Chapter 445
2012 -- H 8024 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/26/12
A N A C T
RELATING TO
STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEDURES
Introduced By: Representatives Serpa, Morgan, Trillo, Ferri, and Keable
Date Introduced: March 29, 2012
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 42-35.1-3 and 42-35.1-4 of the General
Laws in Chapter 42-35.1
entitled "Small Business Regulatory Fairness in
Administrative Procedures" are hereby amended
to read as follows:
42-35.1-3.
Economic Impact statements. -- (a) Prior to the
adoption of any proposed
regulation that may have an adverse impact on small businesses, with
the exception of emergency
regulations adopted in accordance with subsection 42-35-3(b) and excluding those businesses
defined in subsection 42-35-3.3(d) (c) of this
section, each agency shall prepare, in conjunction
with assistance and oversight from the office of
regulatory reform and in congruence
with the
analysis required in section 42-35-3.3 subsection
(b) of this section, an economic impact
statements statement that includes the following:
(1) An identification
and estimate of the number of the small businesses subject to the
proposed regulation;
(2) The projected
reporting, recordkeeping, and other administrative costs required for
compliance with the proposed regulation, including the type of
professional skills necessary for
preparation of the report or record;
(3) A statement of the effect
or probable effect on impacted small businesses;
(4) A description of
any less intrusive or less costly alternative methods of achieving the
purpose of the proposed regulation.
(b) The economic impact
statement required herein shall be published in guide form as
well as posted on the department of administration and the
of economic development corporation
office of management and budget websites. The guide should be published and/or posted
on or
around the same date as the regulation change and shall
include a description of actions need by
the small business to meet the requirement of the
regulation. The office of regulatory reform shall
develop criteria for the economic impact statement.
(c) The following
professional and business activities shall not be considered a small
business for purposes of this section:
(1) Financial
institutions including banks, trusts, savings and loan associations, thrift
institutions, consumer and industrial finance companies, credit
unions, mortgage and investment
bankers and stock and bond brokers;
(2) Insurance
companies, both stock and mutual;
(3) Mineral, oil and
gas brokers;
(4) Subdividers and developers;
(5) Landscape
architects, architects and building designers;
(6) Entities
organized as nonprofit institutions;
(7) Entertainment
activities and productions including motion pictures, stage
performances, television and radio stations and production
companies;
(8) All utilities,
water companies and power transmission companies, except
electrical
power generating transmission companies providing less than
four and one-half (4.5) kilowatts;
and
(9) All petroleum and
natural gas producers, refiners and pipelines.
42-35.1-4.
Regulatory flexibility -- Flexibility analysis required. -- (a)
Notwithstanding any general or public law to the
contrary, prior to the adoption of any proposed
regulation on and after January 1, 2010, each agency shall
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis
in which the agency shall, where consistent with health,
safety, environmental, and economic
welfare consider utilizing regulatory methods that will
accomplish the objectives of applicable
statutes while minimizing adverse impact on small businesses.
The agency shall consider, without
limitation, each of the following methods of reducing the impact
of the proposed regulation on
small businesses:
(1) The establishment
of less stringent compliance or reporting requirements for small
businesses;
(2) The establishment
of less stringent schedules or deadlines for compliance or
reporting requirements for small businesses;
(3) The consolidation
or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements for small
businesses;
(4) The establishment
of performance standards for small businesses to replace design or
operational standards required in the proposed regulation; and
(5) The exemption of
small businesses from all or any part of the requirements contained
in the proposed regulation.
(b) Prior to the
adoption of any proposed regulation that may have an adverse impact on
small businesses each agency shall notify the economic
development corporation office of
regulatory reform of
its intent to adopt the proposed regulation. The economic development
corporation office of regulatory reform shall advise and
assist agencies in complying with the
provisions of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 42-35-3.4 of the General Laws in Chapter
42-35 entitled
"Administrative
Procedures" is hereby amended to read as follows:
42-35-3.4.
