§397-9 Review and appeal. Any order of the director shall be final and conclusive against the owner, user, vendor, or contractor unless the owner, user, vendor, or contractor files with the director a written notice of contest of the order, the abatement period stated in the order, or the penalty stated in the order within twenty days after receipt of such order.

The owner, user, vendor, or contractor may petition the director for modification of the abatement requirements in an order. The owner, user, vendor, or contractor shall file said petition no later than the close of the next business day following the date on which abatement is required or under exceptional circumstances and for good cause shown at a later date. The petition for modification may be filed after the twenty-day period for contesting the order has expired where the initial abatement period stated in the order expires after the twenty-day period for filing a notice of contest has run.

The director shall issue an order either affirming or modifying the abatement requirement. The director may issue an order modifying the abatement requirement upon a showing by the owner, user, vendor, or contractor of a good faith effort to comply with the abatement requirements of an order and that abatement has not been completed because of factors beyond the owner's, user's, vendor's, or contractor's reasonable control.

The director shall advise the appeals board of a notice of contest upon receiving any such notice.

The appeals board shall afford an opportunity for a hearing on any notice of contest. Such hearings before the appeals board shall be de novo except where rules and regulations require a prior formal hearing at the department level, the proceedings of which are required to be transcribed, in which case review before the appeals board shall be confined to the record only.

The appeals board may affirm, modify, or vacate the order or continue the matter upon such terms and conditions as may be deemed necessary, or remand the case to the director with instructions for further proceedings or direct such other relief as may be appropriate. [L 1980, c 19, pt of §1; gen ch 1985]