Bill Text: MS SB2605 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Regulatory reduction program for Commission on Environmental Quality; provide pilot program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2020-06-17 - Died On Calendar [SB2605 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2020-SB2605-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Environment Prot, Cons and Water Res; Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency

By: Senator(s) McDaniel

Senate Bill 2605

AN ACT TO CODIFY SECTION 25-43-1.108, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A REGULATORY REDUCTION PROGRAM FOR THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AS A PILOT AGENCY; TO PROVIDE THAT THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY SHALL NOT ADOPT A NEW REGULATORY REQUIREMENT UNLESS IT SIMULTANEOUSLY REMOVES TWO OR MORE OTHER EXISTING REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS; TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ANY OTHER PILOT AGENCY TO REPORT TO THE PEER COMMITTEE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  The following shall be codified as Section 25-43-1.108, Mississippi Code of 1972:

     25-43-1.108.  (1)  As used in this act, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

          (a)  "Pilot agency" means the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality as the first pilot agency subject to this act.

          (b)  "Regulation" or "rule" means any statement or instrument of general application, having the force of law, affecting the rights or conduct of any person or business, adopted by an agency in accordance with the authority conferred on it by applicable basic laws.  Such regulations and rules include administrative rules issued in accordance with the state Administrative Procedures Act, Section 25, Chapter 43, Mississippi Code of 1972, as well as any policy instrument, such as a guidance document, that includes a regulatory requirement.

          (c)  "Regulatory requirement" means an action or step that must be taken, or piece of information that must be provided, as stipulated by a statute, regulation, policy or form, in order to access services, carry out business or pursue legislated privileges.

          (d)  "Guidance document" means an agency statement of general applicability, intended to have an effect on the behavior of regulated parties, that sets forth a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue, or an interpretation of a statute or regulation.  Agency guidance documents include memoranda, manuals, policy statements, interpretations of law or rules, and other material of general applicability.

     (2)  Every pilot agency shall undertake a review of every regulation, rule and requirement under its jurisdiction and prepare a base inventory, which shall include a numeric count, of the regulatory requirements in its existing rules.

          (a)  As part of this review, every pilot agency shall (i) accept written public comments for at least a 60-day period; (ii) hold at least two (2) public hearings to allow citizens

and businesses to identify regulations that are ineffective, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome; (iii) solicit and incorporate comments and advice from private citizens, stakeholders, regulated entities, and other interested parties; and (iv) complete the review within one hundred twenty (120) days of the enactment of this section.

          (b)  Every agency shall designate a Rule Review Officer to oversee the review.

          (c)  For each existing regulation under its purview, every agency shall affirm in a report submitted to the Secretary of State, within one hundred eighty (180) days of the enactment of this section:

              (i)  The number of regulatory requirements contained in the regulation;

              (ii)  Whether the regulation is mandated by state or federal law or a court order, identifying the specific federal or state code section or court order that authorizes the regulation; or whether the regulation is issued at the discretion of the regulating agency;

              (iii)  Whether the regulation is essential to the health, safety, or welfare of Mississippi residents;

              (iv)  Whether the regulation is the least restrictive regulation necessary to protect consumers from present, significant and substantiated harms that threaten public health and safety;

              (v)  An estimate of the annual costs imposed by the regulation;

              (vi)  A process and schedule to measure the effectiveness of the regulation in the future, including identifying data that can be used in a retrospective cost-benefit analysis to assess the regulation's effectiveness;

              (vii)  Alternatives that have been considered as a substitute for the regulation; and

              (viii)  Whether the regulation is based on the most up-to-date and credible scientific, technical, economic, and other relevant evidence.

     (3)  Based on the information collected in the reports required by Section 2(c) of this act, every pilot agency shall amend or rescind rules identified in its base inventory of regulatory requirements as necessary to reduce the total number of regulatory requirements under its purview by thirty percent (30%), according to the following schedule:

          (a)  A ten percent (10%) reduction not later than December 31, 2020;

          (b)  A twenty percent (20%) reduction not later than December 31, 2021;

          (c)  A thirty percent (30%) reduction not later than December 31, 2022.

     (4)  Prior to proposing a new rule for publication in the Mississippi Administrative Bulletin, each pilot agency shall have initiated the repeal of at least two (2) existing rules and provided a statement to the Secretary of State identifying which two (2) rules have been repealed, along with an explanation as to what this repeal will accomplish in terms of increasing economic opportunities for the citizens of Mississippi and streamlining state government.  This section shall remain in effect until a thirty percent (30%) reduction in regulatory requirements is achieved by the pilot agency, after which the repeal of at least one (1) existing rule shall be required before the pilot agency proposes a new rule for publication in the Mississippi Administrative Bulletin.

     (5)  The Secretary of State shall report annually to the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor no later than February 1, 2021, February 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023, on the progress of the regulatory reduction pilot program established pursuant to this act.

     (6)  If, by February 1, 2023, the program has achieved less than a thirty percent (30%) total reduction in regulations and regulatory requirements across the pilot agency, the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee shall initiate a budgetary audit of each agency participating in the pilot program to assess what obstacles exist to meeting the thirty percent (30%) reduction goal.  Further, the Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) shall initiate and conduct a review of the regulatory reduction efforts of the pilot agency and report to the Legislature any findings and recommendations regarding (a) whether the reduction goals are reasonable and achievable, and (b) policies, practices, and methods that may be adopted by the pilot agency to successfully achieve the reduction goals.

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.

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