Periodic review of rules. -- (a) Within two (2)
years after December 31,
2008, each agency shall review all agency rules
existing at the time of enactment to determine
whether such rules should be continued without change, or
should be amended or rescinded, by
examining whether the rules are consistent with the stated
objectives of applicable statutes and
are authorized by, and conform with those statutes. The
review must include, but need not be
limited to, minimizing the economic impact of the rules on
small businesses in a manner
consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes and
ensuring consistency with and
conformance with those statutes. If the head of the agency
determines that completion of the
review of existing rules is not feasible by the established
date, the agency shall publish a
statement certifying that determination and shall provide a
copy of that statement and
determination to the speaker of the house, the senate president,
the house fiscal advisor, and the
senate fiscal advisor. The statement shall include the
number of rules that have thus far been
reviewed by the agency in accordance with this section, and
the number still to be reviewed. The
agency may extend the completion date by one year at a time
for a total of not more than five (5)
years.
(b) In reviewing rules,
the agency shall consider the following factors:
(1) The continued need
for the rules;
(2) The nature of complaints
or comments received concerning the rule from the public;
(3) The complexity of
the rule;
(4) The extent to which
the rule overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with other federal, state
and local government rules;
(5) The length of time
since the rule has been evaluated or the degree to which
technology, economic conditions or other factors have changed in
the area affected by the rule.
(6) Whether the rules
are consistent with current agency practices and procedures; and
(7) Whether the rules
are consistent with and authorized by applicable statutes.
(c) All rules reviewed
in accordance with this section, shall be reviewed every five (5)
years thereafter.
(d) In addition to
the review required in this section, within four (4) years of enactment of
this act, each agency shall review all agency rules
existing at the time of enactment to determine
whether such rules should be continued without change, or
should be amended or rescinded, to
minimize economic impact of the rules on small businesses in a
manner consistent with the state
objective of applicable statutes pursuant to this section.
Beginning on July 1, 2012, each agency
shall review twenty-five percent (25%) of its regulations each
year for four (4) years until all
existing regulations have been evaluated for any adverse
impacts on small businesses and
economic impact statements have been prepared, with the
exception of emergency regulations
adopted in accordance with subsection 42-35-3 (b);
The office of
regulatory reform shall assist and coordinate with all agencies during the
periodic review of rules.
SECTION 3. Sections 42-64.13-3, 42-64.13-5, 42-64.13-6,
42-64.13-7 and 42-64.13-8 of
the General Laws in Chapter 42-64.13 entitled "Rhode
Island Regulatory Reform Act" are hereby
amended to read as follows:
42-64.13-3.
Purposes of chapter. -- The purposes of this chapter are to create
within the
Rhode Island economic development corporation office of management and budget the office of
regulatory reform that will facilitate the regular review of
permitting procedures, report thereon in an effort to improve
them and assist and facilitate
economic development opportunities within the regulatory and
permitting processes and
procedures that exist within
42-64.13-5.
Creation of the office of regulatory reform. --
The Rhode Island
economic
development corporation
office of management and budget shall create an office of regulatory
reform that shall be adequately staffed and supervised in
order to fulfill its functions as set forth
in this chapter.
42-64.13-6.
Director of office of regulatory reform. -- The
office of regulatory reform
shall be managed by a director of office of regulatory
reform who shall report to the executive
director of the director of the office of
management and budget.
42-64.13-7. Powers
of the office of regulatory reform. -- The office of regulatory
reform shall have the following powers:
(1) The director of the
office of regulatory reform is authorized to intervene or otherwise
participate in any regulatory or permitting matter pending before
any executive branch agency or
department or before any municipal board, commission, agency or
subdivision thereof at which a
regulatory or permitting matter is pending for the expressed net
benefit of a business. The director
of the office of regulatory reform may so intervene or
otherwise participate in such pending
regulatory and permitting matters by providing written notice to
the director of any department or
state agency in the executive branch, or the chairman or
presiding officer over any municipal
department or subdivision thereof at which a regulatory or
permitting matter is pending, that the
director of the office of regulatory reform is so intervening
or otherwise participating in such
regulatory or permitting matter pending before such department,
agency, board or commission.
