§ 4-168 — Notice prior to action on regulations. Fiscal notes. Hearing or public comment. Posting on eRegulations System. Adoption procedure. Emergency regulations. Technical amendments.

Connecticut § 4-168

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 4: Management of State Agencies
• Ch. 54: Uniform Administrative Procedure Act

Text

(a) Except as provided in subsections (g) and (h) of this section, an agency, not less than thirty days prior to adopting a proposed regulation, shall (1) post a notice of its intended action on the eRegulations System, which notice shall include (A) a specified public comment period of not less than thirty days, (B) a description sufficiently detailed so as to apprise persons likely to be affected of the issues and subjects involved in the proposed regulation, (C) a statement of the purposes for which the regulation is proposed, (D) a reference to the statutory authority for the proposed regulation, (E) when, where and how interested persons may obtain a copy of the small business impact and regulatory flexibility analysis required pursuant to section 4-168a, and (F) when, where and how interested persons may present their views on the proposed regulation; (2) post a copy of the proposed regulation on the eRegulations System; (3) give notice electronically to each joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of the subject matter of the proposed regulation; (4) prior to January 1, 2017, give notice electronically or provide a paper copy notice, if requested, to all persons who have made requests to the agency for advance notice of its regulation-making proceedings; (5) provide a paper copy or electronic version of the proposed regulation to persons requesting it; and (6) prepare a fiscal note, including an estimate of the cost or of the revenue impact (A) on the state or any municipality of the state, and (B) on small businesses in the state, including an estimate of the number of small businesses subject to the proposed regulation and the projected costs, including, but not limited to, reporting, recordkeeping and administrative, associated with compliance with the proposed regulation and, if applicable, the regulatory flexibility analysis prepared under section 4-168a. The governing body of any municipality, if requested, shall provide the agency, within twenty working days, with any information that may be necessary for analysis in preparation of such fiscal note. On and after January 1, 2017, each such agency shall mail a paper copy of the notice posted pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, not later than five days after posting such notice, to any person who has requested advance notice of the agency's regulation-making proceedings on or after October 1, 2016. (b) Except as provided in subsections (g) and (h) of this section, during the public comment period specified in subsection (a) of this section, all interested persons shall have reasonable opportunity to submit data, views or arguments in writing on the proposed regulation. The agency shall hold a public hearing on the proposed regulation if requested by fifteen persons, by a governmental subdivision or agency or by an association having not less than fifteen members, if notice of the request is received by the agency not later than fourteen days after the date of posting of the notice by the agency on the eRegulations System. The agency shall consider fully all written and oral submissions respecting the proposed regulation and revise the fiscal note prepared in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of this section to indicate any changes made in the proposed regulation. On and after the certification date, each agency shall post the proposed regulation and all documents prepared by the agency pursuant to this subsection and subsection (a) of this section on the eRegulations System. Prior to the certification date, each agency shall create and maintain a regulation-making record for each regulation proposed by such agency, which shall be made available to the public. No regulation shall be found invalid due to the failure of an agency to give notice to each committee of cognizance pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section, provided one such committee has been so notified. (c) If an agency is required by a public act to adopt regulations, the agency, not later than five months after the effective date of the public act or by the time specified in the public act, shall post on the eRegulations System notice of its intent to adopt regulations. If the agency fails to post the notice within such five-month period or by the time specified in the public act, the agency shall submit an electronic statement of its reasons for failure to do so to the Governor, the joint standing committee having cognizance of the subject matter of the regulations and the standing legislative regulation review committee and on and after the certification date, post such statement on the eRegulations System. The agency shall submit the required regulations to the standing legislative regulation review committee, as provided in subsection (b) of section 4-170 , not later than one hundred eighty days after posting the notice of its intent to adopt regulations, or electronically submit a statement of its reasons for failure to do so to the committee. (d) An agency may begin the regulation-making process under this chapter before the effective date of the public act requiring or permitting the agency to adopt regulations, but no regulation may take effect before the effective date of such act. (e) After the close of the public comment period and prior to submission to the Attorney General, in accordance with section 4-169 , the agency shall post on the eRegulations System a notice describing whether the agency has decided to move forward with the proposed regulation. If any comments have been received, the agency shall also post on the eRegulations System: (1) A statement of the principal reasons in support of its intended action; and (2) a statement of the principal considerations in opposition to its intended action as urged in written or oral comments on the proposed regulation and its reasons for rejecting such considerations. The agency shall distribute its response to comments electronically to all persons who have commented on the regulation and have provided a valid electronic mail address