2014 -- H 8135

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LC005469

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND

REGULATORY REFORM ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Serpa, Ackerman, Phillips, Canario, and Giarrusso

     Date Introduced: May 01, 2014

     Referred To: House Small Business

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 42-64.13-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-64.13 entitled

"Rhode Island Regulatory Reform Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     42-64.13-7. Powers of the office of regulatory reform. -- The office of regulatory

reform shall have the following powers:

      (1) The director of the office of regulatory reform is authorized to intervene or otherwise

participate in any regulatory or permitting matter pending before any executive branch agency or

department or before any municipal board, commission, agency or subdivision thereof at which a

regulatory or permitting matter is pending for the expressed net benefit of a business. The director

of the office of regulatory reform may so intervene or otherwise participate in such pending

regulatory and permitting matters by providing written notice to the director of any department or

state agency in the executive branch, or the chairman or presiding officer over any municipal

department or subdivision thereof at which a regulatory or permitting matter is pending, that the

director of the office of regulatory reform is so intervening or otherwise participating in such

regulatory or permitting matter pending before such department, agency, board or commission.

The director of the office of regulatory reform shall be considered a party to the action and shall

be provided reasonable notice of any and all administrative hearings or meetings involving the

parties in such matter and shall be the opportunity to participate in such meetings, hearings or

other administrative procedures of such entity, of which such opportunity may be waived only by

writing from the director of the office of regulatory reform, for the purpose of assuring the

efficient and consistent implementation of rules and regulations in order to foster the creation and

retention of jobs in Rhode Island or otherwise foster economic development in Rhode Island

consistent with the purposes of this act. Any intervention or participation by the director of the

office of regulatory reform, other than in contested cases, shall not be deemed to violate the

provisions of the Rhode Island administrative procedures act at Title 42, Chapter 35 of the

general laws. Provided, however, all contested cases shall be conducted in accordance with the

provisions for hearings of contested cases in the administrative procedures act, Title 42, Chapter

35, of the general laws. As used in this section, the term "contested case" means a proceeding in

which conflicting rights between adverse parties are required by law to be determined in an

adversary proceeding that is judicial or quasi-judicial in nature, and not purely administrative in

character, before and/or by an agency.

      (2) Promptly upon such intervention as set forth in subdivision (1) above, the director of

the office of regulatory reform shall publish its rationale for its intervention in such pending

regulatory or permitting matter. The director of the office of regulatory reform may so intervene

upon findings that:

      (i) That the pending, regulatory or permitting action, in and of itself or as part of a

regulatory process, has significant economic development impact upon the state or any

municipality herein; and

      (ii) The pending regulatory or permitting matter, in and of itself or as part of a regulatory

process, has significant impact on any industry, trade, profession or business that provides

significant jobs or other significant economic development impact, including municipal and state

taxes or other revenues, to the state or its citizens.

      (iii) The office of regulatory reform shall upon the conclusion of each fiscal quarter

promptly provide to the office of the governor and the general assembly through the offices of the

president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives a written report identifying:

      (A) All matters in which the director of the office of regulatory reform intervened;

      (B) The rationale for his or her intervention;

      (C) The status of the pending regulatory or permitting matter;

      (D) Any observations or recommendations from the director of the office of regulatory

reform with respect to such regulatory or permitting policies or procedures relating to the subject

matter of such pending regulatory or permitting matters in which the director so intervened; and

      (E) The status of the agency rule review required pursuant to subsection 42-35-3.4(d)

including the number of rules reviewed within the previous quarter, the number of rules amended

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or rescinded and the estimated aggregate impact of such amendments or rescissions on businesses

in Rhode Island.

      (3) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to appear as an amicus curiae in any

legal proceeding relating to any matter.

      (4) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to coordinate with and support the

building commissioner and fire marshal in the development and implementation of a standard

statewide process for electronic plan review, permit management and inspection.

      (5) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to coordinate, provide technical

assistance, and oversee state agency regulatory review and accompanying economic impact

statements on small businesses.

