§ 202-A — Regulatory impact

§ 202-a. Regulatory impact. 1. In developing a rule, an agency shall,\nto the extent consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes,\nconsider utilizing approaches which are designed to avoid undue\ndeleterious economic effects or overly burdensome impacts of the rule\nupon persons, including persons residing in New York state's rural\nareas, directly or indirectly affected by it or upon the economy or\nadministration of state or local governmental agencies. Such approaches\nshall include, but not be limited to, the specification of performance\nstandards rather than design standards.\n 2. Each agency shall, except as provided in subdivision five of this\nsection, issue a regulatory impact statement for a rule proposed for\nadoption or a rule adopted on an emergency basis.\n 3. Each regulatory impact statement shall contain:\n (a) Statutory authority. A statement analyzing the statutory authority\nfor the rule, including but not limited to the agency's interpretation\nof the legislative objectives of such authority;\n (b) Needs and benefits. A statement setting forth the purpose of,\nnecessity for, and benefits derived from the rule, a citation for and\nsummary, not to exceed five hundred words, of each scientific or\nstatistical study, report or analysis that served as the basis for the\nrule, an explanation of how it was used to determine the necessity for\nand benefits derived from the rule, and the name of the person that\nproduced each study, report or analysis;\n (c) Costs. A statement detailing the projected costs of the rule,\nwhich shall indicate:\n (i) the costs for the implementation of, and continuing compliance\nwith, the rule to regulated persons;\n (ii) the costs for the implementation of, and continued administration\nof, the rule to the agency and to the state and its local governments;\nand\n (iii) the information, including the source or sources of such\ninformation, and methodology upon which the cost analysis is based; or\n (iv) where an agency finds that it cannot fully provide a statement of\nsuch costs, a statement setting forth its best estimate, which shall\nindicate the information and methodology upon which such best estimate\nis based and the reason or reasons why a complete cost statement cannot\nbe provided;\n (d) Paperwork. A statement describing the need for any reporting\nrequirements, including forms and other paperwork, which would be\nrequired as a result of the rule;\n (e) Local government mandates. A statement describing any program,\nservice, duty or responsibility imposed by the rule upon any county,\ncity, town, village, school district, fire district or other special\ndistrict;\n (f) Duplication. A statement identifying relevant rules and other\nlegal requirements of the state and federal governments, including those\nwhich may duplicate, overlap or conflict with the rule. If the statement\nindicates that the rule would duplicate, overlap or conflict with any\nother relevant rule or legal requirement, the statement should also\nidentify all efforts which the agency has or will undertake to resolve,\nor minimize the impact of, such duplication, overlap or conflict on\nregulated persons, including, but not limited to, seeking waivers of or\nexemptions from such other rules or legal requirements, seeking\namendment of such other rules or legal requirements, or entering into a\nmemorandum of understanding or other agreement concerning such other\nrules or legal requirements;\n (g) Alternative approaches. A statement indicating whether any\nsignificant alternatives to the rule were considered by the agency,\nincluding a discussion of such alternatives and the reasons why they\nwere not incorporated into the rule;\n (h) Federal standards. A statement identifying whether the rule\nexceeds any minimum standards of the federal government for the same or\nsimilar subject areas and, if so, an explanation of why the rule exceeds\nsuch standards; and\n (i) Compliance schedule. A statement indicating the estimated period\nof time necessary to enable regulated persons to achieve compliance with\nthe rule.\n 4. To reduce paperwork on the agencies, an agency may:\n (a) Consider a series of closely related and simultaneously proposed\nrules as one rule for the purpose of submitting a consolidated\nregulatory impact statement; and\n (b) Submit a consolidated regulatory impact statement for any series\nof virtually identical rules proposed in the same year.\n 5. (a) An agency may claim an exemption from the requirements of this\nsection for a rule that involves only a technical amendment, provided,\nhowever, the agency shall state in the notice, prepared pursuant to\nsection two hundred two of this chapter, the reason or reasons for\nclaiming such exemption.\n (b) A rule defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of\nsubdivision two of section one hundred two of this chapter shall be\nexempt from the requirements of this section.\n (c) A rule determined by an agency to be a consensus rule and proposed\npursuant to subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of\nsection two hundred two of this article shall be exempt from the\nrequirements of this section.\n 6. Each agency shall issue a revised regulatory impact statement when:\n (a) the information presented in the statement is inadequate or\nincomplete, provided, however, such revised statement shall be submitted\nas soon as practicable to the secretary of state for publication in the\nstate register, provided, further, if such statement exceeds two\nthousand words, the notice shall include only a summary of such\nstatement in less than two thousand words;\n (b) a proposed rule contains any substantial revisions and such\nrevisions necessitate that such statement be modified. A revised\nstatement shall describe the reasons for such changes and shall include\nany modifications in the regulatory impact statement that are necessary\nas a result of such changes; or\n (c) there are no substantial revisions in the proposed rule but there\nare changes in the text of the rule as adopted when compared with the\ntext of the latest published version of the proposed rule and such\nchanges would necessitate that such statement be modified. A revised\nstatement shall describe the reasons for such changes and shall include\nany modifications in the regulatory impact statement that are necessary\nas a result of such changes.\n