and shall mail a copy of such response to any person who has commented on the regulation and specifically requested a paper copy on or after January 1, 2017. (f) Except as provided in subsections (g) and (h) of this section, no regulation may be adopted, amended or repealed by any agency until it is (1) approved by the Attorney General as to legal sufficiency, as provided in section 4-169 , (2) approved by the standing legislative regulation review committee, as provided in section 4-170 , and (3) posted on the eRegulations System by the office of the Secretary of the State, as provided in section 4-172 and section 4-173b . (g) (1) An agency may proceed to adopt an emergency regulation in accordance with this subsection without prior notice, public comment period or hearing or upon any abbreviated notice, public comment period and hearing that it finds practicable if (A) the agency finds that adoption of a regulation upon fewer than thirty days' notice is required (i) due to an imminent peril to the public health, safety or welfare or (ii) by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection in order to comply with the provisions of interstate fishery management plans adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission or to meet unforeseen circumstances or emergencies affecting marine resources, (B) the agency states in writing its reasons for that finding, and (C) the Governor approves such finding in writing. (2) The agency shall submit an electronic copy of the proposed emergency regulation to the standing legislative regulation review committee in the form prescribed in subsection (b) of section 4-170 , together with a statement of the terms or substance of the intended action, the purpose of the action and a reference to the statutory authority under which the action is proposed. The committee may approve or disapprove the proposed emergency regulation, in whole or in part, not later than fifteen calendar days after its submission to the committee, at a regular meeting, if one is scheduled, or may, upon the call of either chairman or any five or more members, hold a special meeting for the purpose of approving or disapproving the regulation, in whole or in part. Failure of the committee to act on such regulation within such fifteen-day period shall be deemed an approval. If the committee disapproves such regulation, in whole or in part, it shall notify the agency of the reasons for its action. An approved emergency regulation shall be posted on the eRegulations System by the office of the Secretary of the State and shall be effective for a period of not longer than one hundred eighty days from the date it is approved or deemed approved and posted. Such one-hundred-eighty-day period may be extended an additional sixty days for emergency regulations described in subparagraph (A)(ii) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, provided the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection requests of the standing legislative regulation review committee an extension of the renewal period at the time such regulation is submitted or not less than fifteen calendar days before the emergency regulation expires and the committee approves such extension. Failure of the committee to act on such request within fifteen calendar days shall be deemed an approval of the extension. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude an agency proposing an emergency regulation from adopting a permanent regulation that is identical or substantially similar to the emergency regulation, but such action shall not extend the effective date of the emergency regulation. (3) If the necessary steps to adopt a permanent regulation, including the posting of notice of intent to adopt, preparation and submission of a fiscal note in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 4-170 and approval by the Attorney General and the standing legislative regulation review committee, are not completed prior to the expiration date of an emergency regulation, the emergency regulation shall cease to be effective on such expiration date. (h) An agency may make technical amendments to an existing regulation or repeal an existing regulation to: (1) Facilitate the statutory transfer of functions, powers or duties from the agency named in the existing regulation to another agency, (2) reflect a change in the name of the agency, (3) transfer or renumber sections of the regulation to correspond with the transferring or renumbering of the section of the general statutes containing the statutory authority for the regulation, or make a correction in the numbering of the regulation, with no substantive changes made, (4) amend an existing regulation solely to conform the regulation to amendments to the general statutes, provided the amendments to the regulation do not entail any discretion by the agency, (5) update or correct contact information contained in the regulation, (6) correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting or typographical errors, with no substantive changes made, or (7) repeal a regulation because the section of the general statutes under which the regulation has been adopted has been repealed and has not been transferred or reenacted. The agency may adopt any such amendments to or repeal of a regulation in accordance with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section or may proceed without prior notice, public comment period or hearing, provided the agency has posted such amendments to or repeal of the regulation on the eRegulations System. Any such amendments to or repeal of a regulation shall be submitted in the form and manner prescribed in subsection (b) of section 4-170 , to the Attorney General, as provided in section 4-169 , and to the standing legislative regulation review committee, as provided in section 4-170 , for approval and upon approval shall be submitted to the office of the Secretary of the State for posting on the eRegulations System with, in the case of transferred or renumbered sections only, a correlated table of the former and new section numbers. (i) No regulation adopted after October 1, 1985, is valid unless adopted in substantial compliance with this section. A proceeding to contest any regulation on the ground of noncompliance with the procedural requirements of this section shall be commenced within two years from the effective date of the regulation.