     (6) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to review state regulatory and permitting

processes and develop maps, flow charts, and other visualizations of such processes to increase

their navigability and efficiency. Such maps and visualizations shall be designed to inform

businesses of their responsibilities and obligations through each step of the regulatory process and

shall help inform future efforts to improve processes, eliminate redundant or obsolete

requirements, and improve interagency communication.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 42-64.13 of the General Laws entitled "Rhode Island Regulatory

Reform Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     42-64.13-11. Additional functions and duties. – Utilizing the period three review

produced by the office of regulatory reform, the following additional responsibilities and

authority are hereby granted and required of the office of regulatory reform:

     (1) The office of regulatory reform is directed to review current state regulatory and

permitting processes to develop maps, flow charts, and other visuals to provide and facilitate a

way for businesses and individuals to understand and navigate their responsibilities and

obligations in connection with each step of the regulatory process;

     (i) This mapping process shall be used to identify duplications, conflict, or overlap of

processes and regulations for the purpose of elimination or consolidation;

     (ii) This mapping process may result in a web-based map to be used by the state as well

as a prototype for local government;

     (2) There shall be no exemption from review by the office of regulatory reform for

businesses that are not defined as small businesses including, without limitation, financial

companies, developers, architects, building designers, utilities, and nonprofit institutions, due to

the fact that exemptions can create a significant barrier to comprehensive review and reform;

     (3) The office of regulatory reform shall prepare a "Regulation Manual" to standardize

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regulatory requirements, and shall work with public and private entities to promote public access

where needed;

     (4) The office of regulatory reform shall submit to the general assembly by each January

31, recommendations for the removal of duplicative regulations and non-regulations. The office

of regulatory reform shall promote the elimination or condensing of duplicative regulations and

seek alternative avenues for non-regulations. This report shall also include a summary of any

legal challenges to any regulation;

     (5) The office of regulatory reform shall identify and suggest ways to consolidate

separate regulatory requirements into a logical whole and to also reorganize, consolidate and

centralize regulations;

     (6) The office of regulatory reform shall provide recommendations to reform audit,

inspection, and enforcement processes to provide and facilitate for the education, consultation,

training and other forms of assistance to businesses as they navigate the enforcement process;

     (7) The office of regulatory reform shall produce a web-based suggestion box allowing

businesses to make suggestions for reform of the regulatory process;

     (8) The office of regulatory reform shall prepare a cost-benefit analysis to collect data

concerning regulatory agencies which have had difficulty quantifying the number and types of

businesses they regulate, and shall look for ways to promote better cost-benefit analyses,

including researching training options and economic impact tools;

     (9) The office of regulatory reform shall create an improvement training program, using

methods such as lean consultation services;

     (10) The office of regulatory reform shall develop a legislative package for the general

assembly to, among other things, eliminate statutory exemptions and reinstate the requirement for

the governor to review regulatory proposals. In addition, the office of regulatory reform shall

require regulatory agencies to post economic impact statements online alongside proposed

regulatory changes;

     (11) The required five (5) year periodic review and five (5) year refiling of rules and

regulations shall be synchronized by the office of regulatory reform in any proposed legislation to

address such efforts;

     (12) The office of regulatory reform shall promote performance-based regulatory

approaches and make recommendations focusing on achieving the desired results, allowing for

alternative methods to achieve regulatory goals more efficiently and effectively. The general

assembly further finds and declares that Rhode Island needs to shift the balance from a command-

and-control regulatory approach to performance-based regulation. Performance-based regulation

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holds businesses accountable for results, but allows them greater flexibility in choosing the best

means in achieving those results. The office of regulatory reform shall prepare a report for

submission to the general assembly and the governor by January 31, 2015, recommending

approaches to developing performance-based regulations. The report shall also include an

approach to enforcement reform, continuous process improvement, and other reform efforts

beyond current performance.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND

REGULATORY REFORM ACT

***

     This act would enable the office of regulatory reform to review state regulatory and

permitting processes to develop maps, flow charts, and other visual processes to allow businesses

to navigate the regulatory process, improve efficiencies and eliminate redundant or obsolete

requirements.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC005469

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