Chapter 259
2010 -- H 8105 SUBSTITUTE A AS
AMENDED
Enacted 06/29/10
A N A C T
RELATING TO
MAKING IT EASIER TO DO BUSINESS IN
Introduced By: Representatives Martin, Ruggiero, Gallison, and Serpa
Date Introduced: May 06, 2010
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 42 of the General Laws entitled "STATE
AFFAIRS AND
GOVERNMENT" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER
64.13
42-64.13-1.
Short title. – This act shall be known and may
be cited as the "
Regulatory Reform Act of
2010".
42-64.13-2.
Legislative findings. – The general assembly
finds and declares that:
(1)
unemployment and other ill effects from the national recession
that persists at the time of the
passage of this act;
(2)
often protecting the public welfare, health and safety, are
often inefficient, inconsistent with other
state policies and not always aligned with municipal and
community development goals;
(3) The result of
inefficiencies, inconsistencies and misalignments often result in delayed
or forgone permitting and regulatory opportunities for
businesses desiring to retain or create jobs
in
(4)
permitting frame work in order to enhance economic development,
community development and
the overall health and welfare of its citizens.
42-64.13-3.
Purposes of chapter. – The purposes of this chapter are to create
within the
facilitate the regular review of
report thereon in an effort to improve them and assist and
facilitate economic development
opportunities within the regulatory and permitting processes and
procedures that exist within
Rhode Island state and municipal government.
42-64.13-4.
Applicability. – The provisions of this chapter
shall apply to all departments,
agencies, authorities, corporations, instrumentalities and
political subdivisions of the state, to all
other entities that have been delegated regulatory and
permitting authority under state law, and all
municipalities within the state, including their boards and
commissions with regulatory and
permitting authority and responsibilities.
42-64.13-5.
Creation of the office of regulatory reform. – The
development corporation shall create an office of regulatory
reform that shall be adequately
staffed and supervised in order to fulfill its functions as
set forth in this chapter.
42-64.13-6.
Director of office of regulatory reform. – The
office of regulatory reform
shall be managed by a director of office of regulatory
reform who shall report to the executive
director of the
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
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
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; and
(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.
(3) The office of
regulatory reform is authorized to appear as an amicus
curiae in any
legal proceeding relating to any matter.
42-64.13-8.
Regulatory analysis responsibilities. – The
office of regulatory reform shall
have the following regulatory analysis and reporting
responsibilities:
(1) The office of
regulatory reform shall, upon the conclusion of each fiscal year, prepare
and publish a report on the regulatory processes of state
and municipal agencies and permitting
authorities through a review and an analysis of proposed and
existing rules and regulations to: (i)
Encourage agencies to eliminate, consolidate,
simplify, expedite or otherwise improve permits,
permitting procedures and paperwork burdens affecting
businesses, municipal government
undertakings, industries and other matters of economic development
impact in the state; (ii)
Analyze the impact of proposed and existing rules and
regulations on matters such as public
health, safety and welfare, including job creation, and make
recommendations for simplifying
regulations and regulatory processes of state and municipal
agencies and permitting authorities;
(iii) Propose to any state or municipal agency
consideration for amendment or repeal of any
existing rules or procedures which may be obsolete, harmful to
the economy or job growth in the
state, or excessively burdensome with respect to any state
or federal statutes or regulations.
(2) The ombudsman of
the office of regulatory reform shall implement the provisions of
section 42-35.1-1 of the general laws entitled Small Business
Regulatory Fairness and
Administrative Procedures, and shall be the small
business regulatory enforcement office
pursuant to section 42-35.1-5 of the general laws.
42-64.13-9.
Municipal regulatory liaison. – Each city or
town in
its option designate in writing submitted to the office
of regulatory reform a regulatory liaison
who shall be charged with the responsibility of
coordinating regulatory and permitting matters
within that city or town with the office of regulatory
reform.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02571/SUB A
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