RulesNews

At its meeting on April 11, 2006, the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee asked staff to prepare a review of the Department of Transportation’s existing rules. This marks the first time since 1993 that the committee has embarked on a review of an agency’s existing rules.

In 1989, under the direction of Chairpersons Sen. LeRay L. McAllister and Rep. Byron L. Harward, the ARRC began an ambitious project to review all effective rules from all agencies. That project took five years to complete.

March 14, 2006, marked the 70th anniversary of the Federal Register. In 1935, Congress passed the Federal Register Act (44 USC Chapter 15; July 26, 1935, ch. 417, 49 Stat. 500). This act creates the opportunity for citizens to be well informed about the actions and decisions of government.

In a resolution recognizing the anniversary, Administrative Codes and Registers (ACR), a section of the National Association of Secretaries of State, noted:

The scope and complexity of governmental activity has grown enormously since the Federal Register began publishing in 1936. Now more than ever, we rely on the Federal Register for the accuracy and integrity of official information, for ensuring transparency and accountability of government, and for maintaining our system of checks and balances in administrative rulemaking and constitutional democracy.

For seventy years the Federal Register has been published every business day, without fail, providing indispensable information about the actions of the President, the full and exact text of the proposed and final regulations of Federal agencies, and many other documents that enable the American people to participate in the making of law and policy.

The Division of Administrative Rules congratulates the Office of the Federal Register for 70 years of dedicated service informing the citizens about our government’s actions.

Section 63-46a-9 requires each agency to review its rules within five years of each rule’s original enactment or last five-year review, and then within five-year intervals. To comply with the review requirement, the agency must submit a “Five-Year Notice of Review and Statement of Continuation” for each of its rules listed below. Otherwise, the rules will expire. Reviews may be filed ANY TIME prior to the deadline.

When filing a “Five-Year Notice of Review and Statement of Continuation,” eRules requires that a copy of the rule text (no underlining or strike-out) be attached. Please contact Nancy Lancaster (801-538-3218) or Mike Broschinsky (801-538-3003) to obtain a current version of your rule.

We strongly encourage agencies not to wait until the due date to file a five-year review. (If there is a problem filing on that day, agencies could lose rules because the deadline was missed.)

The Division sends quarterly E-mail notices to agencies of rules due for review. As of Friday, March 31, 2006, the following rules are due for review before the end of 2006.

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The 12th edition of the “Rulewriting Manual for Utah” is available online. You may browse the HTML version at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/manual-rw/index.html. You may download and print the PDF version from http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/manual-rulewriter.pdf.

This version of the rulewriting manual is geared toward the rulewriter. As such, it contains only the style guide and material dealing with the practical aspects of the process (e.g., how to answer obnoxious but required questions on the rule analysis).

As you use the manual, please feel free to inform us of anything that you would like to see included, anything that seems to be amiss or unclear. To do this, please send an email message to “Administrative Rules” (in your GroupWise address book) or rules@utah.gov with the word “Manual” in the subject line.

Questions regarding the manual or suggestions for improvements or additions should be directed to Mike Broschinsky (801-538-3003).

The Division has posted an updated copy of the Rulemaking Time Frames on its website at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/timeframes.htm. This revised version changes dates to accommodate the new requirements of H.B. 316 that becomes effective on May 1, 2006. A printable (PDF) version is also available at http://www.rules.utah.gov/agencyresources/deadln.pdf.

H.B. 316, “Administrative Rules Procedure Amendments,” provided no implementation guidance. After discussing the issue with counsel, the Division of Administrative Rules has decided to file an emergency rule to clarify how the bill will affect proposed rules filed for publication, and to bring Rule R15-4 into compliance with the bill’s provisions.

In summary, the emergency rule (File No. 28586), effective April 15, 2006, temporarily amends Sections R15-4-4 and R15-4-5 making them consistent with Subsection 63-64a-4(10) as amended by H.B. 316. The emergency rule clarifies that administrative rules filed for publication prior to May 1 are subject to the existing law, and rules filed for publication on May 1 or later are subject to the law as amended by H.B. 316. H.B. 316 goes into effect on May 1, 2006. Nothing in the statute or rule prevents an agency from waiting the seven days before making a rule effective that was filed prior to May 1. A regular proposed rule will be filed within the next several months.

A PDF version of the emergency rule is temporarily available at http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/bulletin/2006/20060415/28586.pdf. The emergency rule was filed on March 31, 2006, with a designated effective date of April 15, 2006. Questions regarding the emergency rule may be directed to Ken Hansen (khansen@utah.gov).