US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

 
    §  1043.  Rulemaking.  a. Authority. Each agency is empowered to adopt
  rules necessary to carry out the powers and duties delegated to it by or
  pursuant to federal, state or local law. No agency shall  adopt  a  rule
  except pursuant to this section. Each such rule shall be simply written,
  using ordinary language where possible.
    b.  Notice. 1. Each agency shall publish the full text of the proposed
  rule in the City Record at least thirty days prior to the date set for a
  public hearing to be held pursuant to the requirements of subdivision  d
  of  this  section  or  the  final  date for receipt of written comments,
  whichever is earlier. A proposed rule amending an  existing  rule  shall
  contain  in brackets any part to be deleted and shall have underlined or
  italicized any new part to  be  added.  A  proposed  rule  repealing  an
  existing  rule  shall contain in brackets the rule to be repealed, or if
  the full text of the rule was published in the Compilation  required  to
  be published pursuant to section one thousand forty-five, shall give the
  citation  of the rule to be repealed and a summary of its contents. Such
  published notice shall include  a  draft  statement  of  the  basis  and
  purpose  of  the  proposed  rule, the statutory authority, including the
  particular sections and subdivisions upon which the action is based, the
  time and place of public hearing, if any, to be held or the reason  that
  a  public  hearing  will  not be held, and the final date for receipt of
  written comments.   If  the  proposed  rule  was  not  included  in  the
  regulatory  agenda,  such  notice shall also include the reason the rule
  was not anticipated,  as  required  in  subdivision  c  of  section  one
  thousand forty-two of this chapter.
    2.  Copies  of  the notice shall be transmitted to the council and the
  corporation counsel, and mailed to each council member,  the  chairs  of
  all  community  boards, the news media and civic organizations; provided
  that an inadvertent failure to fully comply with the notice requirements
  of this paragraph shall not serve to invalidate any rule.
    3. (a) News media, for the purposes of this subdivision, shall include
  (i) all radio and television stations broadcasting in the  city  of  New
  York,  all  newspapers  published  in  the  city  of  New  York having a
  city-wide or borough-wide circulation, and any newspaper  of  any  labor
  union  or  trade  association  representing an industry affected by such
  rule, and (ii) any community newspaper or  any  other  publication  that
  requests such notification on an annual basis.
    (b)  Civic  organizations, for the purposes of this subdivision, shall
  include any city-wide or borough-wide organization or any  labor  union,
  trade  association  or other group that requests such notification on an
  annual basis.
    c. Review of statutory authority. The corporation counsel shall review
  the proposed rule to  determine  whether  it  is  within  the  authority
  delegated  by  law  to the agency proposing the rule. If the corporation
  counsel determines that the proposed rule is  not  within  the  agency's
  delegated  authority, the corporation counsel shall notify the agency in
  writing prior to the publication of the final rule in the City Record.
    d. Opportunity for and consideration of agency and public comment. The
  agency shall provide  the  public  an  opportunity  to  comment  on  the
  proposed  rule  (i)  through  submission  of  written  data,  views,  or
  arguments, and (ii) at a public hearing unless it is determined  by  the
  agency  in  writing,  which shall be published in the notice of proposed
  rulemaking in the City Record, that such a public hearing on a  proposed
  rule  would  serve no public purpose. All written comments and a summary
  of oral comments concerning a proposed rule received from the public  or
  any  agency  shall  be  placed  in  a  public record and be made readily
  available to the public as soon as practicable and in any event within a
  reasonable time, not to be delayed because of the continued pendency  of

  consideration  of the proposed rule. After consideration of the relevant
  comments presented, the agency  may  adopt  a  final  rule  pursuant  to
  subdivision  e of this section. Such final rule may include revisions of
  the  proposed  rule,  and  such  adoption  of  revisions  based  on  the
  consideration of relevant agency or public comments  shall  not  require
  further notice and comment pursuant to this section.
    e. Effective date. 1. No rule shall be effective until
    (a)  the  rule is filed by the agency with the corporation counsel for
  publication in the Compilation,
    (b) the rule and a statement of basis and purpose  is  transmitted  to
  the council for its information, and
    (c)  the rule and a statement of basis and purpose have been published
  in the City Record and thirty days have elapsed after such  publication.
  The   requirement  that  thirty  days  shall  first  elapse  after  such
  publication shall not apply where a finding that a substantial need  for
  the  earlier  implementation of a program or policy has been made by the
  agency in writing and has been  approved  by  the  mayor  prior  to  the
  effective date of the rule and such finding and approval is contained in
  the notice.
    2.  A rule shall be void if it is not published in the next supplement
  to the Compilation in which its publication  is  practicable;  provided,
  however, that in the case of an inadvertent failure to publish a rule in
  such  supplement,  the rule shall become effective as of the date of its
  publication, if it is published  within  six  months  of  the  date  the
  corporation  counsel  receives  notice  of  its  omission;  and  further
  provided that any  judicial  or  administrative  action  or  proceeding,
  whether criminal or civil, commenced under or by virtue of any provision
  of  a  rule  voided  pursuant  to this section and pending prior to such
  voidance, may be prosecuted and defended to final  effect  in  the  same
  manner as they might if such rule had not been so voided.
    f.  Petition  for rules. Any person may petition an agency to consider
  the adoption of any rule. Within sixty days after the  submission  of  a
  petition, the agency shall either deny such petition in writing, stating
  the  reasons  for  denial,  or  state the agency's intention to initiate
  rulemaking,  by  a  specified  date,  concerning  the  subject  of  such
  petition.  Each  agency  shall  prescribe  by  rule  the  procedure  for
  submission, consideration and disposition of such petitions. In the case
  of a board, commission or other body that is  not  headed  by  a  single
  person,  such  rules of procedure may authorize such body to delegate to
  its chair the authority to reject such petitions. Such decision shall be
  within the discretion of the agency and shall not be subject to judicial
  review.
    g. Maintenance of comments. Each agency shall establish a  system  for
  maintaining  and  making  available  for  public  inspection all written
  comments received in response to each notice of rulemaking.
    h. Emergency procedures. 1. Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of
  this section, an agency may adopt a rule prior to the notice and comment
  otherwise  required  by  this  section if the immediate effectiveness of
  such rule is necessary to address an imminent threat to health,  safety,
  property  or  a necessary service. A finding of such imminent threat and
  the specific reasons for the finding must be  made  in  writing  by  the
  agency adopting such rule and shall be approved by the mayor before such
  rule  may be made effective. In the event that an elected official other
  than the mayor has the authority to promulgate rules, such official  may
  make  such  findings  without  prior  mayoral  approval.  The  rule  and
  accompanying finding  shall  be  made  public  forthwith  and  shall  be
  published in the City Record as soon as practicable.

    2. A rule adopted on an emergency basis shall not remain in effect for
  longer  than  sixty  days  unless  the  agency  has initiated notice and
  comment otherwise required by this section within such sixty day  period
  and  publishes  with  such  notice a statement that an extension of such
  rule  on an emergency basis is necessary for an additional sixty days to
  afford an opportunity for notice and comment and to adopt a  final  rule
  as required by this section; provided that no further such finding of an
  emergency  may  be  made  with  respect  to  the same or a substantially
  similar rule.