Bill > SSB3119

Introduced Session

This bill concerns the executive branch rulemaking process and other agency functions and related matters. DIVISION I —— EXECUTIVE BRANCH RULEMAKING AND RELATED MATTERS. PRECLEARANCE OF RULEMAKING. The division requires that agencies submit proposed rulemaking to the administrative rules coordinator for preclearance in the manner prescribed by the administrative rules coordinator before the rulemaking is submitted for publication in the Iowa administrative bulletin (bulletin) as a notice of intended action. This requirement also applies to rules adopted without prior notice and an opportunity for public participation (emergency rules). REGULATORY ANALYSIS OF RULES. The division modifies procedures and requirements for regulatory analyses of proposed rules under Code section 17A.4A. The division requires that agencies issue regulatory analyses of all proposed rules, rather than upon request of specified entities as required under current law. The division requires that before a notice S.F. _____ H.F. _____ of intended action is published in the bulletin, the agency shall submit a regulatory analysis of the content of the notice for publication in the bulletin. The regulatory analysis must include a statement of either the terms or substance of the agency’s intended action or a description of the subjects and issues involved. The regulatory analysis must also provide 20 days for interested persons to submit data, views, or arguments in writing and give interested persons an opportunity to make oral presentation that is held at least 20 days after publication of the time and place in the bulletin. An agency shall not submit a notice of intended action for publication in the bulletin until the conclusion of the opportunity for oral presentation and preclearance by the administrative rules coordinator. In the case of an emergency rule, the agency shall have until 70 days after the adoption to submit a regulatory analysis for publication in the bulletin. If an emergency rule will be published in the bulletin concurrently with a corresponding notice of intended action, a separate regulatory analysis for the notice is not required. MATERIALS IN STATE LAW LIBRARY —— ADOPTIONS BY REFERENCE. The division strikes a requirement that printed copies of publications containing standards adopted by reference by agencies, other than federal statutes and regulations, be deposited in the state law library. The division instead requires an agency to post such materials on the agency’s internet site. The division prohibits posting a link for this purpose to an internet site that is not maintained by the agency. If a posted publication or part of a publication varies from the publication or part as adopted by reference by an agency under current law, the adoption by reference shall control, rather than the post by the agency. The division additionally provides that the state law library shall maintain electronic access to the Iowa administrative bulletin, Iowa administrative code, bills, and other information relating to current or proposed legislation, S.F. _____ H.F. _____ rather than paper copies of such materials as required by current law. FIVE-YEAR REVIEW AND RESCISSION OF RULES. The division modifies the ongoing five-year review of rules required under Code section 17A.7, subsection 2. The division changes the beginning of the review period from July 1 to January 1. The division requires that the review include a retrospective analysis that includes a comprehensive evaluation and rigorous cost-benefit analysis of each existing chapter of rules as specified in the division. The division specifies content that must be included in review summaries, which relates to costs, benefits, and less restrictive alternatives to the rules. The division strikes a requirement that agencies commence the review by developing a plan of review in consultation with major stakeholders and constituent groups. The division establishes a process for ongoing rescission of rules in the Iowa administrative code. The division provides that each chapter of rules is rescinded five years after the date on which the chapter as a whole became effective. A chapter rescinded in this manner ceases to be effective as of the date of rescission. Before or after the rescission, the agency that adopted the chapter may adopt the chapter anew after completing a retrospective analysis as described in the division. An agency adopting a chapter anew shall do so from a zero base, which is defined as adoption of a chapter anew without merely adopting the prior language of the chapter and without any presumption in favor of utilizing the prior language when the chapter is adopted anew. Adoption of a chapter anew shall not include notation in a rulemaking document published in the bulletin of additions to or deletions from the language of the prior chapter. The division provides that the effective date of adoption, amendment, or rescission of individual rules or portions of rules in a chapter shall not be considered when determining the effective date of the chapter as a whole for purposes of the S.F. _____ H.F. _____ ongoing rescission process. If a chapter has been rescinded under this process, the agency that adopted the chapter shall notify the administrative code editor in writing of the rescission. The administrative rules coordinator may notify the administrative code editor in writing on behalf of the agency. As soon as practicable after receiving such notification, the administrative code editor shall publish notice of the rescission in the bulletin and, no sooner than two weeks after such publication, remove the chapter from the Iowa administrative code. When a chapter of rules becoming effective as a whole is published in the Iowa administrative code, the division requires the administrative code editor to include the next rescission date of the chapter. For a chapter of rules that most recently became effective as a whole prior to January 1, 2023, the effective date of the chapter shall be deemed January 1, 2023, for purposes of the ongoing rescission process. For a chapter that most recently became effective as a whole on or after January 1, 2023, the date of rescission shall be based on the most recent effective date of the chapter as a whole. The division exempts certain rules adopted by the environmental protection commission relating to water quality standards, pretreatment standards, and effluent standards from the ongoing five-year rules review and rescission processes. