§ 69-3-124 — Pretreatment enforcement - Hearings

(a) Any hearing or rehearing brought before the local hearing authority shall be conducted in accordance with the following: (1) Upon receipt of a written petition from the alleged violator pursuant to this section, the local administrative officer shall give the petitioner thirty (30) days' written notice of the time and place of the hearing, but in no case shall such hearing be held more than sixty (60) days from the receipt of the written petition, unless the local administrative officer and the petitioner agree to a postponement; (2) The hearing provided for in this section may be conducted by the local hearing authority at a regular or special meeting. A quorum of the local hearing authority must be present at the regular or special meeting in order to conduct the hearing provided for in this section; (3) A verbatim record of the proceedings of such hearings shall be taken and filed with the local hearing authority, together with the findings of fact and conclusions of law made pursuant to subdivision (a)(6). The transcript so recorded shall be made available to the petitioner or any party to a hearing upon payment of a charge set by the local administrative officer to cover the costs of preparation; (4) In connection with the hearing, the chair shall issue subpoenas in response to any reasonable request by any party to the hearing requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in the hearing. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a notice of hearing or subpoena issued under this section, the chancery court of the county in which the pretreatment agency is located shall have jurisdiction upon the application of the local hearing authority or the local administrative officer to issue an order requiring such person to appear and testify or produce evidence as the case may require, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by such court as contempt; (5) Any member of the local hearing authority may administer oaths and examine witnesses; (6) On the basis of the evidence produced at the hearing, the local hearing authority shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law and enter such decisions and orders as, in its opinion, will best further the purposes of the pretreatment program and shall give written notice of such decisions and orders to the alleged violator. The order issued under this subsection (a) shall be issued no later than thirty (30) days following the close of the hearing by the person or persons designated by the chair; (7) The decision of the local hearing authority shall become final and binding on all parties unless appealed to the courts as provided in subsection (b); and (8) Any person to whom an emergency order is directed pursuant to § 69-3-123 shall comply with the emergency order immediately, but on petition to the local hearing authority shall be afforded a hearing as soon as possible, but in no case shall such hearing be held later than three (3) days from the receipt of such petition by the local hearing authority. (b) An appeal may be taken from any final order or other final determination of the local hearing authority by any party, including the pretreatment agency, who is or may be adversely affected thereby, to the chancery court pursuant to the common law writ of certiorari set out in § 27-8-101 , within sixty (60) days from the date such order or determination is made.

Legislative History

Acts 1987, ch. 111, § 3.