ascertained.