(1) An environmental and land use hearings board is hereby established within the environmental hearings office created under RCW 43.21B.005. The environmental and land use hearings board shall be composed of six members, as provided in RCW 90.58.170. The chairperson of the pollution control hearings board shall be the chairperson of the environmental and land use hearings board. The members of the environmental and land use hearings board shall receive the compensation, travel, and subsistence expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

     (2) All proceedings before the board or any of its members shall be conducted in accordance with such rules of practice and procedure as the board may adopt. In all such proceedings, the board shall have all powers relating to the administration of oaths, issuance of subpoenas, and taking of depositions as set forth in RCW 34.05.446. The board shall publish any such rules and arrange for the reasonable distribution thereof. Failure to adopt such rules shall not deprive the board of jurisdiction nor relieve the board of the duty to hear petitions for review filed under this chapter.

[2003 c 393 § 5.]