STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5631
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 2, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LIFTON -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the New York state printing and public documents law, in
relation to enacting the "uniform electronic legal material act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The New York state printing and public documents law is
2 amended by adding a new article 3-A to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 3-A
4 UNIFORM ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL ACT
5 Section 15. Short title.
6 15-a. Definitions.
7 15-b. Applicability.
8 15-c. Legal material in official electronic record.
9 15-d. Authentication of official electronic record.
10 15-e. Effect of authentication.
11 15-f. Preservation and security of legal material in official
12 electronic record.
13 15-g. Public access to legal material in official electronic
14 record.
15 15-h. Standards.
16 15-i. Uniformity of application and construction.
17 15-j. Relation of electronic signatures in global and national
18 commerce act.
19 § 15. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
20 "uniform electronic legal material act".
21 § 15-a. Definitions. In this article:
22 1. "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical,
23 digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capa-
24 bilities.
25 2. "Legal material" means, whether or not in effect:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08201-01-5
A. 5631 2
1 a. the constitution of the state of New York;
2 b. the laws of the state of New York;
3 c. a state agency rule, regulation or decision that has or had the
4 effect of law;
5 d. material published in the New York register;
6 e. the New York code of rules and regulations;
7 f. reported decisions of the following state courts: the court of
8 appeals, the appellate division and the supreme courts.
9 3. "Official publisher" means:
10 a. for the constitution of the state of New York, the legislative bill
11 drafting commission;
12 b. for the laws of the state of New York, the legislative bill draft-
13 ing commission;
14 c. for a state agency rule, regulation or decision that has or had the
15 effect of law, the state agency;
16 d. for material published in the New York register, the secretary of
17 state;
18 e. for the New York code of rules and regulations, the legislative
19 bill drafting commission;
20 f. for reported decisions of the following state courts: the court of
21 appeals, the appellate division and the supreme courts, the office of
22 court administration.
23 4. "Publish" means to display, present, or release to the public, or
24 cause to be displayed, presented, or released to the public, by the
25 official publisher.
26 5. "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium
27 or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in
28 perceivable form.
29 6. "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Colum-
30 bia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or
31 insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
32 § 15-b. Applicability. This article applies to all legal material in
33 an electronic record that is designated as official under section
34 fifteen-c of this article and first published electronically on or after
35 the effective date of this article.
36 § 15-c. Legal material in official electronic record. 1. If an offi-
37 cial publisher publishes legal material only in an electronic record,
38 the publisher shall:
39 a. designate the electronic record as official; and
40 b. comply with sections fifteen-d, fifteen-f and fifteen-g of this
41 article.
42 2. An official publisher that publishes legal material in an electron-
43 ic record and also publishes the material in a record other than an
44 electronic record may designate the electronic record as official if the
45 publisher complies with sections fifteen-d, fifteen-f and fifteen-g of
46 this article.
47 § 15-d. Authentication of official electronic record. An official
48 publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is designated
49 as official under section fifteen-c of this article shall authenticate
50 the record. To authenticate an electronic record, the publisher shall
51 provide a method for a user to determine that the record received by the
52 user from the publisher is unaltered from the official record published
53 by the publisher.
54 § 15-e. Effect of authentication. 1. Legal material in an electronic
55 record that is authenticated under section fifteen-d of this article is
56 presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.
A. 5631 3
1 2. If another state has adopted a law substantially similar to this
2 article, legal material in an electronic record that is designated as
3 official and authenticated by the official publisher in that state is
4 presumed to be an accurate copy of the legal material.
5 3. A party contesting the authentication of legal material in an elec-
6 tronic record authenticated under section fifteen-d of this article has
7 the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the record
8 is not authentic.
9 § 15-f. Preservation and security of legal material in official elec-
10 tronic record. 1. An official publisher of legal material in an elec-
11 tronic record that is or was designated as official under section
12 fifteen-c of this article shall provide for the preservation and securi-
13 ty of the record in an electronic form or a form that is not electronic.
14 2. If legal material is preserved under subdivision one of this
15 section in an electronic record, the official publisher shall:
16 a. ensure the integrity of the record;
17 b. provide for backup and disaster recovery of the record; and
18 c. ensure the continuing usability of the material.
19 § 15-g. Public access to legal material in official electronic record.
20 An official publisher of legal material in an electronic record that is
21 required to be preserved under section fifteen-f of this article shall
22 ensure that the material is reasonably available for use by the public
23 on a permanent basis.
24 § 15-h. Standards. In implementing this article, an official publisher
25 of legal material in an electronic record shall consider:
26 1. standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
27 2. the most recent standards regarding authentication of, preservation
28 and security of, and public access to, legal material in an electronic
29 record and other electronic records, as promulgated by the national
30 standard-setting bodies;
31 3. the needs of users of legal material in an electronic record;
32 4. the views of governmental officials and entities and other inter-
33 ested persons; and
34 5. to the extent practicable, methods and technologies for the authen-
35 tication of, preservation and security of, and public access to, legal
36 material which are compatible with the methods and technologies used by
37 other official publishers in this state and in other states that have
38 adopted a law substantially similar to this article.
39 § 15-i. Uniformity of application and construction. In applying and
40 construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to
41 promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among
42 states that enact it.
43 § 15-j. Relation to electronic signatures in global and national
44 commerce act. This article modifies, limits, and supersedes the elec-
45 tronic signatures in global and national commerce act, 15 U.S.C.
46 Section 7001 et seq., but does not modify, limit, or supersede Section
47 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001(c), or authorize electronic
48 delivery of any of the notices described in Section 103(b) of that act,
49 15 U.S.C. Section 7003(b).
50 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
