RulesNews

Responsibility for the Substance of the Rule and Rule Analysis

What is the scope of the Division of Administrative Rules' review of rule filings? The Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act (UARA) confers a number of responsibilities on the Division. However, a substantive legal review of rules is not one of them. The Division is required to "provide agencies assistance in rulemaking" and "administer [the UARA] and require state agencies to comply with filing, publication, and hearing procedures." (UT Code Subsections 63-46a-10(1)(l) and (m), emphasis added)

The Division reviews rules for procedural compliance with the provisions of the UARA. That means that when a rule is filed, the Division verifies that information required by the statute and the Division's rules has been provided (e.g., boxes on the form are not left blank, answers provided are not incomplete or unrelated to the question). The Division also verifies that basic rules of English grammar have been followed. The Division does not approve the substance of responses, or perform a legal evaluation of rules.

Section 63-46a-4 outlines the responsibility of an agency when it files a proposed rule. The UARA explicitly provides that "[a]n agency may obtain assistance from the attorney general to insure that its rules meet legal and constitutional requirements." (UT Code Subsection 63-46a-3(9))

The Division is happy to assist an agency in any way it can. However, the Division does not employ counsel, or provide legal advice. If you have a question about the authority of your agency to file a particular rule, whether a rule meets the criteria for filing an emergency rule, or the substance of a rule, contact your representative in the Attorney General's Office (801-538-9600).

New Address for eRules Access; New eRules Help Available

On Monday, October 18, ITS upgraded the security software on which eRules relies. As part of that change, the address for direct access to eRules changed. The new address is http://filings.rules.utah.gov/MainRuleFilingPage.asp .

The Division asks that agency rule filers access eRules as soon as possible to verify that they can log into the system.

• Make certain that you use the new address (above).
• If you receive an error message such as "Invalid Credentials" or "The user ID, or password entered are invalid", please contact *your* agency information technology staff and have them work with ITS to solve the problem. These error messages typically mean that your identifying information is not complete in the Utah Master Directory.

Additionally, an eRules Help page (http://www.rules.utah.gov/eRules/help.htm) is now available. The page includes links to instructions for completing the rule analysis (with examples); instructions for setting up Word and WordPerfect to prepare rule text; and instructions for saving rule text in RTF format.

E-rulemaking Stakeholders Report Issued

Notice provided over the E-rulemaking ListServ announces the availability of a new report. "The Internet Still Might (but Probably Won't) Change Everything: Stakeholder Views on the Future of Electronic Rulemaking," is "about the impact of modern information technology and the Internet on the federal rulemaking process." Dr. Stuart W. Shulman, a professor at University of Pittsburgh, authored the report. The press release describes the report in the following terms:

The report examines such questions as: "What's the proper role of public discussion in rulemaking? How do these technologies both create new opportunities and liabilities for people who want to engage in the process?"

* * * * *

Shulman argues that by creating databases of the public's comments and building appropriate tools to analyze them, federal agencies will be able to make their decisions with the best available information. How these tools are designed and used will impact the nature and scope of public participation.

"The report argues that we should talk openly about this, because the regulatory process results in literally billions of dollars of costs and benefits to the economy every year," said Shulman. "It is important that these issues be aired openly before technical choices are made that have far-reaching practical implications."

The report is available at http://erulemaking.ucsur.pitt.edu/doc/reports/e-rulemaking_final.pdf. Additional information above E-rulemaking is available at http://erulemaking.ucsur.pitt.edu/.