The director of the office of regulatory reform shall
be considered a party to the action and shall
be provided reasonable notice of any and all
administrative hearings or meetings involving the
parties in such matter and shall be the opportunity to
participate in such meetings, hearings or
other administrative procedures of such entity, of which
such opportunity may be waived only by
writing from the director of the office of regulatory reform,
for the purpose of assuring the
efficient and consistent implementation of rules and
regulations in order to foster the creation and
retention of jobs in
consistent with the purposes of this act. Any intervention or
participation by the director of the
office of regulatory reform, other than in contested cases,
shall not be deemed to violate the
provisions of the
general laws. Provided, however, all contested cases shall be
conducted in accordance with the
provisions for hearings of contested cases in the administrative
procedures act, Title 42, Chapter
35, of the general laws. As used in this section, the term "contested
case" means a proceeding in
which conflicting rights between adverse parties are
required by law to be determined in an
adversary proceeding that is judicial or quasi-judicial in
nature, and not purely administrative in
character, before and/or by an agency.
(2) Promptly upon such
intervention as set forth in subdivision (1) above, the director of
the office of regulatory reform shall publish its
rationale for its intervention in such pending
regulatory or permitting matter. The director of the office of
regulatory reform may so intervene
upon findings that:
(i)
That the pending, regulatory or permitting action, in and of itself or as part
of a
regulatory process, has significant economic development impact
upon the state or any
municipality herein; and
(ii) The pending
regulatory or permitting matter, in and of itself or as part of a regulatory
process, has significant impact on any industry, trade,
profession or business that provides
significant jobs or other significant economic development
impact, including municipal and state
taxes or other revenues, to the state or its citizens.
(iii) The office of
regulatory reform shall upon the conclusion of each fiscal quarter
promptly provide to the office of the governor and the general
assembly through the offices of the
president of the senate and the speaker of the house of
representatives a written report identifying:
(A) All matters in which
the director of the office of regulatory reform intervened;
(B) The rationale for
his or her intervention;
(C) The status of the
pending regulatory or permitting matter; and
(D) Any observations or
recommendations from the director of the office of regulatory
reform with respect to such regulatory or permitting
policies or procedures relating to the subject
matter of such pending regulatory or permitting matters in
which the director so intervened.
(3) The office of
regulatory reform is authorized to appear as an amicus
curiae in any
legal proceeding relating to any matter.
(5) The office of
regulatory reform is authorized to coordinate, provide technical
assistance, and oversee state agency regulatory review and
accompanying economic impact
statements on small businesses.
42-64.13-8.
Regulatory analysis responsibilities. -- The
office of regulatory reform
shall have the following regulatory analysis and reporting
responsibilities:
(1) The office of
regulatory reform shall, upon the conclusion of each fiscal year, prepare
and publish a report on the regulatory processes of state
and municipal agencies and permitting
authorities through a review and an analysis of proposed and
existing rules and regulations to: (i)
Encourage agencies to eliminate, consolidate,
simplify, expedite or otherwise improve permits,
permitting procedures and paperwork burdens affecting
businesses, municipal government
undertakings, industries and other matters of economic development
impact in the state; (ii)
Analyze the impact of proposed and existing rules and
regulations on matters such as public
health, safety and welfare, including job creation, and make
recommendations for simplifying
regulations and regulatory processes of state and municipal
agencies and permitting authorities;
(iii) Propose to any state or municipal agency
consideration for amendment or repeal of any
existing rules or procedures which may be obsolete, harmful to
the economy or job growth in the
state, or excessively burdensome with respect to any state
or federal statutes or regulations; and
(iv) Assist and coordinate with all agencies during the periodic
review of rules required by
section 42-35-3.4 of the Administrative Procedures Act.
(2) The ombudsman of
the office of regulatory reform shall implement the provisions of
section 42-35.1-1 of the general laws entitled Small Business
Regulatory Fairness and
Administrative Procedures, and shall be the small
business regulatory enforcement office
pursuant to section 42-35.1-5 of the general laws.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
=======
LC02179/SUB A/2
=======