S.P. 755 - L.D. 2131
An Act to Ensure that Agency Use of Collaborative Decision-making and Stakeholder Processes is Fair and Consistent with the Goals of the Maine Administrative Procedure Act
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §8002, sub-§3-C is enacted to read:
3-C. Consensus-based rule development process. "Consensus-based rule development process" means a collaborative process when a draft rule is developed by an agency and a representative group of participants with an interest in the subject of the rulemaking.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §8051-B is enacted to read:
§8051-B. Consensus-based rule development process
1. Agency authority. An agency may voluntarily engage in a consensus-based rule development process. An agency that develops a draft rule through a consensus-based rule development process retains the sole discretion over whether to submit the rule as a proposed rule and as to the final language of the proposed rule.
2. Initial considerations. As part of a consensus-based rule development process, an agency shall:
A. Establish a representative group of participants with an interest in the subject of the rulemaking;
B. Develop ground rules for the operation of the consensus-based rule development process that are mutually acceptable to the agency and the participants;
C. Disclose the funding and time constraints on the agency;
D. Give prior notice of all meetings to the representative group of participants and establish a mechanism for other interested parties to receive notice and information regarding all meetings;
E. Select an agency employee or another individual contracted by the agency to chair or facilitate the meetings; and
F. Distribute a summary and submitted materials from all meetings to the representative group of participants and other interested parties.
3. Record. An agency that engages in a consensus-based rule development process that results in a proposed rule shall maintain:
A. A list of all meetings held, the participants at each meeting and the interests or organizations they represented;
B. A summary of each of the meetings; and
C. A description by the agency of the consensus-based rule development process and an analysis of the decisions that came out of that process, including the extent to which consensus was reached on the decisions.
4. Judicial review. An agency action to engage in or terminate a consensus-based rule development process is not subject to judicial review. This section does not bar judicial review of a rule finally adopted by an agency following a consensus-based rule development process if such a review is otherwise available by law as long as the basis for review is other than procedural error in the consensus-based rule development process.
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §8060, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 547, §8, is amended to read:
A. A list of rules that the agency expects to propose prior to the next regulatory agenda due date and whether the agency anticipates engaging in any consensus-based rule development process;
Sec. 4. Department of Labor to develop best practices guidelines. By April 15, 2000, the Department of Labor shall convene a working group consisting of representatives of state agencies that routinely employ consensus-based rule development processes and a representative of an organization representing dispute resolution professionals. The working group shall develop best practices guidelines
to assist agencies in the creation and utilization of consensus-based rule development processes.
Effective September 18, 1999, unless otherwise indicated.
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