Proposal Streamlines Regulatory Adoption Process

05.01.2015
Issues & Policies

The Finance Committee this week approved HB 7055, which requires state agencies, when proposing regulations that exceed federal standards, to identify the differences in the proposal and explain to the public and policymakers why they are needed.
The measure does nothing to limit an agency’s ability to go beyond federal standards. HB 7055 only requires that the public and those impacted by the proposals be made aware of when and why such proposals are being contemplated.
That way, stakeholders can provide more informed comment at the public hearings required of all regulations.
“This measure will increase the efficiency of the regulatory adoption process,” said CBIA’s Eric Brown.
“State agencies can’t adopt rules that are less stringent than federal standards so it makes sense in the drafting process to just start with the federal rules and then simply identify where Connecticut sees the need to go further and provide a rationale for doing so.
“It’s as easy as loading the federal rules into a word document then creating a ‘redline’ version (clearly showing changes) and a ‘comment box’ for each change that provides the rationale,” said Brown.
Some environmental advocates are wary and fear it is some sort of underhanded way to block regulations that go beyond federal standards.
“There is absolutely nothing in this bill that limits state regulatory authority,” says Brown. “Rather, it promotes a more streamlined and rational approach to adopting regulations–which is a goal everyone should support.”
For more information, contact CBIA’s Eric Brown at 860.244.1926 | eric.brown@cbia.com | @CBIAericb

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