49 CFR 511.21: Prehearing conferences.

(a) When held. (1) A prehearing conference shall be held in person or by conference telephone call, except in unusual circumstances, approximately fifty (50) days after publication in the Federal Register of the complaint, upon ten (10) days notice to all parties and participants, to consider any or all the following:

(i) Motions for consolidation of proceedings;

(ii) Identification, simplification and clarification of the issues;

(iii) Necessity or desirability of amending the pleadings;

(iv) Stipulations and admissions of fact and of the content and authenticity of documents;

(v) Oppositions to notices of oral examination;

(vi) Motions for protective orders to limit or modify discovery;

(vii) Issuance of subpoenas to compel the appearance of witnesses and the production of documents;

(viii) Limitation of the number of witnesses, particularly the avoidance of duplicate expert witnesses;

(ix) Matters of which official notice will be taken and matters which may be resolved by reliance upon findings of other Federal agencies; and

(x) Other matters which may expedite the conduct of the hearing.