PRINTER'S NO. 262
No. 236 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY PICKETT, REED, TURZAI, BOYD, HUTCHINSON,
McILHATTAN, MUSTIO, REICHLEY, FEESE, ARGALL, ARMSTRONG,
BAKER, BALDWIN, BARRAR, BUNT, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CLYMER,
CRAHALLA, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DALLY, ELLIS, FAIRCHILD, FLEAGLE,
GEIST, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, HARHART, HASAY, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY,
HESS, KAUFFMAN, M. KELLER, KENNEY, KILLION, MAHER, MAJOR,
MANN, McGILL, METCALFE, MILLARD, R. MILLER, S. MILLER,
NAILOR, O'NEILL, READSHAW, ROHRER, SAINATO, SATHER, SAYLOR,
SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, SEMMEL, STERN, R. STEVENSON,
E. Z. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TIGUE, TRUE, WALKO, WASHINGTON, WATSON,
WILT, WRIGHT, YOUNGBLOOD, ZUG AND BROWNE, FEBRUARY 8, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, FEBRUARY 8, 2005
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 25, 1982 (P.L.633, No.181), entitled,
2 as reenacted, "An act providing for independent oversight and
3 review of regulations, creating an Independent Regulatory
4 Review Commission, providing for its powers and duties and
5 making repeals," further providing for legislative intent,
6 for definitions and for proposed regulations and procedure
7 for review.
8 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
9 hereby enacts as follows:
10 Section 1. Section 2 of the act of June 25, 1982 (P.L.633,
11 No.181), known as the Regulatory Review Act, reenacted and
12 amended June 30, 1989 (P.L.73, No.19), and amended June 25, 1997
13 (P.L.252, No.24), is amended to read:
14 Section 2. Legislative intent.
15 (a) The General Assembly has enacted a large number of
16 statutes and has conferred on boards, commissions, departments
1 and agencies within the executive branch of government the
2 authority to adopt rules and regulations to implement those
3 statutes. The General Assembly has found that this delegation of
4 its authority has resulted in regulations being promulgated
5 without undergoing effective review concerning cost benefits,
6 duplication, inflationary impact and conformity to legislative
7 intent. The General Assembly finds that it must establish a
8 procedure for oversight and review of regulations adopted
9 pursuant to this delegation of legislative power in order to
10 curtail excessive regulation and to require the executive branch
11 to justify its exercise of the authority to regulate before
12 imposing hidden costs upon the economy of Pennsylvania. It is
13 the intent of this act to establish a method for ongoing and
14 effective legislative review and oversight in order to foster
15 executive branch accountability; to provide for primary review
16 by a commission with sufficient authority, expertise,
17 independence and time to perform that function; to provide
18 ultimate review of regulations by the General Assembly; and to
19 assist the Governor, the Attorney General and the General
20 Assembly in their supervisory and oversight functions. To the
21 greatest extent possible, this act is intended to encourage the
22 resolution of objections to a regulation and the reaching of a
23 consensus among the commission, the standing committees,
24 interested parties and the agency.
25 [(b) This act is not intended to create a right or benefit,
26 substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a person
27 against another person or against the Commonwealth, its agencies
28 or its officers.]
29 (c) This act is intended to improve State rulemaking by
30 creating procedures to analyze the availability of more flexible
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1 regulatory approaches for small businesses in accordance with
2 the following findings:
3 (1) A vibrant and growing small business sector is
4 critical to creating jobs in a dynamic economy.
5 (2) Small businesses bear a disproportionate share of
6 regulatory costs and burdens.
7 (3) Fundamental changes that are needed in the
8 regulatory and enforcement culture of agencies to make them
9 more responsive to small business can be made without
10 compromising the statutory missions of the agencies.
11 (4) When adopting regulations to protect the health,
12 safety and economic welfare of the Commonwealth, agencies
13 should seek to achieve statutory goals as effectively and
14 efficiently as possible without imposing unnecessary burdens
15 on small business.
16 (5) Uniform regulatory and reporting requirements can
17 impose unnecessary and disproportionately burdensome demands,
18 including legal, accounting and consulting costs upon small
19 businesses with limited resources.
20 (6) The failure to recognize differences in the scale
21 and resources of regulated businesses can adversely affect
22 competition in the marketplace, discourage innovation and
23 restrict improvements in productivity.
24 (7) Unnecessary regulations create entry barriers in
25 many industries and discourage potential entrepreneurs from
26 introducing beneficial products and processes.
27 (8) The practice of treating all regulated businesses
28 similarly may lead to inefficient use of regulatory agency
29 resources, enforcement problems and, in some cases, to
30 actions inconsistent with the legislative intent of health,
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1 safety, environmental and economic welfare legislation.
2 (9) Alternative regulatory approaches which do not
3 conflict with the stated objective of applicable statutes may
4 be available to minimize the significant economic impact of
5 rules on small businesses.
6 (10) The process by which State regulations are
7 developed and adopted should be reformed to require agencies
8 to solicit the ideas and comments of small businesses, to
9 examine the impact of proposed and existing rules on such
10 businesses and to review the continued need for existing
11 rules.
12 (d) For any regulation subject to this act, a small business
13 that is adversely affected or aggrieved by final agency action
14 is entitled to judicial review of agency compliance with the
15 requirements of this section.
