2012 Arkansas Code
Title 10 - General Assembly
Chapter 3 - Committees
Subchapter 3 - -- Legislative Council
§ 10-3-309 - Review of state agency rules, regulations, amendments, revisions, etc.

(a) (1) (A) In the passage of this section, the General Assembly is aware of the significant number of laws which have been enacted granting to boards, commissions, departments, and administrative agencies of state government the authority to promulgate and enforce rules and regulations.

(B) The General Assembly is further aware that ample safeguards have not been established whereby the General Assembly may be informed of circumstances in which administrative rules and regulations do not conform to legislative intent.

(2) It is the purpose of this section to establish a method for continuing legislative review of such rules and regulations whereby the General Assembly at each legislative session may take remedial steps to correct abuses of rulemaking authority or clarify legislative intent with respect to the rulemaking authority granted the administrative boards, commissions, departments, or agencies.

(b) (1) (A) Whenever a state agency finalizes the promulgation of a rule or regulation or a revision, amendment, or change in the regulation, a copy shall be filed with the Bureau of Legislative Research if the rule or regulation contains any changes from the initial filing of the rule or regulation.

(B) A state agency shall notify the Legislative Council of its intention to repeal any rule or regulation which is on file with the bureau.

(2) As used in this section, "state agency" means any office, board, commission, department, council, bureau, or other agency of state government having authority by statute enacted by the General Assembly to promulgate or enforce the administrative rules and regulations.

(c) (1) The research staff of the bureau shall study and review all current rules, or proposed rules, and all adopted amendments and revisions of rules by state agencies and shall report to the Legislative Council in regard to them.

(2) The Legislative Council shall act in an advisory capacity to the General Assembly with respect to administrative rules and procedures and shall report to the General Assembly at each regular session all administrative rules and regulations which the Legislative Council believes to be contrary to legislative intent or promulgated without legislative authority.

(d) (1) (A) The Legislative Council may selectively review possible, proposed, or adopted rules and regulations and prescribe appropriate Legislative Council procedures for that purpose.

(B) The Legislative Council may receive and investigate complaints from members of the public with respect to possible, proposed, or adopted rules and regulations and hold public proceedings on those complaints.

(2) (A) The Legislative Council may request a representative of an agency whose possible, proposed, or adopted rule or regulation is under examination to attend a Legislative Council meeting and answer relevant questions.

(B) The Legislative Council may also communicate to the agency its nonbinding comments on any possible, proposed, or adopted rule or regulation and request the agency to respond to them in writing.

(3) (A) The Legislative Council may recommend and refer the recommendation to the appropriate committee or committees of the General Assembly:

(i) Enactment of a statute to improve the operation of an agency; and

(ii) That a particular rule or regulation be superseded in whole or in part by statute.

(B) Subdivision (d)(3)(A) of this section does not preclude any committee of the General Assembly from reviewing a rule or regulation on its own motion or recommending that it be superseded in whole or in part by statute.

(4) (A) (i) If the Legislative Council considers all or any portion of a rule or regulation to be beyond the procedural or substantive authority delegated to the adopting agency, the Legislative Council may file notice of that with the agency issuing the rule or regulation in question.

(ii) The notice shall contain a concise statement detailing the precise reasons that the Legislative Council considers the rule or regulation, or portion thereof, to be beyond the procedural or substantive authority delegated to the agency.

(B) The Legislative Council shall maintain a permanent register open to public inspection of all notices.

(C) (i) Within thirty (30) calendar days after the filing of an objection by the Legislative Council to a rule or regulation, the issuing agency shall respond in writing to the Legislative Council.

(ii) After receipt of the response, the Legislative Council may withdraw or modify its findings.

(D) The failure of the Legislative Council to file a notice regarding a rule or regulation is not an implied legislative authorization of its procedural or substantive validity.

(5) The Legislative Council may make nonbinding recommendations to an agency that it adopt a rule or regulation.

(e) (1) (A) Before any rule or regulation of any state agency may be revised, promulgated, amended, or changed, a copy of the rule or amendment to existing rules and a financial impact statement shall be filed with the bureau at least thirty (30) days before the expiration of the period for public comment on the rule pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., or other acts pertaining to the rule-making authority of that agency.

(B) The scope of the financial impact statement shall be determined by the agency but shall include, at a minimum, the estimated cost of complying with the rule or regulation and the estimated cost for the agency to implement the rule or regulation.

(C) Except as provided in § 6-11-132, if the agency has reason to believe that the development of a financial impact statement will be so speculative as to be cost prohibitive, the agency shall submit a statement and explanation to that effect.

(D) If the purpose of a state agency rule or regulation is to implement a federal rule or regulation, the financial impact statement shall be limited to any incremental additional cost of the state rule or regulation as opposed to the federal rule or regulation.

(2) The bureau shall review the proposed revised or amended rule or regulation and, if it is believed that the rule or regulation is contrary to legislative intent, shall file a statement thereof with the Legislative Council.

(3) In either event, the proposed rule or regulation and any comment on the proposed rule or regulation prepared by the bureau shall be submitted to the Legislative Council at the next regular meeting following its filing with the Legislative Council.

(f) (1) In addition, before any rule or regulation of any state agency may be revised, promulgated, amended, or changed, a copy of the rule or amendment to existing rules shall be filed with the interim committees of the General Assembly having responsibility for review of that agency under Acts 1977, No. 100.

(2) The filing shall be made at least thirty (30) days before the expiration of the period for public comment on the rule, pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., or other acts pertaining to the rulemaking authority of the agency.

(g) (1) The Joint Budget Committee shall establish the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee.

(2) (A) The Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee shall consist of twenty-two (22) members of the General Assembly.

(B) (i) Nine (9) members of the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee shall be appointed by the Senate Cochair of the Joint Budget Committee.

(ii) The Senate Cochair of the Joint Budget Committee shall designate one (1) of his or her appointees as Senate Cochair of the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee.

(C) (i) Nine (9) members of the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee shall be appointed by the House Cochair of the Joint Budget Committee.

(ii) The House Cochair of the Joint Budget Committee shall designate one (1) of his or her appointees as House Cochair of the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee.

(3) The cochairs and co-vice chairs of the Legislative Council shall be ex officio members of the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee.

(4) (A) The Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee may meet only during a regular, fiscal, or extraordinary session of the General Assembly.

(B) The Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee shall meet at the call of the cochairs of the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee.

(5) (A) During a regular, fiscal, or extraordinary session of the General Assembly, the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee may perform the functions assigned to the Legislative Council under this section.

(B) Actions taken by the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee under subdivision (g)(5)(A) of this section have the same effect as actions taken by the Legislative Council under this section.

(C) If the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee meets during a regular, fiscal, or extraordinary session of the General Assembly, the Administrative Rule and Regulation Review Subcommittee shall file a report of its actions with the Legislative Council as soon as practicable.