Section 144-227-9 - APPEALSThis section governs the means of appealing a decision made by the Department to the Administrative Hearings Unit pertaining to an interpretation of the Department's Crematorium Laws, Rules or Procedures under 32 M.R.S.A §1405 and these Rules.
A. Scope. Appeals by an aggrieved party may be based on adverse Department decisions affecting said aggrieved party. Appeals contending that a decision by the Department misapplies laws, procedures, or rules; or is based upon a significant factual error to the detriment of the Crematorium Authority may be filed.B. Procedure for Filing an Appeal. Hearing requests must be directed to the Division of Environmental Health at the Maine Center for Disease Control at 11 State House Station, 286 Water Street, 3rd Floor, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011. (1) The request must state in writing the specific issues being appealed and be filed within 30 days of the Department's decision.(2) Within 14 days of its receipt, the Department representative responsible for administering these Rules will forward the request for an administrative hearing to the Administrative Hearing Unit, to the attention of the Chief Hearings Officer, Office of Administrative Hearings, 11 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0011.(3) Upon receipt of a request for hearing, the Department will submit to the Administrative Hearings Unit an administrative hearings report that contains the decision on appeal and the administrative record for the Department's decision.(4) The Administrative Hearings Unit at the Office of Administrative Hearings may deny appeals filed after 30 days of a final agency decision.C. Procedure for Hearing. A hearing officer at the Department's Administrative Hearings Unit at the Office of Administrative Hearings will conduct the administrative hearing. (1) The hearing will be conducted pursuant to the Rules of the Office of the Administrative Hearings, as set forth in the Administrative Hearings Manual, and in conformity with the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 M.R.S.A. §§8001 - 11008.(2) A notice will inform the appellants of the time, date, and place of the hearing. The hearing will be held in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services office nearest to the party requesting the hearing. The hearing date will be no sooner than 20 days after the date of the notice of the administrative hearing.(3) The hearing officer will issue a written decision of the administrative hearing to all parties.(4) The burden of persuasion for administrative hearings lies with the party who asserts the truth of a claim that such a claim is true. A burden of persuasion is by a preponderance of the evidence, as stated in 10-144 CMR, Chapter 1 (VII)(B).(5) Parties to a formal administrative hearing maynegotiate a mutually acceptable settlement at any point of the procedure.D. Civil Appeals. Any person who is aggrieved by final agency action is entitled to judicial review in the Superior Court in the manner provided by 5 M.R.S.A. §§11001 to 11008. 10-144 C.M.R. ch. 227, § 9