2014 -- H 8135 SUBSTITUTE A | |
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LC005469/SUB A | |
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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 | |
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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: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 42-64.13-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-64.13 entitled |
2 | "Rhode Island Regulatory Reform Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 42-64.13-7. Powers of the office of regulatory reform. -- The office of regulatory |
4 | reform shall have the following powers: |
5 | (1) The director of the office of regulatory reform is authorized to intervene or otherwise |
6 | participate in any regulatory or permitting matter pending before any executive branch agency or |
7 | department or before any municipal board, commission, agency or subdivision thereof at which a |
8 | regulatory or permitting matter is pending for the expressed net benefit of a business. The director |
9 | of the office of regulatory reform may so intervene or otherwise participate in such pending |
10 | regulatory and permitting matters by providing written notice to the director of any department or |
11 | state agency in the executive branch, or the chairman or presiding officer over any municipal |
12 | department or subdivision thereof at which a regulatory or permitting matter is pending, that the |
13 | director of the office of regulatory reform is so intervening or otherwise participating in such |
14 | regulatory or permitting matter pending before such department, agency, board or commission. |
15 | The director of the office of regulatory reform shall be considered a party to the action and shall |
16 | be provided reasonable notice of any and all administrative hearings or meetings involving the |
17 | parties in such matter and shall be the opportunity to participate in such meetings, hearings or |
18 | other administrative procedures of such entity, of which such opportunity may be waived only by |
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1 | writing from the director of the office of regulatory reform, for the purpose of assuring the |
2 | efficient and consistent implementation of rules and regulations in order to foster the creation and |
3 | retention of jobs in Rhode Island or otherwise foster economic development in Rhode Island |
4 | consistent with the purposes of this act. Any intervention or participation by the director of the |
5 | office of regulatory reform, other than in contested cases, shall not be deemed to violate the |
6 | provisions of the Rhode Island administrative procedures act at Title 42, Chapter 35 of the |
7 | general laws. Provided, however, all contested cases shall be conducted in accordance with the |
8 | provisions for hearings of contested cases in the administrative procedures act, Title 42, Chapter |
9 | 35, of the general laws. As used in this section, the term "contested case" means a proceeding in |
10 | which conflicting rights between adverse parties are required by law to be determined in an |
11 | adversary proceeding that is judicial or quasi-judicial in nature, and not purely administrative in |
12 | character, before and/or by an agency. |
13 | (2) Promptly upon such intervention as set forth in subdivision (1) above, the director of |
14 | the office of regulatory reform shall publish its rationale for its intervention in such pending |
15 | regulatory or permitting matter. The director of the office of regulatory reform may so intervene |
16 | upon findings that: |
17 | (i) That the pending, regulatory or permitting action, in and of itself or as part of a |
18 | regulatory process, has significant economic development impact upon the state or any |
19 | municipality herein; and |
20 | (ii) The pending regulatory or permitting matter, in and of itself or as part of a regulatory |
21 | process, has significant impact on any industry, trade, profession or business that provides |
22 | significant jobs or other significant economic development impact, including municipal and state |
23 | taxes or other revenues, to the state or its citizens. |
24 | (iii) The office of regulatory reform shall upon the conclusion of each fiscal quarter |
25 | promptly provide to the office of the governor and the general assembly through the offices of the |
26 | president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives a written report identifying: |
27 | (A) All matters in which the director of the office of regulatory reform intervened; |
28 | (B) The rationale for his or her intervention; |
29 | (C) The status of the pending regulatory or permitting matter; |
30 | (D) Any observations or recommendations from the director of the office of regulatory |
31 | reform with respect to such regulatory or permitting policies or procedures relating to the subject |
32 | matter of such pending regulatory or permitting matters in which the director so intervened; and |
33 | (E) The status of the agency rule review required pursuant to subsection 42-35-3.4(d) |
34 | including the number of rules reviewed within the previous quarter, the number of rules amended |
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1 | or rescinded and the estimated aggregate impact of such amendments or rescissions on businesses |
2 | in Rhode Island. |
3 | (3) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to appear as an amicus curiae in any |
4 | legal proceeding relating to any matter. |
5 | (4) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to coordinate with and support the |
6 | building commissioner and fire marshal in the development and implementation of a standard |
7 | statewide process for electronic plan review, permit management and inspection. |
8 | (5) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to coordinate, provide technical |
9 | assistance, and oversee state agency regulatory review and accompanying economic impact |
10 | statements on small businesses. |
11 | (6) The office of regulatory reform is authorized to review state regulatory and permitting |
12 | processes and develop maps, flow charts, and other visualizations of such processes to increase |
13 | their navigability and efficiency. Such maps and visualizations shall be designed to inform |
