A.Record Before the Commissioner and State Fire Marshal: The record before the Appeals Panel shall consist of the notice of appeal and the entire record that was developed before the Commissioner and the State Fire Marshal at the time the decision which is being appealed was made. However, the Appeals Panel will review only those parts of the record which have been forwarded to the Panel by the parties. Therefore, within 15 days of the Commissioner's or State Fire Marshal's receipt of a complete notice of appeal, the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal shall file with the Appeals Panel those parts of the record which the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal deems pertinent to the issues presented in the notice of appeal, hereinafter referred to as the appellate record. The Commissioner or State Fire Marshal shall simultaneously deliver a copy of the appellate record to the appellant. Instead of filing the record within 15 days of receipt of a complete notice of appeal, the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal may file a request for an extension of time in which to file the record so long as the extension does not seek permission to file the record less than 30 days prior to the anticipated hearing date, which is the next scheduled meeting of the Appeals Panel. The request shall indicate whether any parties object to the request. Requests shall be ruled upon by the Chair of the Panel or the Chair's designee, who shall notify the parties of the decision.
Within 10 days of receiving the appellate record from the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal, the appellant shall file with the Appeals Panel those documents from the record that was developed before the Commissioner and/or State Fire Marshal which the appellant deems necessary to supplement the appellate record as provided by the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal. The appellant shall simultaneously deliver a copy of the supplemental documents filed to the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal.. Upon filing of the record pursuant to this paragraph, or expiration of these time periods, whichever first occurs, the appeal shall be deemed complete and ready for action by the Appeals Panel.
B.New Evidence: The Appeals Panel will not accept any new evidence unless it finds that it is relevant and that such evidence could not have been submitted to the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal as part of the application process. If the appellant seeks to introduce new evidence in support of its appeal, the appellant shall provide an offer of proof as part of the notice of appeal which shall contain the following information: (1) a summary of what the evidence is expected to show and why it is relevant to the appeal; (2) the nature or form of such evidence, i.e., whether the evidence is documentary or testimonial or both; (3) the reason(s) why such evidence could not have been presented to the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal; and (4) copies of any documents which the appellant proposes to offer as new evidence. At the hearing, the Appeals Panel shall determine, by majority vote, whether it will accept the new evidence or remand the proceeding to the Commissioner or State Fire Marshal for consideration of such evidence. Written testimonial evidence shall not be admitted into the record unless the author of such testimony is available for cross-examination or subject to subpoena, except for good cause.C.Statement of Position: Any party may file a statement of position on the appeal for inclusion in the record. The statement of position must be received by the Appeals Panel and all parties to the proceeding at least 10 days before the hearing.D.Documents prepared by Staff: Summary documents that are prepared by the staff of the Appeals Panel and that are submitted to the Appeals Panel shall be included in the record and served upon all parties.E.Post-hearing Submissions: The Appeals Panel may, by majority vote taken at the hearing, agree to accept additional material for consideration after the close of the hearing. The date by which any such submission must be received by the Panel will be established at the hearing.F.Consequences of Failure to Meet Filing Deadline: Except for documents referred to in subsection D and E, if any submissions for the record have not been received by the Appeals Panel or other parties to the proceeding within the applicable time period set forth in these rules, the Appeals Panel may refuse to accept and consider such submissions or the Chair of the Panel or designee may postpone the hearing until a later date.90- 564 C.M.R. ch. 3, § 5