Bill Text: CT SB00016 | 2016 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Increasing Agency Efficiency In The Regulation Process.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-18 - Public Hearing 02/22 [SB00016 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2016-SB00016-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Governor's Bill No. 16
February Session, 2016		LCO No. 550
		*00550__________*
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
SEN. LOONEY, 11th Dist. SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist. REP. SHARKEY, 88th Dist. REP. ARESIMOWICZ, 30th Dist.

AN ACT INCREASING AGENCY EFFICIENCY IN THE REGULATION PROCESS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 4-168 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(c) (1) If an agency is required by a public act to adopt regulations, the agency, not later than five months after the effective date of the public act or by the time specified in the public act, shall post on the eRegulations System notice of its intent to adopt regulations. If the agency fails to post the notice within such five-month period or by the time specified in the public act, the agency shall submit an electronic statement of its reasons for failure to do so to the Governor, the joint standing committee having cognizance of the subject matter of the regulations and the standing legislative regulation review committee and on and after the certification date, post such statement on the eRegulations System. The agency shall submit the required regulations to the standing legislative regulation review committee, as provided in subsection (b) of section 4-170, not later than one hundred eighty days after posting the notice of its intent to adopt regulations, or electronically submit a statement of its reasons for failure to do so to the committee. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any required regulation that a department head has determined to be unnecessary pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection.

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, any agency with a department head, as defined in section 4-5, shall not be required to adopt regulations if the department head determines the statutory provision requiring the adoption of such regulations to be sufficient to enforce the statutory provisions that would otherwise be the subject of such regulations. Any department head who makes such a determination shall sign and submit a certification explaining such determination to the Governor, the Attorney General and the standing legislative regulation review committee.

Sec. 2. Subsection (h) of section 4-168 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(h) [If an agency finds (1) that] An agency may make technical amendments to or repeal an existing regulation [are necessary because of (A)] to (1) facilitate the statutory transfer of functions, powers or duties from the agency named in the existing regulation to another agency, [(B)] (2) reflect a change in the name of the agency, [(C)] (3) transfer sections of the regulation to correspond with the renumbering of the section of the general statutes containing the statutory authority for the regulation, [or (D) a correction in the numbering of the regulation, and] (4) transfer or reorganize sections of the regulation with no substantive changes, [are proposed] (5) make a specific change to the regulation as directed by a public act, (6) update or correct contact information contained in the regulation, or [(2) that the] (7) repeal [of] a regulation [is necessary] because the section of the general statutes under which the regulation has been adopted has been repealed and has not been transferred or reenacted. [, it may elect to comply] The agency may adopt any such amendments to or repeal of a regulation in accordance with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section or may proceed without prior notice, [or] hearing or public comment period, provided the agency has posted such amendments [to] or repeal [of a regulation] on the eRegulations System. Any such amendments to or repeal of a regulation shall be submitted in the form and manner prescribed in subsection (b) of section 4-170, to the Attorney General, as provided in section 4-169, and to the standing legislative regulation review committee, as provided in section 4-170, for approval and upon approval shall be submitted to the office of the Secretary of the State for posting on the eRegulations System. [with, in the case of renumbering of sections only, a correlated table of the former and new section numbers.]

Sec. 3. Subsection (g) of section 4-168 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(g) (1) An agency may proceed to adopt an emergency regulation in accordance with this subsection without prior notice, [or] hearing or public comment period or upon any abbreviated notice, [and] hearing and public comment period that it finds practicable if (A) the agency finds that adoption of a regulation upon fewer than thirty days' notice is required (i) due to an imminent peril to the public health, safety or welfare or (ii) by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection in order to comply with the provisions of interstate fishery management plans adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission or to meet unforeseen circumstances or emergencies affecting marine resources, (B) the agency states in writing its reasons for that finding, and (C) the Governor approves such finding in writing.

(2) [An] The agency shall submit an electronic copy [shall be submitted] to the standing legislative regulation review committee in the form prescribed in subsection (b) of section 4-170, together with a statement of the terms or substance of the intended action, the purpose of the action and a reference to the statutory authority under which the action is proposed. [, not later than ten days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, prior to the proposed effective date of such regulation.] The committee may approve or disapprove the proposed emergency regulation, in whole or in part, [within such ten-day period at a regular meeting, if one is scheduled, or may upon the call of either chairman or any five or more members hold a special meeting for the purpose of approving or disapproving the regulation, in whole or in part] not later than ten calendar days after its submission to the committee. Failure of the committee to act on such regulation within such ten-day period shall be deemed an approval. If the committee disapproves such regulation, in whole or in part, it shall notify the agency of the reasons for its action. An approved emergency regulation [,] shall be posted on the eRegulations System [by the office of the Secretary of the State, may be effective for a period of not longer than] and shall be effective for one hundred twenty days [renewable once for a period of not exceeding] from the date posted. Such one-hundred-twenty-day period may be extended an additional sixty days, provided [notification] the agency posts notice of such sixty-day [renewal is posted] extension on the eRegulations System and sends an electronic copy of such notice [is sent] to the committee. The sixty-day [renewal] extension period may be extended an additional sixty days for emergency regulations described in subparagraph (A)(ii) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, provided the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection requests of the standing legislative regulation review committee an extension of the renewal period at the time such regulation is submitted or not less than ten days before the first sixty-day [renewal] extension period expires and said committee approves such additional extension. Failure of the committee to act on such request within ten days shall be deemed an approval of the extension. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude an agency proposing such emergency regulation from adopting a permanent regulation that is identical or substantially similar to the emergency regulation, but such action shall not extend the effective date of the emergency regulation.

[(3) If the necessary steps to adopt a permanent regulation, including the posting of notice of intent to adopt, preparation and submission of a fiscal note in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 4-170 and approval by the Attorney General and the standing legislative regulation review committee, are not completed prior to the expiration date of an emergency regulation, the emergency regulation shall cease to be effective on that date.]

Sec. 4. Subdivision (1) of section 4-189h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(1) "Agency" has the same meaning as provided in section 4-166, but does not include any department with a department head, as defined in section 4-5;

Sec. 5. Section 4-171 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

On or before February fifteenth of each regular session of the General Assembly, the cochairpersons of the standing legislative regulation review committee shall submit to the General Assembly for its study [(1)] a copy of all proposed regulations which have been disapproved by the standing committee under subsection (c) of section 4-170. [, and (2) a list by agency of each section of the general statutes that requires the agency to adopt regulations on or before January first of the preceding year which the agency did not submit or resubmit to the committee by December first of such year as provided in section 4-170b.] Such regulations that were disapproved shall be referred by the speaker of the House or by the president pro tempore of the Senate to an appropriate committee for its consideration and the committee shall schedule hearings thereon. The General Assembly may, by resolution, either sustain or reverse a vote of disapproval of the standing committee under the provisions of said subsection (c), except that if the General Assembly fails during its regular session to reverse by resolution the disapproval of a regulation proposed for the purpose of implementing a federally subsidized or assisted program, the vote of disapproval shall be deemed sustained for purposes of this section and the proposed regulation shall not become effective. Any action of the General Assembly under the provisions of this section shall be effective as of the date of passage of the resolution in the second house of the General Assembly.

Sec. 6. Section 4-170b of the general statutes is repealed. (Effective October 1, 2016)

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2016	4-168(c)
Sec. 2	October 1, 2016	4-168(h)
Sec. 3	October 1, 2016	4-168(g)
Sec. 4	October 1, 2016	4-189h(1)
Sec. 5	October 1, 2016	4-171
Sec. 6	October 1, 2016	Repealer section

Statement of Purpose:

To implement the Governor's budget recommendations.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]