STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6459
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 7, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, GALEF, CRESPO, GUNTHER, STECK, OTIS,
SIMOTAS, WALTER, RAIA, MONTESANO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
COOK, GOODELL, SKARTADOS, THIELE -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the state administrative procedure act, in relation to
public petitions for rule making
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The state administrative procedure act is amended by adding
2 a new section 208 to read as follows:
3 § 208. Public petitions for rule making. 1. Any person or persons may
4 petition an agency to request the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a
5 rule.
6 2. A petition shall meet the following minimum requirements:
7 (a) the petition shall include the full name and address of each peti-
8 tioner and of any entity or organization with which the petitioner is
9 affiliated; and if there are multiple petitioners shall identify the
10 person to whom communications concerning the petition should be
11 directed;
12 (b) the text of any proposed changes to the current rules shall be
13 submitted in a manner that clearly identifies the words to be added to
14 or deleted from the current rules of the agency;
15 (c) the petition shall identify the statutory authority for the
16 proposed rule;
17 (d) the petition shall indicate the justification for the proposed
18 rule, including an identification of the public benefit of the adoption,
19 amendment or repeal;
20 (e) any petition that concerns the rules of more than one agency shall
21 be submitted to each such agency; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02220-01-7
A. 6459 2
1 (f) the petition shall be limited to one rule or a related series of
2 rules and shall not concern any matter which is the subject of a current
3 notice of proposed rule making or notice of emergency adoption.
4 3. An agency shall maintain a publicly available file of petitions
5 submitted to it pursuant to this section and shall:
6 (a) post information on its website on how petitions may be submitted
7 to the agency and how the public may comment on such petitions;
8 (b) post a notice within thirty days of receipt of a petition that
9 includes the full text or a summary thereof; and
10 (c) shall post within thirty days of issuance a written denial of a
11 petition.
12 4. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, an
13 agency shall not be required to take any action in response to a peti-
14 tion, but may in its discretion publish a notice of proposed rule making
15 or a written denial of a petition or may solicit additional information,
16 through the conduct of public hearings or otherwise, on the merits of a
17 petition.
18 (b) Within one hundred eighty days of receipt of a petition meeting
19 the requirements of this section that has been signed by one hundred or
20 more residents of the state, an agency shall either deny the petition in
21 writing, stating its reasons for denial, or issue a notice of proposed
22 rule making in accordance with this article. Such notice of proposed
23 rule making shall include information on the initiating petition and
24 shall be submitted for publication in the state register within two
25 hundred seventy days of receipt of such petition. The agency may vary
26 the text of the proposed rule from the text submitted with the petition.
27 (c) Denial of a petition on the basis that it does not meet the mini-
28 mum requirements of this section does not preclude the submission of a
29 new petition on the same subject that seeks to correct any deficiencies.
30 5. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or modify the
31 applicability of any other provision of law concerning petitions for the
32 adoption, modification or revocation of rules, including but not limited
33 to section thirty-six-a of the agriculture and markets law and section
34 six hundred seventy-six of the labor law.
35 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
36 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