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO AGENCIES. The division provides standards for agency rulemaking authority. Rulemaking authority is explicitly delegated to or explicitly conferred on an agency as provided in the division. The division provides that an agency may adopt rules interpreting the provisions of any statute enforced or administered by the agency if a statute explicitly grants the agency rulemaking authority over the statutory provision, but a rule is not valid if the rule exceeds the bounds of correct interpretation. The division provides standards for adoption of a rule interpreting the provisions of a statute enforced or administered by an agency. S.F. _____ H.F. _____ The division provides that a statutory or nonstatutory provision containing a statement or declaration of legislative intent, purpose, findings, or policy does not delegate rulemaking authority to or confer rulemaking authority on an agency, or augment the agency’s rulemaking authority, beyond the rulemaking authority that is explicitly delegated to or explicitly conferred on the agency by a statute. The division provides that a statutory provision describing an agency’s general powers or duties does not delegate rulemaking authority to or confer rulemaking authority on the agency, or augment the agency’s rulemaking authority, beyond the rulemaking authority that is explicitly delegated to or explicitly conferred on the agency by a statute. The division provides that a statutory provision containing a specific standard, requirement, or threshold does not delegate to or confer on an agency the authority to adopt, enforce, or administer a rule that contains a standard, requirement, or threshold that is more restrictive than the standard, requirement, or threshold contained in the statutory provision. The division authorizes an agency to prescribe forms and procedures in connection with any statute enforced or administered by the agency if the agency considers it necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute, but this provision does not authorize the imposition of a substantive requirement in connection with a form or procedure. The division provides that an agency authorized to exercise discretion in deciding individual cases may formalize the general policies evolving from its decisions by adopting the policies as rules that the agency shall follow until such rules are amended or repealed. A rule adopted in this manner is valid only to the extent that the agency has discretion to base an individual decision on the policy expressed in the rule. The division authorizes an agency to adopt rules implementing or interpreting a statute that it will enforce S.F. _____ H.F. _____ or administer after enactment of the statute but prior to the statute’s effective date. Such a rule shall not take effect prior to the effective date of the statute that it implements or interprets. The division modifies various references in Code chapter 17A to delegations of authority to agencies and judicial review thereof to specify that such delegations are only valid if the delegation is explicit. The division strikes language requiring agencies to adopt rules providing a description of the organization of the agency, the methods by which and location where the public may obtain information or make submissions or requests, and related matters; rules of practice setting forth the nature and requirements of all formal and informal procedures available to the public; and rules embodying appropriate standards, principles, and procedural safeguards that the agency will apply to the law it administers. UNIFORM RULES ON AGENCY PROCEDURE. The division authorizes the administrative rules coordinator to adopt uniform rules on agency procedure that are suitable for general applicability to agencies. Such adoption and such rules shall be subject to Code chapter 17A. Such rules may address the subjects of agency procedures for rulemaking, petitions for rulemaking, waiver of rules, declaratory orders, contested cases, and fair information practices. If an agency does not have rules in effect that address these subjects, and uniform rules on agency procedure addressing the subject are in effect, such uniform rules shall apply to the agency as though the agency had adopted them. The division authorizes an agency to adopt rules providing for additions, exceptions, or amendments to a uniform rule on agency procedure applicable to the agency. The portions of the division addressing uniform rules on agency procedure do not apply to uniform rules on agency procedure published prior to January 1, 2024, and do not S.F. _____ H.F. _____ affect the validity of rules that have adopted such uniform rules by reference. Uniform rules on agency procedure were originally published in 1985 and updates were published in 1999. The division