Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024
This 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.
