Provides for the dissemination of rule making information through electronic media

BILL NUMBER:S4177

Title of bill

An act to amend the state administrative procedure act, in relation to the dissemination of rule making information through electronic media

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill sets forth a legislative policy that state agencies should implement changes in the rule-making process to make greater use of emerging technologies for the exchange of information, such as providing notice and seeking comments through the Internet and other on-line services. A new subdivision 2 is added to § 201 of the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA) which provides that agencies shall maximize their use of such technologies as appropriate, and shall include information on such efforts in their annual reports. SAPA § 202(6-a) (b) and (c) are amended to allow agencies to send rule-making information by electronic mail to persons requesting notice in this format. SAPA §§ 202-b and 202-bb are amended to allow agencies to provide copies of regulatory flexibility analyses and rural area flexibility analyses via electronic mail to small businesses and affected parties in rural areas, respectively, and to allow dissemination of such information to on-line bulletin boards through the Internet or similar networks.

Also, the following provisions of SAPA are amended to include within the "contact person" listings in state agency rule-making notices the fax number and electronic mail address, if available, of the agency contact for a particular rule-making: § 202(1) (d) (viii), § 202(4-a) (c) (vii), § 202 (5) (c) (viii), and § 202 (6) (d) (x)

Summary of specific provisions

The amendments to SAPA § 202 (6-a) (b) are replaced with new statutory language in (b) providing that agencies with the technological capacity to do so shall make copies of the text of rules and rule-making documents available to publicly accessible on-line services. This renders the previous amendment to subdivision (c) unnecessary. This approach will enable persons utilizing these services to access this information without the need to make any requests directly to the agency, and, by reducing the need to respond to individual requests for information, will reduce the agency's workload. This approach will make information on regulatory policy more accessible while lowering the cost of government. The effective date is amended to be October 1, 2000.

Effects of present law which this bill would alter

Currently, there is no provision in SAPA regarding the use of these information technologies in the rule-making process.

Justification

The growing use of computers in homes, schools and offices and the emergence of new information and communications technologies offers an opportunity to provide additional avenues for the provision of information to the public concerning state agency rule-making activities, and for providing public input back to the agency on the merits of proposed rules. SAPA, which is geared towards ensuring that the rule-making process remains open and accountable, should not be technology-limiting, but instead should allow agencies to make use of every technology with the potential for enhancing public participation in the development of regulatory policies. This

bill does not mandate that an agency use any particular type of information technology, but does encourage each agency to make maximum use of the technological capabilities it does possess to implement SAPA's goals.

Prior legislative history

2011-2012; A.5300 2010: A5300 2009: A5300 2008: A1053 2007: A1053 2005-2006: A.782 2003-2004: A.1774 2001-2002: A.5857 passed assembly 1999-2000: A.1477 1997-1998: A. 4595 1995-1996: A 7754-B 6/1/95: Passed Assembly, died in Senate Rules Committee.

Fiscal implication

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.