STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6167
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 27, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SCHIMMINGER -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the state administrative procedure act, the executive
law and the legislative law, in relation to the transmittal of certain
records by electronic means
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 202 of the state
2 administrative procedure act, as added by chapter 17 of the laws of
3 1984, is amended to read as follows:
4 (c) When appropriate in the judgment of the agency, a notice may also
5 be published in newspapers of general circulation and in trade, industry
6 or professional publications as the agency may select, and may be posted
7 on the agency's internet website, and may be transmitted to newspapers
8 and trade, industry or professional publications by electronic means in
9 accordance with article three of the state technology law.
10 § 2. Subdivision 6-a of section 202 of the state administrative proce-
11 dure act, as added by chapter 850 of the laws of 1990, paragraphs (a)
12 and (b) as amended by chapter 171 of the laws of 1994, is amended to
13 read as follows:
14 6-a. Distribution of rule making information. (a) An agency shall
15 transmit a copy of any rule making notice prepared pursuant to this
16 article to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the
17 speaker of the assembly, the administrative regulations review commis-
18 sion and the office of regulatory and management assistance at the time
19 such notice is submitted to the secretary of state for publication in
20 the state register. Such transmittal shall include the complete rule
21 text, regulatory impact statement, regulatory flexibility analysis,
22 rural area flexibility analysis, or revisions thereof, and any other
23 information submitted to the secretary of state pursuant to this arti-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06984-01-7
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1 cle. Furthermore, such transmittal may be completed by electronic means
2 in accordance with article three of the state technology law.
3 (b) An agency shall make a copy of the complete text of any proposed,
4 adopted or emergency rule, regulatory impact statement, regulatory flex-
5 ibility analysis, rural area flexibility analysis, or revisions thereof
6 available, in written and electronic forms, to the public at the time
7 such documents are submitted to the secretary of state for publication
8 in the state register and shall send to any person a copy of such text
9 upon written or electronic request.
10 (c) An agency shall notify every person who has submitted a written or
11 electronic request to be notified of all proposed, revised, emergency
12 and/or adopted rules which may affect such person. Such requests shall
13 expire annually on the thirty-first day of December with renewals for
14 the succeeding year to be accepted on or after December first. Notices
15 issued pursuant to such requests shall be sent in writing or electronic
16 form to the last address or electronic mail address specified by the
17 person. An agency may charge any person requesting such notice a fee
18 consisting of the cost of preparation, handling and postage.
19 § 3. The opening paragraph of subdivision 3 of section 202-bb of the
20 state administrative procedure act, as added by chapter 171 of the laws
21 of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
22 In proposing a rule for adoption or in adopting a rule on an emergency
23 basis, the agency shall issue a rural area flexibility analysis regard-
24 ing the rule being proposed for adoption or the emergency rule being
25 adopted. A copy of such analysis and any finding, and reasons for such
26 finding, pursuant to this section, shall be submitted in writing, and
27 may be transmitted electronically in accordance with article three of
28 the state technology law, to the governor, the temporary president of
29 the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the office for regulatory and
30 management assistance and the administrative regulations review commis-
31 sion at the time such analysis is submitted or electronically transmit-
32 ted to the secretary of state for publication and, upon written or elec-
33 tronic request, a copy shall be sent or electronically transmitted to
34 any other person. Each rural area flexibility analysis shall contain:
35 § 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 202-d of the state
36 administrative procedure act, as amended by chapter 418 of the laws of
37 2016, is amended to read as follows:
38 (a) The departments of health, education, environmental conservation,
39 financial services, labor, agriculture and markets, motor vehicles and
40 state, the offices of children and family services and temporary and
41 disability assistance, the division of housing and community renewal,
42 the state gaming commission, the office of mental health, the office for
43 people with developmental disabilities and the workers' compensation
44 board, and any other department or agency specified by the governor or
45 his or her designee shall, and any other agency may, in its discretion,
46 submit in writing or electronically in accordance with article three of
47 the state technology law to the secretary of state, for publication in
48 any regular issue of the state register published during the month of
49 January, a regulatory agenda to solicit comments concerning any rule
50 which the agency is considering to propose, but for which no notice of
51 proposed rule making has been submitted pursuant to subdivision one of
52 section two hundred two of this article.