16 (e) A small business may seek such review during the period
17 beginning on the date of final agency action and ending one year
18 later.
19 (f) This act is not intended to create a right or benefit,
20 substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a person
21 against another person or against the Commonwealth, its agencies
22 or its officers.
23 Section 2. Section 3 of the act is amended by adding a
24 definition to read:
25 Section 3. Definitions.
26 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
27 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
28 context clearly indicates otherwise:
29 * * *
30 "Small business." A business entity, including its
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1 affiliates, that:
2 (1) is independently owned and operated; and
3 (2) employs fewer than 250 full-time employees or has
4 gross annual sales of less than $6,000,000.
5 * * *
6 Section 3. Section 5(a) of the act, amended December 6, 2002
7 (P.L.1227, No.148), is amended and the section is amended by
8 adding a subsection to read:
9 Section 5. Proposed regulations; procedures for review.
10 (a) On the same date that an agency submits a proposed
11 regulation to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication
12 of notice of proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin as
13 required by the Commonwealth Documents Law, the agency shall
14 submit to the commission and the committees a copy of the
15 proposed regulation and a regulatory analysis form which
16 includes the following:
17 (1) The title of the agency and the names, office
18 addresses and telephone numbers of the agency officials
19 responsible for responding to questions regarding the
20 regulation or for receiving comments relating to the
21 regulation.
22 (1.1) A specific citation to the Federal or State
23 statutory or regulatory authority or the decision of a
24 Federal or State court under which the agency is proposing
25 the regulation, which the regulation is designed to implement
26 or which may mandate or affect compliance with the
27 regulation.
28 (2) A concise and, when possible, nontechnical
29 explanation of the proposed regulation.
30 (3) A statement of the need for the regulation.
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1 (4) Estimates of the direct and indirect costs to the
2 Commonwealth, to its political subdivisions and to the
3 private sector. Insofar as the proposed regulation relates to
4 costs to the Commonwealth, the agency may submit in lieu of
5 its own statement the fiscal note prepared by the Office of
6 the Budget pursuant to section 612 of the act of April 9,
7 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as "The Administrative Code of
8 1929."
9 (5) A statement of legal, accounting or consulting
10 procedures and additional reporting, recordkeeping or other
11 paperwork, including copies of forms or reports, which will
12 be required for implementation of the regulation and an
13 explanation of measures which have been taken to minimize
14 these requirements.
15 (7) A schedule for review of the proposed regulation,
16 including the date by which the agency must receive comments;
17 the date or dates on which public hearings will be held; the
18 expected date of promulgation of the proposed regulation as a
19 final-form regulation; the expected effective date of the
20 final-form regulation; the date by which compliance with the
21 final-form regulation will be required; and the date by which
22 required permits, licenses or other approvals must be
23 obtained.
24 (9) An identification of the types of persons, small
25 businesses, businesses and organizations which would be
26 affected by the regulation.
27 (10) An identification of the financial, economic and
28 social impact of the regulation on individuals, small
29 businesses, business and labor communities and other public
30 and private organizations and, when practicable, an
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1 evaluation of the benefits expected as a result of the
2 regulation.
3 (10.1) For any proposed regulation that may have an
4 adverse impact on small businesses, an economic impact
5 statement that includes the following:
6 (i) An identification and estimate of the number of
7 the small businesses subject to the proposed regulation.
8 (ii) The projected reporting, recordkeeping and
9 other administrative costs required for compliance with
10 the proposed regulation, including the type of
11 professional skills necessary for preparation of the
12 report or record.
13 (iii) A statement of the probable effect on impacted
14 small businesses.
15 (iv) A description of any less intrusive or less
16 costly alternative methods of achieving the purpose of
17 the proposed regulation.
18 (11) A description of any special provisions which have
19 been developed to meet the particular needs of affected
20 groups and persons, including minorities, the elderly, small
21 businesses and farmers.
22 (12) A description of any alternative regulatory
23 provisions which have been considered and rejected and a
24 statement that the least burdensome acceptable alternative
25 has been selected.
26 (12.1) A regulatory flexibility analysis in which the
27 agency shall, where consistent with health, safety,
28 environmental and economic welfare, consider utilizing
29 regulatory methods that will accomplish the objectives of
30 applicable statutes while minimizing adverse impact on small
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1 businesses. The agency shall consider, without limitation,
2 each of the following methods of reducing the impact of the
3 proposed regulation on small businesses:
4 (i) the establishment of less stringent compliance
5 or reporting requirements for small businesses;
6 (ii) the establishment of less stringent schedules
7 or deadlines for compliance or reporting requirements for
8 small businesses;
9 (iii) the consolidation or simplification of
10 compliance or reporting requirements for small
11 businesses;
12 (iv) the establishment of performance standards for
13 small businesses to replace design or operational
14 standards required in the proposed regulation; and
15 (v) the exemption of small businesses from all or
16 any part of the requirements contained in the proposed
17 regulation.
18 (a.1) Prior to the adoption of any proposed regulation that
19 may have an adverse impact on small businesses, each agency
20 shall notify the commission of its intent to adopt the proposed
21 regulation.
22 * * *
23 Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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