Legislative History

(1971, P.A. 854, S. 3; P.A. 73-616, S. 3; 73-620, S. 5, 19; P.A. 77-604, S. 82, 84; P.A. 78-283, S. 1; P.A. 79-623, S. 4, 5, 8; P.A. 80-471, S. 2; P.A. 83-277, S. 1, 3; P.A. 84-132; P.A. 85-608, S. 1; P.A. 86-250, S. 1, 4; P.A. 88-317, S. 3, 107; P.A. 90-124, S. 1; P.A. 94-179, S. 2; P.A. 96-16; P.A. 97-47, S. 26; P.A. 99-90, S. 2–4; P.A. 00-62; P.A. 05-288, S. 15, 16; P.A. 07-217, S. 9; P.A. 09-19, S. 1; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; 11-81, S. 4; 11-150, S. 18; P.A. 12-92, S. 2; P.A. 13-247, S. 28; 13-274, S. 3; P.A. 14-187, S. 2; P.A. 16-58, S. 1, 5, 7.) History: P.A. 73-616 made technical changes; P.A. 73-620 required that requests to present arguments be made within 10 days of proposed regulation's publication and deleted provisions requiring publication of a defense of any regulation's adoption; P.A. 77-604 clarified procedure for adopting emergency regulations by requiring notice to and approval or rejection by regulation review committee at regular or special meeting; P.A. 78-283 allowed disapproval of emergency regulations in whole or in part, required notice to review committee of regulation's renewal and added provisions regarding adoption of emergency regulation as permanent regulation; P.A. 79-623 amended section to include provisions concerning fiscal notes, effective with respect to fiscal year ending June 30, 1980; P.A. 80-471 substantially amended section, in Subsec. (a), changing notice requirement from 20 to 30 days, clarifying contents of notice statement and providing for mailing to interested persons and in Subsec. (b) requiring governor's approval of emergency regulations, changing date of notice to review committee from 5 to 10 days prior to regulation's effective date and requiring regulations to be filed in secretary of the state's office; P.A. 83-277 inserted new Subsec. (c) which sets forth the procedure governing the adoption of technical amendments to agency regulations, relettering former Subsec. (c) accordingly; P.A. 84-132 added requirement that agencies submit proposed regulations to committee within 180 days after publication of notice and permitted technical amendment of regulations without hearing when general statute under which regulations were adopted is repealed; P.A. 85-608 changed publication of notice requirement in Subsec. (a) from one year to five months or by the first day of November following the passage of the act, whichever is earlier; P.A. 86-250 made technical changes including relettering of subsections and deleted requirement that agencies publish notice of intent to adopt regulations by November first following passage of act requiring adoption; P.A. 88-317 relettered subsections and renumbered subdivisions, rearranged and rephrased provisions, made other technical revisions and amended Subsec. (c) to allow agency to begin regulation-making process before effective date of act requiring or authorizing regulations, effective July 1, 1989, and applicable to agency proceedings commenced on or after that date; P.A. 90-124 amended Subsec. (a) to require an agency, prior to adopting a regulation, to give notice of its intended action to each committee of the general assembly having cognizance of the subject of the regulation and provided that no regulation shall be found invalid due to an agency's failure to give such notice to each such committee if one such committee has been so notified; (Revisor's note: In 1993 the reference in Subsec. (d) to “subdivision (5) of subsection (a)” was changed editorially to “subdivision (6) of subsection (a)” to reflect renumbering of subdivisions in P.A. 90-124, S. 1); P.A. 94-179 amended Subsec. (a)(5) to require regulatory flexibility analysis to be included in fiscal note, if applicable (Revisor's note: Language newly designated as Subparas. (1) and (2) within Subdiv. (5) was redesignated by the Revisors as Subparas. (A) and (B) for statutory conformity); P.A. 96-16 amended Subsec. (f) to authorize emergency regulations by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection re fishery management and to make technical changes; P.A. 97-47 amended Subsec. (d) by substituting “the Freedom of Information Act, as defined in section 1-18a” for “chapter 3”; P.A. 99-90 amended Subsec. (b) by inserting “as provided in subsection (b) of section 4-170”, amended Subsec. (f)(2) by requiring eighteen copies, instead of seventeen copies, to be submitted to regulation review committee and amended Subsec. (g) by inserting “or (D) a correction in the numbering of the regulation,”; P.A. 00-62 amended Subsec. (f)(2) by adding provision allowing additional 60 days for emergency fisheries regulations; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (g), effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 07-217 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective July 12, 2007; P.A. 09-19 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by adding new Subpara. (D) re small business impact and regulatory flexibility analyses and redesignating existing Subpara. (D) as Subpara. (E), and amended Subsec. (a)(5) by replacing “following” with “no later than the date of” and adding provision in Subpara. (B) re impact on small businesses; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Commissioner of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection” in Subsec. (f), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-81 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting requirement for notice “by mail” in Subdivs. (2) and (3) and by changing “copy” to “paper copy or electronic version” in Subdiv. (4); P.A. 11-150 amended Subsec. (f)(2) to replace reference to 18 copies with “an electronic copy”; P.A. 12-92 amended Subsecs. (a), (b), (d), (e) and (f) to replace references to publication in Connecticut Law Journal or filing with references to posting online by the