53 § 5. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1 of section 202-d of the
54 state administrative procedure act, as added by chapter 698 of the laws
55 of 1984, is amended to read as follows:
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1 An agency may, in its discretion, submit in writing or electronically
2 in accordance with article three of the state technology law to the
3 secretary of state, for publication in the first regular issue of the
4 state register published during the months of January, May and Septem-
5 ber, a regulatory agenda to afford the agency an opportunity to solicit
6 comments concerning any rule which the agency is considering proposing,
7 but for which no notice of proposed rule making has been submitted
8 pursuant to subdivision one of section two hundred two of this [chapter]
9 article. A regulatory agenda shall be comprised of summaries of such
10 rules. Each summary shall, in less than two thousand words, contain, in
11 so far as practicable:
12 § 6. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 101-a of the executive law,
13 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 610 of the laws of 1987 and subdivi-
14 sion 3 as amended by chapter 483 of the laws of 1988, are amended to
15 read as follows:
16 2. Except as provided in subdivision three of this section, at least
17 forty-five days prior to either the adoption of any rule, or, if a
18 public hearing is required by statute, at least forty-five days prior to
19 the first public hearing on a proposed rule, the agency proposing to
20 take such action shall send in writing or may transmit electronically in
21 accordance with article three of the state technology law a notification
22 of such proposed action to the temporary president of the senate and the
23 speaker of the assembly. This notification shall: (a) refer to the
24 statutory authority under which the action is proposed, (b) give the
25 time and place of any public hearing that may be scheduled concerning
26 the proposed action, or state the manner in which data, views or argu-
27 ments may be submitted to the agency concerning the proposed action, (c)
28 contain a copy of the complete text of the proposed rule, and (d)
29 contain a fiscal statement setting forth the fiscal consequences of the
30 proposed action on the state and its local governments.
31 3. If the agency finds that it is necessary for the preservation of
32 the public health, safety or general welfare to dispense with the
33 requirements of subdivision two of this section, the agency may dispense
34 with such requirements and adopt the rule, as an emergency measure.
35 Within five days of the filing of such emergency measure in the office
36 of the department of state, the agency taking such action shall send or
37 transmit, as the case may be, the temporary president of the senate and
38 the speaker of the assembly a notification containing the information
39 required by subdivision two of this section; provided, however, such
40 notification shall also: (a) include a brief statement setting forth the
41 reasons why the agency finds that it is necessary for the preservation
42 of the public health, safety or general welfare to dispense with the
43 requirements of subdivision two of this section and adopt the rule as an
44 emergency measure, and (b) provide the date the emergency measure will
45 terminate if the agency does not intend to adopt such measure as a
46 permanent rule, or indicate that the agency intends to adopt such meas-
47 ure as a permanent rule, in which case compliance with the notification
48 requirements of this section shall be deemed satisfied. The effective-
49 ness of any such emergency measure, unless adopted as a permanent rule
50 in the manner prescribed by law, shall not exceed ninety days after the
51 filing of such measure in the office of the department of state,
52 provided, however, if such emergency measure is readopted prior to the
53 expiration of such ninety day period such readoption and any subsequent
54 readoptions shall remain in effect for no longer than sixty days.
55 § 7. Section 146 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 17 of the
56 laws of 1984, paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 189
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1 of the laws of 1996, subdivision 4-a as amended by chapter 41 of the
2 laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 146. Publication of certain public notices. 1. The department of
4 state shall publish, pursuant to the schedule in section one hundred
5 forty-seven of this article, and post on its internet website a publica-
6 tion to be known as the state register, in which shall be published and
7 posted from time to time as received by such department:
8 (a) rules, orders, designations, and notices submitted by the chief
9 administrator of the courts;
10 (b) notices and advertisements required by state statute or federal
11 law, rule or regulation to be published by an agency in a newspaper;
12 (c) notices required by statute to be published in newspapers in
13 actions against foreign corporations;
14 (d) notices and job impact statements required by the state adminis-
15 trative procedure act to be published in the state register; and
16 (e) any other matter required by statute to be published in the state
17 register.
