DIRECTIONS PLEASE: If someone else in your agency should receive RULESNEWS, please contact Sophia Manousakis (801-538-3764).
As of February 14, 2003, two bills have been filed that affect administrative rules in general.
This is the Administrative Rules Review Committee's annual bill, which is required by Section 63-46a-11.5. As approved by the Committee on February 12, it reauthorizes all administrative rules.
With this bill, the Administrative Rules Review Committee amends the rulemaking act. The bill: (1) deletes the definition of policy; (2) modifies the definition of rule; and (3) creates Subsection 63-46a-3.5 entitled "Rules having the effect of law," which provides that a written statement conforming to the definition of a rule must be made in accordance with the requirements of the Rulemaking Act to be enforceable.
Questions about this legislation may be directed to Ken Hansen at 801-538-3777.
In January, the Division of Administrative Rules announced plans to discontinue its publication of the paper edition of the Utah State Bulletin. This change will primarily affect the Division of Administrative Rules, the Legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee, and the State Depository Library System. The final paper edition printed under the Division's contract will be dated April 1, 2003. The Division will continue to publish the Bulletin electronically and make it available on the Internet.
The termination of the contract should have little effect on other subscribers. The Office of Legislative Printing, the current printer, will continue to make the Bulletin available as a paper publication. Current paid subscribers will see no change in service.
While this transition to an electronic publication has been anticipated for some time, the actual schedule of the transition was moved up in response to reductions in the Division of Administrative Rules' fiscal year 2003 budget.
Electronic versions of the Utah State Bulletin have been available on the Internet since 1996. The Bulletin will continue to be available at http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/bulletin.htm. A summary of the Bulletin, called the Utah State Digest, is available free of charge by E-mail. To subscribe to the Utah State Digest ListServ, contact the Division.
Persons interested in subscribing to the paper copy of the Utah State Bulletin may contact Terry Lake at the Office of Legislative Printing at 801-538-1103.
The rulemaking act's five-year review requirement (Section 63-46a-9) pertains to entire rules, not individual sections. Therefore, a document that is numbered Rxx-yy is the level at which it should be reviewed, not at Rxx-yy-zz. In the letters sent out from the Division notifying you of rules due for review, we will list the rules. You must file a separate review for each rule.
In response to the questions on the Rule Analysis form, it is important to give a complete response. Cross-references to "box 8" or "the previous box" become meaningless when the rule is published -- there are no boxes in the Bulletin. Also, please phrase responses to the rule analysis questions as complete sentences.
There are a few things to keep in mind when you make a Proposed Rule or a Change in Proposed Rule effective. First, law permits an agency to make a rule effective after the expiration of the comment period designated on the rule analysis (no fewer than 31 days after the rule's publication in the Bulletin).
Second, Section 63-46a-4(8)(c) provides that, "[t]he notice of effective date may not provide for an effective date prior to the date it is received by the division [of Administrative Rules]." Therefore, using eRules, you must submit an effective date on or before the effective date, but after the comment period. The bottom line -- a rule may not be made retroactively effective.
Third, an agency may make a rule effective no more than 120-days after the rule's publication in the Bulletin. After 120 days, the rule lapses and the agency must start the rulemaking process over if it intends enforce the rule.
Finally, remember that eRules will send you an E-mail message confirming that a Notice of Effective Date has been submitted on a rule. If you do not receive the E-mail confirmation, contact Nancy Lancaster at 801-538-3218.
In the last issue of RulesNews, we informed you that the Division's web address was changing. Links to the old address -- http://www.rules.state.ut.us/ -- no longer work. Please point links to http://www.rules.utah.gov/. Contact Mike Broschinsky to obtain the direct link for your agency's rules.
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The Department of Administrative Services, Division of Administrative Rules, publishes RULESNEWS periodically for state rulewriting agencies. Kenneth A. Hansen, Director. Direct comments to the: Division of Administrative Rules, 4120 State Office Building, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-1201; Phone: 801-538-3764; FAX: 801-538-1773; Internet URL: http://www.rules.utah.gov/.
<<RULESNEWS, Vol. 2003, No. 1 (February 14, 2003)>>
For questions about the rulemaking process, please contact the Division of Administrative Rules (801-538-3764). Please Note: The Division of Administrative Rules is NOT able to answer questions about the content or application of administrative rules.
Last Modified: September 2, 2008