14 | businesses of their responsibilities and obligations through each step of the regulatory process and |
15 | shall help inform future efforts to improve processes, eliminate redundant or obsolete |
16 | requirements, and improve interagency communication. |
17 | SECTION 2. Chapter 42-64.13 of the General Laws entitled "Rhode Island Regulatory |
18 | Reform Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: |
19 | 42-64.13-11. Additional functions and duties. – Utilizing the period three review |
20 | produced by the office of regulatory reform, the following additional responsibilities and |
21 | authority are hereby granted and required of the office of regulatory reform: |
22 | (1) The office of regulatory reform is directed to review current state regulatory and |
23 | permitting processes to develop maps, flow charts, and other visuals to provide and facilitate a |
24 | way for businesses and individuals to understand and navigate their responsibilities and |
25 | obligations in connection with each step of the regulatory process; |
26 | (i) This mapping process shall be used to identify duplications, conflict, or overlap of |
27 | processes and regulations for the purpose of elimination or consolidation; |
28 | (ii) This mapping process may result in a web-based map to be used by the state as well |
29 | as a prototype for local government; |
30 | (2) There shall be no exemption from review by the office of regulatory reform for |
31 | businesses that are not defined as small businesses including, without limitation, financial |
32 | companies, developers, architects, building designers, utilities, and nonprofit institutions, due to |
33 | the fact that exemptions can create a significant barrier to comprehensive review and reform; |
34 | (3) The office of regulatory reform shall prepare a "Regulation Manual" to standardize |
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1 | and bring uniformity to the structure, presentation, and format of state regulatory requirements, |
2 | and shall work with public and private entities to promote public access where needed; |
3 | (4) The office of regulatory reform shall submit to the general assembly by each January |
4 | 31, recommendations for the removal of duplicative regulations and non-regulations. The office |
5 | of regulatory reform shall promote the elimination or condensing of duplicative regulations and |
6 | seek alternative avenues for non-regulations. This report shall also include a summary of any |
7 | legal challenges to any regulation; |
8 | (5) The office of regulatory reform shall identify and suggest ways to consolidate |
9 | separate regulatory requirements into a logical whole and to also reorganize, consolidate and |
10 | centralize regulations; |
11 | (6) The office of regulatory reform shall provide recommendations to reform audit, |
12 | inspection, and enforcement processes to provide and facilitate for the education, consultation, |
13 | training and other forms of assistance to businesses as they navigate the enforcement process; |
14 | (7) The office of regulatory reform shall produce a web-based suggestion box allowing |
15 | businesses to make suggestions for reform of the regulatory process, and to identify arbitrary |
16 | processes; |
17 | (8) The office of regulatory reform shall prepare a cost-benefit analysis to collect data |
18 | concerning regulatory agencies which have had difficulty quantifying the number and types of |
19 | businesses they regulate, and shall look for ways to promote better cost-benefit analyses, |
20 | including researching training options and economic impact tools; |
21 | (9) The office of regulatory reform shall create an improvement training program, using |
22 | methods such as lean consultation services; |
23 | (10) The office of regulatory reform shall develop a legislative package for the general |
24 | assembly to, among other things, eliminate statutory exemptions and reinstate the requirement for |
25 | the governor to review regulatory proposals. In addition, the office of regulatory reform shall |
26 | require regulatory agencies to post economic impact statements online alongside proposed |
27 | regulatory changes; |
28 | (11) The required five (5) year periodic review and five (5) year refiling of rules and |
29 | regulations shall be synchronized by the office of regulatory reform in any proposed legislation to |
30 | address such efforts; |
31 | (12) The office of regulatory reform shall promote performance-based or outcome-based |
32 | regulatory approaches and make recommendations focusing on achieving the desired results, |
33 | allowing for alternative methods to achieve regulatory goals more efficiently and effectively. The |
34 | general assembly further finds and declares that Rhode Island needs to shift the balance from a |
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1 | command-and-control regulatory approach to performance-based regulation. Performance-based |
2 | or outcome-based regulation holds businesses accountable for results, but allows them greater |
3 | flexibility in choosing the best means in achieving those results. The office of regulatory reform |
4 | shall prepare a report for submission to the general assembly and the governor by January 31, |
5 | 2015, recommending approaches to developing performance-based regulations. The report shall |
6 | also include an approach to enforcement reform, continuous process improvement, and other |
7 | reform efforts beyond current performance. |
8 | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC005469/SUB A | |
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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 | |
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1 | This act would enable the office of regulatory reform to review state regulatory and |
2 | permitting processes to develop maps, flow charts, and other visual processes to allow businesses |
3 | to navigate the regulatory process, improve efficiencies, eliminate redundant or obsolete |
4 | requirements, identify arbitrary processes, promote outcome-based approaches, and bring |
5 | uniformity to state requirements. |
6 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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LC005469/SUB A | |
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