(a) The coal pipeline applicant shall publish, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the commission and existing law, a notice that it has filed an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this Act in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the project will be located. The notice shall, among other things, specify to the extent practicable the land which would be subject to the power of eminent domain.
(b) The commission shall then conduct public hearings in areas of the state along the prospective pipeline right-of-way as it shall determine shall be necessary to give property owners an opportunity to be heard. The commission is vested with authority to alter the right-of-way to meet with local objections.