Sec. 29-21. - Filing an appeal.

An appeal shall be filed in writing with the CUPA within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice to comply. The appeal must be filed with the CUPA. Such appeals shall indicate the name and address of the person or entity filing the appeal and the name and address of the facility involved, if applicable. The appeal shall also contain, setting forth with particularity the ground or grounds for the appeal, the person's contentions on appeal and a legal basis for the person's contentions. The appellant shall assert any claim for trade secrets to be raised at the hearing, together with a legal justification for the claim. Failure to assert such a claim in a timely fashion may be deemed by the hearing officer to constitute a waiver of the claim. If the hearing officer determines that a trade secret exists, it may take any step necessary to prevent unnecessary disclosure including excluding the public from that portion of the hearing.

(Ord. No. 5015 § 1, 1997.)

Sec. 29-22. - Notice of hearing.

(a)

(1)

Subsequent to receipt of an appeal, a notice of hearing shall be served on the appellant by the CUPA, in writing, setting forth the time and place of the hearing, the ground or grounds upon which the recovery action is based, the pertinent code section or sections, and a brief statement of the factual matters in support thereof. The notice shall be given at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing date which shall be not less than thirty (30) nor more than ninety (90) days from the date upon which the request for hearing was filed. The hearing officer may reschedule the hearing for good cause shown by either party.

(2)

A notice of hearing shall also include the names of hearing officers empowered to hear appeals together with the following notice:

 "One of the individuals set forth above will be acting in the capacity of a Hearing Officer in connection with the alleged hazardous materials incident for which you have been deemed a responsible party. If you object to having any one of these individuals sit as a Hearing Officer, you must advise the CUPA in writing of your objections, together with specific reasons why such officer could not impartially conduct the administrative abatement hearing, no later than ten (10) days from the date of this letter. Failure to file a timely objection with the CUPA or failure to set forth good cause as to why any such individual should not serve as a Hearing Officer in connection with your property shall be deemed a waiver of any rights to object to or recuse such Hearing Officer at the time of the hazardous materials liability appeal hearing.

(b)

Hearings shall be conducted informally according to rules or procedures established by the hearing officer.

(c)

Proceedings before the hearing officer shall be electronically recorded. Either party may request that the proceedings also be recorded by a court stenographer, at the cost of the requesting party. Transcriptions shall be at the cost of the requesting party.

(d)

A hearing officer will conduct the hearing and prepare findings.

(e)

If no action is taken by the hearing officer within thirty (30) days of the hearing on the appeal, the appeal shall be deemed denied.

(f)

Costs associated with the hearing officer will be reimbursed by the party deemed responsible in the findings of the appeal, if any.

(Ord. No. 5015 § 1, 1997.)

Sec. 29-23. - Hearing procedures.

(a)

The hearing need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses. Any relevant evidence shall be considered if it is the sort of evidence upon which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objections in civil actions before a court of competent jurisdiction. Unduly repetitious or irrelevant evidence shall be excluded at the discretion of the hearing officer.

(b)

The county and its officials shall have the burden of producing evidence supporting the liability of the party seeking to be excused from hazardous materials clean up costs. Upon such a showing, the appellant will have the burden of producing evidence in support of his/her theory that he/she does not bear liability for hazardous materials cleanup costs.

(c)

Findings shall be made upon a preponderance of the evidence in the administrative record.

(d)

After all of the testimony is taken, the hearing officer shall close the public hearing unless he or she deems it necessary to continue the hearing for the receipt of additional evidence or an ordinance interpretation from the board of supervisors. During the course of the hearing, the hearing officer may question any witness and may, at the request of a party in interest, allow cross examination if he or she deems it in the interests of justice to do so.

(e)

Whenever the hearing officer deems it necessary to take a field trip to view the site in question, public notice of the time and location shall be given. Unless the site visit is tape recorded, the hearing officer shall not talk to any members of the public during the conduct of such site visit. In the event of a site visit, the hearing officer shall continue the hearing to a time certain on a date after that upon which the site visit will occur. At the time of the continued hearing, the hearing officer shall place into the record his or her visual observations made and the conclusions drawn as a result of such visit.

(f)

Hearing officers may, upon good cause shown, issue subpoenas. If a party in interest requests the issuance of a subpoena for the attendance of a witness or the production of documents, such party shall bear the responsibility and cost of serving such subpoenas together with the reasons for requesting same shall be sent to the CUPA which will, in turn, forward them to the hearing officer.

(g)

Hearings shall be conducted in a manner suitable to ensure fundamental fairness to all parties concerned, limited by the need to secure relevant information necessary to render a decision without unnecessary delay. Appeals from the hazardous materials hearing officer's decision shall be processed as provided in this chapter under Section 29-25

(Ord. No. 5015 § 1, 1997.)

Sec. 29-24. - Disposition of appeal.

(a)

After hearing the appeal, the hearing officer may: (1) refer the matter back to the CUPA for a new investigation and decision; (2) may affirm or modify the decision of the CUPA; or (3) may direct the CUPA to issue a permit which may or may not contain conditions which must be met in order to obtain or maintain the permit. If the matter is referred back to the CUPA, the CUPA must respond within the time specified by the hearing officer in its referral.

(b)

If the hearing officer, after the hearing, finds that cause exists for regulatory action, the hearing officer may impose one (1) or more of the following:

(1)

A warning;

(2)

An order to correct the particular noncompliance specified in the notice issued pursuant to Section 29-16

(3)

A revocation of the permit for the facility;

(4)

Suspension of the permit for the facility for a specified period not to exceed six (6) months;

(5)

Modification or addition of conditions to the permit;

(6)

Revocation of the permit with no reapplication permitted for a specified period not to exceed three (3) years. If the grounds for regulatory action are based on Section 29-20(b)(3), (4), or (5), and if such grounds are limited to one (1) portion of the storage facility, the regulatory action shall be limited to that portion.

(Ord. No. 5015 § 1, 1997.)

Sec. 29-25. - Decision of hearing officer.

(a)

The hearing officer shall render a written decision stating the findings upon which the decision is based and the action taken, if any. The decision of the hearing officer is final.

(b)

Judicial review of the decision of the hearing officer shall be according to the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6. The decision of the hearing officer shall contain a statement notifying the permittee that any petition for review must be filed within the time specified in that section.

(Ord. No. 5015 § 1, 1997.)