HOUSE BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL 45
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
AN ACT
RELATING TO STATE RULES; REQUIRING REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENTS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; REQUIRING CERTAIN NOTICES TO THE SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY ADVISORY COMMISSION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 14-4-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 275, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"14-4-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the State Rules Act:
A. "agency" means any agency, board, commission, department, institution or officer of the state government except the judicial and legislative branches of the state government;
B. "person" includes individuals, associations, partnerships, companies, business trusts and corporations; [and]
C. "regulatory impact statement" means a document, for informational purposes only, that pertains to a rule and contains:
(1) a summary of the rule to which it applies;
(2) a description of the persons, resources, classes of persons and political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule;
(3) the probable negative and positive impacts, including the economic, social, environmental and any other relevant impacts, of the rule on affected persons, resources, classes of persons and political subdivisions;
(4) a comparison of the costs and benefits of the rule to the costs and benefits of inaction;
(5) the probable negative or positive impact of the intended action on the state budget, the state general fund and any state special funds affected by the proposed rule;
(6) a statement on whether there are means for achieving the purpose of the rule with fewer adverse effects; and
(7) a summary of public comments or other evidence submitted during rulemaking;
[C.] D. "rule" means any rule, regulation, order, standard or statement of policy, including amendments thereto or repeals thereof, issued or promulgated by any agency and purporting to affect one or more agencies besides the agency issuing [such] the rule or to affect persons not members or employees of [such] the issuing agency. An order or decision or other document issued or promulgated in connection with the disposition of any case or agency decision upon a particular matter as applied to a specific set of facts shall not be deemed such a rule, nor shall it constitute specific adoption thereof by the agency. [Such term shall] "Rule" does not include rules relating to the management, confinement, discipline or release of inmates of any penal or charitable institution, the [Springer] New Mexico boys' school or the girls' welfare home [of] or to any hospital [nor to] or rules made relating to the management of any particular educational institution, whether elementary or otherwise, [nor to] or rules made relating to admissions, discipline, supervision, expulsion or graduation of students therefrom; and
E. "rulemaking" means the process for adopting, promulgating, amending or repealing a rule."
Section 2. A new section of the State Rules Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] RULEMAKING--REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENTS REQUIRED--EXCEPTIONS.--
A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, at the beginning of rulemaking, an agency shall prepare a draft regulatory impact statement on any proposed rule and make the draft available for public inspection during office hours. A notice of public hearing on a rule shall include notice that the draft regulatory impact statement is available for inspection and comment.
B. Except as otherwise provided in this section, at the end of rulemaking, the agency shall prepare a final regulatory impact statement and file it with the records center when the agency files its rule, including when an emergency rule is made permanent as provided in Section 14-4-5 NMSA 1978. The regulatory impact statement shall be in the format and style established by the state records administrator.
C. The state records administrator shall:
(1) file and maintain the original copy of each regulatory impact statement as a permanent public record;
(2) make available to the public a list of all regulatory impact statements filed with the state records center and any notices of an agency not completing all or part of a regulatory impact statement by reason of hardship as provided in Subsection D of this section; and
(3) provide the list of all regulatory impact statements filed with the state records center as of July 1 of each year to the governor and to the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives for distribution to the appropriate standing or interim legislative committees.
D. If an agency is unable to complete all or part of a regulatory impact statement due to hardship, including lack of agency resources or unavailable information, the agency shall notify the state records administrator when filing its rule and shall indicate the reason for the hardship.
E. A regulatory impact statement is not required:
(1) for an agency order or statement of policy; or
(2) for any rule required to be adopted by federal law, in which the agency has little or no discretion.
F. The public regulation commission is exempt from preparing and filing regulatory impact statements.
G. An insufficient regulatory impact statement shall not be used as grounds to appeal a rule."
Section 3. Section 14-4A-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005, Chapter 244, Section 4) is amended to read:
"14-4A-4. RULES AFFECTING SMALL BUSINESS.--
A. Prior to the adoption of a proposed rule that may have an adverse effect on small business, an agency shall provide a copy of the proposed rule to the commission at the same time as persons who have requested advance notice of rulemaking. The rule shall be accompanied by a draft regulatory impact statement required by the State Rules Act.
B. Prior to the adoption of a proposed rule that the agency deems to have an adverse effect on small business, the agency shall consider regulatory methods that accomplish the objectives of the applicable law while minimizing the adverse effects on small business."
Section 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2009.
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