Secretary, amended Subsec. (a) to apply 30-day notice requirement to Subdivs. (2) to (5), to add “electronically” re notice, to limit fee to paper copies, to delete Subdiv. designators (6) to (8), to add reference to viewing online, to make technical changes and to require the Secretary and agency to post the notice and documents online and the Secretary to electronically notify interested persons, amended Subsec. (b) to make technical changes and to replace references to written statement with references to electronic statement, amended Subsec. (d) to add new Subdivs. (1) to (3) re posting on agency's web site, submitting to the Secretary for online posting and mailing an electronic or paper copy, and to redesignate existing Subdivs. (1) to (3) as Subparas. (A) to (C), and amended Subsec. (g) to require agency to post amendments or repeal online and to make a technical change, effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 13-247 replaced references to posting online with references to posting on eRegulations System, amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to require agency rather than Secretary to post notice, to require on and after October 1, 2014, all documents including statement of failure to post notice of intent to adopt required regulations to be posted on eRegulations System, and to require provision of paper copy of notice if requested, and amended Subsec. (d) to delete reference to electronically mailing or mailing a paper copy of notice, effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 13-274 made identical changes as P.A. 13-247, effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 14-187 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes, changed requirement in Subsec. (a)(1)(A) to post a statement of terms or substance of proposed regulation to reference to public comment period of not less than 30 days, redesignated existing Subsec. (a)(1)(A) re detailed description of regulation as Subsec. (a)(1)(B), and redesignated existing Subsec. (a)(1)(B) to (E) as Subsec. (a)(1)(C) to (F), added new Subsec. (a)(2) re posting copy of the proposed regulation, redesignated existing Subsec. (a)(2) to (5) as Subsec. (a)(3) to (6), amended Subsec. (a)(4) to add “if requested” re paper copy and to delete provision re charging reasonable fee for notice if not electronic, amended Subsec. (a)(5) to delete reference to reasonable fee for paper copies, designated a portion of existing Subsec. (a) as Subsec. (b), redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) to (h) as Subsecs. (c) to (i), amended redesignated Subsec. (b) to make technical changes, delete provisions re oral comments at a hearing, the public right to inspect, copy, view online and print the fiscal note, change provisions re presenting oral argument to holding a public hearing, change reference to October 1, 2014, to reference to certification date, add reference to posting proposed regulation and change provision re electronic notification of regulation-making upon request to reference to creating a publicly available regulation-making record, amended redesignated Subsec. (c) to change reference to October 1, 2014, to reference to certification date, amended redesignated Subsec. (e) to change reference re posting regulation from 20 days before submission to regulation review committee to prior to submission to Attorney General, add reference to eRegulations System, delete former Subdiv. (1) and (2) designators and redesignate Subparas. (A) to (C) as Subdivs. (1) to (3), amended redesignated Subsec. (f) to make a technical change, amended redesignated Subsec. (g)(2) to delete reference to submission of original of the emergency regulation, delete reference to the Secretary of the State posting notice of renewal, make technical changes and add provision precluding adoption of identical permanent regulation extending the date of the emergency regulation, effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 16-58 amended Subsec. (a) to add “prior to January 1, 2017” in Subdiv. (4) and to add provision re mailing paper copy of notice if requested on or after October 1, 2016, effective May 31, 2016, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after January 1, 2017, amended Subsec. (e) to replace provision re electronic notice to those who submitted oral or written comments and paper copy to those who submitted nonelectronic comments with provision re electronic response to comments and mailing copy if requested on or after January 1, 2017, to delete former Subdiv. (1) re posting final wording of proposed regulation and to redesignate existing Subdivs. (2) and (3) as Subdivs. (1) and (2), effective January 1, 2017, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date, amended Subsec. (g) to add references to public comment period in Subdiv. (1), to replace 10-day period excluding weekends and holidays with 15-day period and to replace provision re effective period of 120 days with effective period of 180 days in Subdiv. (2), and to make technical changes, and substantially amended Subsec. (h) to redesignate existing Subdivs. (1)(A) to (1)(D) as Subdivs. (1) to (3) and existing Subdiv. (2) as Subdiv. (7), to add new Subdivs. (4) to (6), to amend redesignated Subdiv. (3) to add references to transferring and renumbering sections, to add reference to public comment period and replace “renumbering of” with “transferred or renumbered” and make technical changes, effective October 1, 2016. Compliance with Secs. 4-169 and 4-170 is required by this section. 165 C. 448. Cited. 171 C. 691; 172 C. 263; 173 C. 462; 177 C. 356; 183 C. 76; 184 C. 311; 186 C. 153; 187 C. 458; 188 C. 152; 191 C. 173; Id., 384; 200 C. 489; 204 C. 287; 214 C. 601; 223 C. 573; 239 C. 32. Cited. 1 CA 1; 11 CA 693; 12 CA 455; 16 CA 497; 25 CA 555; 33 CA 775; 37 CA 653; judgment reversed, see 238 C. 361. Cited. 34 CS 225; 42 CS 323.