requires the attorney general to assist the administrative rules coordinator in implementation of the uniform rules on agency procedure as provided in the division upon request. DIVISION II —— EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCY FUNCTIONS. DUTIES OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. The division modifies various duties carried out by the executive council. Duties relating to the contingent fund for disaster aid shall instead be carried out by the department of homeland security and emergency management. For purposes of group insurance for state employees, the director of the department of administrative services is designated as a governing body under Code chapter 509A rather than the executive council. Funds in the civil reparations trust fund shall be equally distributed each fiscal year to the department of health and human services and the department of insurance and financial services rather than under the control and supervision of the executive council. The division strikes a provision authorizing the tax liability of a beneficiary, heir, surviving joint tenant, or other transferee to be paid in whole or in part by the transfer of real property or tangible personal property to the state or a political subdivision of the state to be used for public purposes upon the approval of the executive council. APPEALS TO STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. The division provides that administrative appeals heard by the state board of education shall be heard in a manner consistent with Code chapter 17A, including that the state board will only review a proposed decision by the director of the department of education or an administrative law judge on the board's own motion or if the decision is appealed. ELECTRICAL EXAMINING BOARD —— CONFIDENTIALITY OF LICENSEE PERSONAL INFORMATION. The division provides that the home S.F. _____ H.F. _____ address, home telephone number, and other personal information, as determined by rule, of licensees of the electrical examining board shall be confidential for purposes of the board’s licensure verification database. LICENSING BOARDS —— CONTINUING EDUCATION. The division strikes a requirement that licensing boards subject to Code chapter 272C require and issue rules for continuing education requirements as a condition to license renewal. The division makes such rulemaking discretionary. DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES —— ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMISSION —— AIR QUALITY —— AIR DISPERSION MODELING. For purposes of plans, programs, and rules of the environmental protection commission relating to the evaluation, abatement, control, and prevention of air pollution, and permits for the construction or operation of new, modified, or existing air contaminant sources and for related control equipment, the division provides that the commission is not required to use air dispersion modeling unless modeling is specifically provided for under the federal Clean Air Act as amended through January 1, 1991, rules adopted by the commission, or a federal or state agreement. REAL ESTATE APPRAISER EXAMINING BOARD FUNCTIONS. The division specifies that the real estate appraiser examining board is a licensing board for purposes of Code chapter 272C, relating to regulation of licensed professions and occupations. The division modifies various requirements relating to regulation of real estate appraisers by the board under Code chapter 543D. The division provides that specified matters required to be carried out in writing shall be carried out through the board’s electronic system. The division strikes a requirement that a majority of qualifying hours be completed in Iowa for purposes of hours of qualifying experience in a bordering state for certification as a real estate appraiser that will be considered qualifying S.F. _____ H.F. _____ hours for experience in Iowa without requiring a waiver or authorization from the board. The division strikes a requirement that a certified real estate appraiser advise the board of addresses at which the appraiser is currently engaged in the business of preparing real estate appraisal reports other than the appraiser’s principal place of business. The division provides that a certified real estate appraiser’s residence address is not exempt from disclosure as a public record if the residence address is the address of the appraiser’s principal place of business. The division strikes a requirement that a certificate issued under Code chapter 543D bear the signature or facsimile signature of the member or members of the board and instead provides that a certificate need only include the name of the member or members. The division specifies that the number of hours of instruction that satisfy the basic continuing education requirement for renewal of a real estate appraiser certification is the number of hours required by the appraiser qualifications board of the appraisal foundation rather than the real estate appraiser examining board. The division provides that a person who assists a certified real estate appraiser in the development or reporting of an appraisal assignment that is required to be performed by a certified real estate appraiser by providing administrative services, and not providing real estate appraisal assistance, shall only enter a dwelling if supervised by the appraiser. The division corrects erroneous references to the name of the appraiser qualifications board of the appraisal foundation.

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Other Sponsors (1)

Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 2370. (on 02/14/2024)

Official Document