Delaware General Assembly

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTERS 11 AND 101, TITLE 29, DELAWARE CODE, RELATING TO THE REGISTER OF REGULATIONS AND PROPOSED AND PROMULGATED REGULATIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE :

(2) ‘Division’ means the Division of Research of Legislative Council as established pursuant to this chapter.

(3) ‘Official Regulation’ means a regulation in its final form as adopted by an order as defined in Section 10118 of this title and filed with the Registrar of Regulations.

(4) ‘Register of Regulations’ means a publication authorized and recognized by law published for public information purposes, providing public notice of changes in agency regulations, whether new, modified or repealed, together with supplemental information as deemed appropriate by the Registrar.

(5) ‘Registrar’ means an employee of the Division charged with the responsibility of compiling, maintaining and publishing the Register of Regulations.

(6) ‘Regulation’ means as defined in §10102 of this title.”

The Division shall establish, maintain and publish an official Register of Regulations at the Division. The Register of Regulations shall provide public notice of all proposed regulation(s) to be adopted, amended or repealed, indexed by agency and subject matter with:

(1) Text or summary of the proposed regulation(s) to be adopted, amended or repealed, nature of the proceedings including a synopsis of the subject, substance, issues and possible terms of the agency action and a reference to the legal authority of the agency to act;

(2) A statement of the manner in which persons may present their views: if in writing, of the place to which and the final date by which such views may be submitted; if at a public hearing, the date, time and place of the hearing;

(3) The place or places where the proposed regulations to be adopted, amended or repealed may be inspected or copied;

(4) The fee or other requirements for obtaining copies of same.”

Ҥ1134. Powers and duties of the Registrar in preparation and maintenance of the Register of Regulations.

(a) The Registrar in the course of compiling and maintaining the Register of Regulations shall:

(1) In writing, notify all agencies authorized to make regulations that they are to submit to the Division copies of all proposed regulations as well as all subsequent amendments, repeals, additions or new or proposed regulations as they are proposed and statements of purpose thereof;

(2) Advise agencies as to the form and style of the regulations, as well as, to the extent practicable, the classification thereof into categories of substance, procedure and organization;

(3) Have the authority to make revisions to both proposed and existing regulations that do not alter the sense, meaning or effect of such regulations, including, but not limited to:

a. Renumbering and rearranging sections or parts of sections;

b. Transferring of sections or dividing of sections so as to give to distinct subject matters a separate section number, but without changing the meaning;

c. Inserting or changing the wording of headnotes;

d. Change reference numbers to agree with renumbered regulations or sections thereof;

e. Substituting the proper section or regulation number for the terms ‘this regulation’, ‘the preceding section’ and the like;

f. Striking out figures where they are merely a repetition of written words and vice versa;

g. Changing capitalization for the purpose of uniformity;

h. Correcting of manifest typographical and grammatical errors; and

i. Making any other purely formal or clerical changes in keeping with the purpose of the revision.

4(4) Have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations.

5(5) Have authority to publish the full text or a summary of proposed, final or emergency regulations; and

(6) Publish the following month all proposed regulations received by the 15^th of the month preceding.

(b) The Registrar may include in the Register of Regulations such other governmental information as the Registrar deems appropriate.”

“Whenever an agency proposes to formulate, adopt, amend or repeal a regulation, it shall file notice and full text of such proposals, together with copies of the existing regulation being adopted, amended or repealed, with the Registrar for publication, in full or as a summary, in the Register of Regulations pursuant to §1134 of this title.”

Ҥ10118. Agency findings; form of regulations.

(a) The opportunity for public comment shall be held open for a minimum of 30 days after the proposal is published in the Register of Regulations.

(b) At the conclusion of all hearings and after receipt within the time allowed of all written materials, upon all the testimonial and written evidence and information submitted, together with summaries of the evidence and information by subordinates, the agency shall determine whether a regulation should be adopted, amended or repealed and shall issue its conclusion in an order which shall include:

(1) A brief summary of the evidence and information submitted;

(2) A brief summary of its findings of fact with respect to the evidence and information, except where a rule of procedure is being adopted or amended;

(3) A decision to adopt, amend or repeal a regulation or to take no action and the decision shall be supported by its findings on the evidence and information received;

(4) The exact text and citation of such regulation adopted, amended or repealed;

(5) The effective date of the order;

(6) Any other findings or conclusions required by the law under which the agency has authority to act; and

(7) The signatures of at least a quorum of the agency members.

(c) In the event an agency makes substantive changes in the proposal as a result of the public comments, evidence and information, the agency shall consider the revised proposal as a new proposal subject to the notice requirements of §10115 of this title and all other requirements of this subchapter. If the changes are not substantive, the agency shall not be required to repropose the regulation change. Whether a change constitutes substantive or nonsubstantive matter shall be determined by the agency head.

(d) In the event the proposing agency seeks to withdraw its proposal, the proposing agency shall notify the Registrar, in writing, that the proposal is being withdrawn and the Registrar shall publish the withdrawal information in the next issue of the Register of Regulations.

(e) The agency shall file such order with the Registrar of Regulations which shall become the Official Regulation as defined in Section 1132 of this title.

(f) No agency shall adopt a regulation if more than 12 months have elapsed since the end of the public comment period or the last public hearing, whichever is later, on the proposed regulation.

(g) The effective date of an order which adopts, amends or repeals a regulation shall be not less than 10 days from the date the order adopting, amending or repealing a regulation has been published in its final form, in full or as a summary, in the Register of Regulations, unless such adoption, amendment or repeal qualifies as an emergency under §10119.”

Approved June 28,1999