18 2. The secretary of state may, at his or her discretion, publish and
19 post in the state register any notice or information which is not other-
20 wise required by statute to be submitted to him or her by an agency or
21 public corporation for publication in the state register, in instances
22 where such publication and posting will serve the public interest.
23 3. With regard to rule making notices required to be published and
24 posted in the state register pursuant to article two of the state admin-
25 istrative procedure act, the secretary of state may, at his or her
26 discretion, publish and post the complete text of a proposed or adopted
27 rule, which is not otherwise required to be published and posted in the
28 state register, in instances where such publication and posting will
29 serve the public interest. The secretary of state shall accept from a
30 state agency all rulemaking notices, statements and analyses as required
31 by the state administrative procedure act, data, rules, and regulations
32 as provided for by article three of the state technology law.
33 4. With regard to a notice of adoption published in the state register
34 pursuant to article two of the state administrative procedure act, for
35 which the corresponding notice of proposed rule making published and
36 posted in the state register included the complete text of the rule, the
37 secretary of state may, at his or her discretion, include only the
38 changes in such text in the notice of adoption.
39 4-a. Notice of the availability of any state or federal funding which
40 is to be distributed by any agency upon application by any municipality,
41 school board, school district, not-for-profit organization or any other
42 individual or organization entitled to apply for such funding pursuant
43 to any law, rule or regulation governing the distribution of such funds
44 shall be published and posted in the state register. Such notice shall
45 appear in the register no later than forty-five days prior to the last
46 day for receipt of applications for such funding. Such notice shall not
47 be required: (i) whenever a notice has been published in the procurement
48 opportunities newsletter pursuant to article four-C of the economic
49 development law; (ii) for state or federal transportation funding; and
50 (iii) in those instances where an entity has been specifically desig-
51 nated by law or legislative resolution to receive funding. Failure to
52 publish the notice in a timely manner shall not be a basis for setting
53 aside an award or challenging a contract or other legal claim.
54 5. The publication and posting of notices and advertisements in the
55 state register shall be additional to their publication in newspapers,
56 whenever publication in newspapers is required by statute.
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1 6. The secretary of state shall promulgate rules establishing proce-
2 dure, forms, font and style for submission of material by any person,
3 agency or public corporation for publication and posting in the state
4 register.
5 § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 148 of the executive law, as amended by
6 chapter 636 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
7 3. Subscriptions to the state register shall be made available to the
8 public by either first or second class mail, or in electronic form at
9 the election of the subscriber. A reasonable rate for a subscription to
10 printed copies of the regular issue and quarterly index required by
11 subdivision three of section one hundred forty-seven of this article, to
12 be not more than eighty dollars per year for first class mail delivery
13 and not more than forty dollars per year for second class mail delivery,
14 shall be set by the secretary of state. The secretary of state may
15 charge no more than one dollar and fifty cents per single copy of a
16 printed regular issue or quarterly index of the state register. Rates
17 shall not be set at such a level that the anticipated total subscription
18 revenues exceed the total cost of producing, printing and distributing
19 the state register.
20 § 9. Subdivision 1 of section 149 of the executive law, as amended by
21 chapter 17 of the laws of 1984, is amended and a new subdivision 4 is
22 added to read as follows:
23 1. The printed version of the state register shall be an eight and
24 one-half by eleven inch booklet with three holes punched in the left
25 hand margin to make such register suitable for storage in an eight and
26 one-half by eleven inch loose-leaf binder.
27 4. To the extent practicable, every version of the state register
28 transmitted by electronic means shall substantially comply with the
29 provisions of this section.
30 § 10. Section 87 of the legislative law is amended by adding a new
31 subdivision 4 to read as follows:
32 4. The commission shall be authorized to request and receive, from a
33 state agency, all rulemaking notices, statements and analyses as
34 provided for pursuant to the state administrative procedure act, data,
35 rules, regulations and other information by electronic means as provided
36 for by article three of the state technology law.
37 § 11. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day
38 after it shall have become a law, provided that the amendments to para-
39 graph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 202-d of the state administrative
40 procedure act, made by section four of this act, shall be subject to the
41 expiration and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to section 2 of
42 chapter 402 of the laws of 1994, as amended, when upon such date the
43 provisions of section five of this act shall take effect; and provided,
44 further, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
45 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
46 this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made
47 and completed on or before such effective date.