RulesNews

In 2001, the Legislature passed Rep. Ralph Becker’s H.B. 132 that created Title 63, Chapter 46c, Governmental Dispute Resolution Act. In 2002, the state of Utah received a grant from the Hewlett Foundation to assist in establishing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as the first step in resolving conflict in agencies of government. In the spring of 2003, Governor Leavitt issued an Executive Order endorsing dispute resolution and creating the ADR Council. Under the leadership of Chairman Palmer DePaulis and with the assistance of consultant Michelle Straube of CommUnity Resource Inc., the members of the council did excellent work in educating themselves about dispute resolution, and implementing the grant with mediation pilot programs in the Department of Human Services Office of Licensing, the Department of Workforce Services, the Career Service Review Board, and now the Department of Commerce.

By 2004, a full-time coordinator was necessary to fully implement the goals of the grant and the Executive Order, expected to be reissued by Governor Walker before she leaves office. In December, 2004, Ms. Susan Bradshaw, a local attorney and mediator was hired. Ms. Bradshaw will leave a position as Director of the Schooley Mediation Center at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University to become the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for the state. She is also the former Director of Utah Dispute Resolution. Ms. Bradshaw has a law degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School and a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from the Straus Institute of Conflict Resolution at Pepperdine School of Law. She will continue as part-time faculty at the J. Reuben Clark Law School.

The ADR Council and the new coordinator will continue to work on the pilot projects, offer training in conflict resolution to state employees and work with government leaders to create consensus building processes on all levels of government.

Ms. Bradshaw may be reached at 801-538-3306 or at sbradshaw@utah.gov .

On January 1, 2005, the Division plans to remove duplicate formats of older versions of rules publications from its web site. This change will affect the HTML version of rule filings from 2003 and the compressed Word versions of the Bulletin from 2004. The PDF versions of all Utah State Bulletin issues from January 1, 1998, through the present will continue to be available online.

Access to eRules is restricted to individuals whose name and identifying information have been provided by rule filing agencies to the Division. With the transitions that will occur during the next several months, we ask that each agency notify the Division of Administrative Rules (rules@utah.gov) of staffing changes that affect those involved in the rulemaking process. These include executive directors, commissioners, division directors, and program managers.

The American Bar Association is holding its mid-year meeting in Salt Lake City, February 9 through 15, 2005. The Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section (http://www.abanet.org/adminlaw/) is planning a set of sessions to be held February 11 through 13 that focus on administrative law issues, including:

• Clean Air Initiatives in the 109th Congress
• The New Wave of Regulation and Administrative Law in the European Union
• The Utah Administrative Procedures Act: What Hath the Courts and the Legislature Subsequently Wrought?
• Rulemaking vs. ‘Guidance’: Practical Implications for Agencies, Regulated Parties, and the Public
• Informal Notice and Comment Rulemaking in Interstate Compacts

Registration and program information will be available from http://www.abanet.org/adminlaw/. Gary Thorup (Holme Roberts and Owen LLP) and Kent Bishop (Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget) are the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section’s meeting co-chairs.

Our list of eRules enhancements includes, among other things, the addition of a spell-checker. It will still be some time before this functionality can be added to eRules. However, we do have some information that might make completing a rule analysis a bit easier.

Individuals using Mozilla 1.7 or Firefox 1.0 as their web browser can download an extension/plug-in called SpellBound (http://spellbound.sourceforge.net/) that will allow them to check the spelling in the boxes of a form. The Division has tested the extension on rule analysis forms with success.

SpellBound does have some limitations. It checks the spelling in only one box at a time. This extension will not work with Internet Explorer.

If you have additional questions about SpellBound, please contact Mike Broschinsky (801-538-3003).

Legislation for the 2005 general session is beginning to appear. As of December 10, 2004, the Division is aware of two bills affecting administrative rules generally. Rep. Ure will sponsor the “Administrative Rules Reauthorization” bill for the Administrative Rules Review Committee (ARRC). As of its November 30, 2004, meeting, the ARRC has not identified any rules it intends not to reauthorize.

Sen. Stephenson will sponsor a clean-up bill called “Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act Revision”. This bill amends sections in the Community and Economic Development title that address rulemaking by replacing the word “revoked” with “repealed”. It also makes a change to the UARA to clarify that when an agency is authorized to make rules, the agency may also amend and repeal rules.