Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
In carrying out its mandate to protect the health, safety
and welfare of the People, it is the duty of the State government to act
effectively and efficiently, but without imposing unnecessary burdens upon the
citizens of the State, employers, or upon State or local government. It is a
duty which has particular significance for State agencies charged with
regulatory responsibilities. These agencies must cultivate and maintain a
sensitivity to the impact of their regulatory activity and be constant in their
efforts to reduce or to eliminate conflicting, duplicative or unneeded
regulations. No new regulation should be adopted unless there is reasonable
assurance that the regulation is no more demanding than is required to meet
legislative goals, and unless it is designed so that compliance may be achieved
as simply and economically as possible.
To achieve the goal of simplifying rules and regulations,
and to encourage confidence in the regulatory process, I, Hugh L. Carey,
Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the
Constitution and Laws of the State of New York, do hereby promulgate this
Executive Order.
I. Analysis of
Proposed Regulations; Regulatory Impact Statements.
Before an agency proposes a rule or regulation, it shall
evaluate the potential impact of such a rule or regulation upon those to be
regulated, upon State and local government and upon the public. In order to
ensure that legislative purposes are met in as efficient a manner as possible,
all State agencies shall carry out the following procedures:
a. Except as provided in subdivision (e) of
this subsection, agencies shall publish a regulatory impact statement upon the
issuance of any proposed rule or regulation. Such a statement or, in the event
it exceeds 2,000 words, a summary, shall be submitted along with the proposed
rule or regulation to the Secretary of State for publication in the State
Register. A copy of the statement in its entirety shall be provided to the
Governor, the Temporary President of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly,
the Administrative Regulations Review Commission, the Office of Business
Permits and, upon request, to interested parties.
b. The regulatory impact statement shall
include at least the following items:
i. a
concise statement of the legislative objectives served by, the need for, and
the benefits to be derived from, the proposed rule or regulation;
ii. the precise statutory authority for the
proposed rule or regulation;
iii. a
description of the relationship between the proposed rule or regulation and any
related State or Federal requirements or programs;
iv. a description of, and a statement of the
need for, any new reporting requirements or forms that will be required for the
implementation of the proposed rule or regulation;
v. an analysis of the costs involved to State
and local government, to regulated parties and to the general public in
complying with the rule or regulation, and of any other foreseeable economic
consequences; where an agency finds that it cannot provide a particular element
of such an analysis, it shall state the reasons;
vi. a discussion of viable alternative
approaches to the proposed rule or regulation, and the reasons why those
alternatives were not selected; and
vii. the name, title, business address and
phone number of a contact person within the agency.
c. To avoid waste of agency resources, an
agency may:
i. consider a series of closely
related and simultaneously proposed rules or regulations as one rule or
regulation for purposes of filing a single regulatory impact statement;
or
ii. file a single regulatory
impact statement for any series of virtually identical proposed rules or
regulations which are proposed in the same year.
d. When, pursuant to subdivision 3 of section
202 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, an agency submits to the
Secretary of State a notice of agency action in which it is stated that there
are substantive changes in the final action in comparison with the proposed
rule or regulation, the agency shall also summarize the changes, if any, which
must be made in the regulatory impact statement in order to reflect accurately
the impact of the final action taken.
e. An agency may claim an exemption from the
requirements set forth above under any of the following conditions, provided
that it shall state the reason or reasons for claiming the exemption in the
State Register at the time the agency publishes the proposed rule or
regulation:
i. where a rule or regulation must
be issued on an emergency basis, pursuant to paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 and
paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 202 of the State Administrative
Procedure Act, in which event the agency shall publish, pursuant to the
procedures set forth in subdivision (a) of this subsection, a regulatory impact
statement within 30 days after the rule or regulation is effective;
or
ii. where a rule or regulation
involves only a technical amendment or an amendment to an existing rule or
regulation solely to conform to the plain language requirement of subsection II
of this Executive Order.
f. The head of each State agency shall be
responsible for the agency's adherence to the requirements of this
subsection.
II. Plain
Language Requirement.
Rules, regulations and forms shall be understandable to
those parties that must comply with their terms, instructions or directives,
and to the public. Therefore, every agency shall promulgate its rules,
regulations and forms in plain language, except where technical terms or terms
of art must be used. Furthermore, agencies shall make every effort to examine
existing rules, regulations and forms in order to bring them into conformity
with this subsection.
III.
Definitions.
As used in this Executive Order:
a. Agency shall mean any department, board,
bureau, commission, division, office, council or agency of the State, or a
public benefit corporation or public authority the head of which is appointed
by the Governor.
b. Proposed rule
or regulation shall mean the proposed adoption, suspension, amendment or
repeal, whether on a permanent, temporary or emergency basis, of any "rule" as
defined by subdivision 2 of section 102 of the State Administrative Procedure
Act, except where the proposed rule or regulation is defined by subparagraph
(ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of such section and its substance was
initially proposed by the regulated entity to which it would apply.
c. Form shall mean the whole or part of any
State agency permit, license, certificate, approval, registration, charter or
similar form of permission required by law, rule or regulation having the force
and effect of law and any written request to any party wherein data, facts or
other information is sought.
d.
Interested parties shall mean any person, group, corporation, governmental or
other legal entity requesting information concerning a proposed rule or
regulation.
IV. Nothing
in this Executive Order shall be construed to create grounds for judicial
review or relief, nor shall this Executive Order be construed in such a way as
to cause any undue delay in the orderly implementation of rules and
regulations.
V. This Executive
Order shall take effect June 10, 1980 and, unless extended, shall expire
December 31, 1984.
Signed: Hugh L. CareyDated: April 8, 1980
