N.Y. State Administrative Procedure Act § 202-a: Regulatory impact

§ 202-a. Regulatory impact. 1. In developing a rule, an agency shall,

to the extent consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes,

consider utilizing approaches which are designed to avoid undue

deleterious economic effects or overly burdensome impacts of the rule

upon persons, including persons residing in New York state's rural

areas, directly or indirectly affected by it or upon the economy or

administration of state or local governmental agencies. Such approaches

shall include, but not be limited to, the specification of performance

standards rather than design standards.

2. Each agency shall, except as provided in subdivision five of this

section, issue a regulatory impact statement for a rule proposed for

adoption or a rule adopted on an emergency basis.

3. Each regulatory impact statement shall contain:

(a) Statutory authority. A statement analyzing the statutory authority

for the rule, including but not limited to the agency's interpretation

of the legislative objectives of such authority;

(b) Needs and benefits. A statement setting forth the purpose of,

necessity for, and benefits derived from the rule, a citation for and

summary, not to exceed five hundred words, of each scientific or

statistical study, report or analysis that served as the basis for the

rule, an explanation of how it was used to determine the necessity for

and benefits derived from the rule, and the name of the person that

produced each study, report or analysis;

(c) Costs. A statement detailing the projected costs of the rule,

which shall indicate:

(i) the costs for the implementation of, and continuing compliance

with, the rule to regulated persons;

(ii) the costs for the implementation of, and continued administration

of, the rule to the agency and to the state and its local governments;

and

(iii) the information, including the source or sources of such

information, and methodology upon which the cost analysis is based; or

(iv) where an agency finds that it cannot fully provide a statement of

such costs, a statement setting forth its best estimate, which shall

indicate the information and methodology upon which such best estimate

is based and the reason or reasons why a complete cost statement cannot

be provided;

(d) Paperwork. A statement describing the need for any reporting

requirements, including forms and other paperwork, which would be

required as a result of the rule;

(e) Local government mandates. A statement describing any program,

service, duty or responsibility imposed by the rule upon any county,

city, town, village, school district, fire district or other special

district;

(f) Duplication. A statement identifying relevant rules and other

legal requirements of the state and federal governments, including those

which may duplicate, overlap or conflict with the rule. If the statement

indicates that the rule would duplicate, overlap or conflict with any

other relevant rule or legal requirement, the statement should also

identify all efforts which the agency has or will undertake to resolve,

or minimize the impact of, such duplication, overlap or conflict on

regulated persons, including, but not limited to, seeking waivers of or

exemptions from such other rules or legal requirements, seeking

amendment of such other rules or legal requirements, or entering into a

memorandum of understanding or other agreement concerning such other

rules or legal requirements;

(g) Alternative approaches. A statement indicating whether any

significant alternatives to the rule were considered by the agency,

including a discussion of such alternatives and the reasons why they

were not incorporated into the rule;

(h) Federal standards. A statement identifying whether the rule

exceeds any minimum standards of the federal government for the same or

similar subject areas and, if so, an explanation of why the rule exceeds

such standards; and

(i) Compliance schedule. A statement indicating the estimated period

of time necessary to enable regulated persons to achieve compliance with

the rule.

4. To reduce paperwork on the agencies, an agency may:

(a) Consider a series of closely related and simultaneously proposed

rules as one rule for the purpose of submitting a consolidated

regulatory impact statement; and

(b) Submit a consolidated regulatory impact statement for any series

of virtually identical rules proposed in the same year.

5. (a) An agency may claim an exemption from the requirements of this

section for a rule that involves only a technical amendment, provided,

however, the agency shall state in the notice, prepared pursuant to

section two hundred two of this chapter, the reason or reasons for

claiming such exemption.

(b) A rule defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of

subdivision two of section one hundred two of this chapter shall be

exempt from the requirements of this section.

(c) A rule determined by an agency to be a consensus rule and proposed

pursuant to subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of

section two hundred two of this article shall be exempt from the

requirements of this section.

6. Each agency shall issue a revised regulatory impact statement when:

(a) the information presented in the statement is inadequate or

incomplete, provided, however, such revised statement shall be submitted

as soon as practicable to the secretary of state for publication in the

state register, provided, further, if such statement exceeds two

thousand words, the notice shall include only a summary of such

statement in less than two thousand words;

(b) a proposed rule contains any substantial revisions and such

revisions necessitate that such statement be modified. A revised

statement shall describe the reasons for such changes and shall include

any modifications in the regulatory impact statement that are necessary

as a result of such changes; or

(c) there are no substantial revisions in the proposed rule but there

are changes in the text of the rule as adopted when compared with the

text of the latest published version of the proposed rule and such

changes would necessitate that such statement be modified. A revised

statement shall describe the reasons for such changes and shall include

any modifications in the regulatory impact statement that are necessary

as a result of such changes.