2016 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 4 - Management of State Agencies
Chapter 54 - Uniform Administrative Procedure Act
Section 4-170 - Legislative regulation review committee. Submission requirements for regulations. Disapproved regulations. Resubmitted regulations.

(a) There shall be a standing legislative committee to review all regulations of the several state departments and agencies following the proposal thereof, which shall consist of eight members of the House of Representatives, four from each major party, to be appointed on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January in the odd-numbered years, by the speaker of said House, and six members of the Senate, three from each major party, to be appointed on or before said dates by the president pro tempore of the Senate. The members shall serve for the balance of the term for which they were elected. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the authority making the appointment. There shall be two cochairpersons, one of whom shall be a member of the Senate and one of whom shall be a member of the House of Representatives, each appointed by the applicable appointing authority, provided the cochairpersons shall not be members of the same political party and shall be from alternate parties in the respective houses in each successive term. For purposes of this section, “appointing authority” means the speaker or minority leader of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore or minority leader of the Senate, as appropriate according to the respective house and party of the member to be appointed. Each chairperson may call meetings of the committee for the performance of its duties.

(b) (1) No adoption, amendment or repeal of any regulation, except a regulation issued pursuant to subsection (g) of section 4-168, shall be effective until (A) an electronic copy of the proposed regulation approved by the Attorney General, as provided in section 4-169, and an electronic copy of the regulatory flexibility analysis as provided in section 4-168a are submitted to the standing legislative regulation review committee in a manner designated by the committee, by the agency proposing the regulation, (B) the regulation is approved by the committee, at a regular meeting or a special meeting called for the purpose, and (C) a certified electronic copy of the regulation is submitted to the office of the Secretary of the State by the agency, as provided in section 4-172, and the regulation is posted on the eRegulations System by the Secretary. (2) The date of submission for purposes of subsection (c) of this section shall be the first Tuesday of each month. Any regulation received by the committee on or before the first Tuesday of a month shall be deemed to have been submitted on the first Tuesday of that month. Any regulation submitted after the first Tuesday of a month shall be deemed to be submitted on the first Tuesday of the next succeeding month. (3) The form of proposed regulations which are submitted to the committee shall be as follows: New language added to an existing regulation shall be underlined; language to be deleted shall be enclosed in brackets and a new regulation or new section of a regulation shall be preceded by the word “(NEW)” in capital letters. Each proposed regulation shall have a statement of its purpose following the final section of the regulation. (4) The committee may permit any proposed regulation, including, but not limited to, a proposed regulation which by reference incorporates in whole or in part, any other code, rule, regulation, standard or specification, to be submitted in summary form together with a statement of purpose for the proposed regulation. On and after October 1, 1994, if the committee finds that a federal statute requires, as a condition of the state exercising regulatory authority, that a Connecticut regulation at all times must be identical to a federal statute or regulation, then the committee may approve a Connecticut regulation that by reference specifically incorporates future amendments to such federal statute or regulation provided the agency that proposed the Connecticut regulation shall submit for approval amendments to such Connecticut regulations to the committee not later than thirty days after the effective date of such amendment, and provided further the committee may hold a public hearing on such Connecticut amendments. (5) The agency shall also provide the committee with a copy of the fiscal note prepared pursuant to subsection (a) of section 4-168. At the time of submission to the committee, the agency shall submit an electronic copy of the proposed regulation and the fiscal note to (A) the Office of Fiscal Analysis which, not later than seven days after receipt, shall submit an analysis of the fiscal note to the committee; and (B) each joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of the subject matter of the proposed regulation. No regulation shall be found invalid due to the failure of an agency to submit an electronic copy of the proposed regulation and the fiscal note to each committee of cognizance, provided such regulation and fiscal note have been electronically submitted to one such committee.

(c) The committee shall review all proposed regulations and, in its discretion, may hold public hearings on any proposed regulation and may approve, disapprove or reject without prejudice, in whole or in part, any such regulation. If the committee fails to so approve, disapprove or reject without prejudice a proposed regulation, within sixty-five days after the date of submission as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the committee shall be deemed to have approved the proposed regulation for purposes of this section.

(d) If the committee disapproves a proposed regulation in whole or in part, it shall give notice of the disapproval and the reasons for the disapproval to the agency, and no agency shall thereafter issue any regulation or directive or take other action to implement such disapproved regulation, or part thereof, as the case may be, except that the agency may adopt a substantively new regulation in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, provided the General Assembly may reverse such disapproval under the provisions of section 4-171. If the committee disapproves any regulation proposed for the purpose of implementing a federally subsidized or assisted program, the General Assembly shall be required to either sustain or reverse the disapproval.

(e) If the committee rejects a proposed regulation without prejudice, in whole or in part, it shall notify the agency of the reasons for the rejection and the agency, following approval by the Attorney General for legal sufficiency pursuant to section 4-169, shall resubmit the regulation in revised form to the committee, if the adoption of such regulation is required by the general statutes or any public or special act, not later than the first Tuesday of the second month following such rejection without prejudice and may so resubmit any other regulation, in the same manner as provided in this section for the initial submission. Each resubmission under this subsection shall include a summary of revisions identified by paragraph. The committee shall review and take action on such resubmitted regulation no later than thirty-five days after the date of submission, as provided in subsection (b) of this section. Posting of the notice on the eRegulations System pursuant to the provisions of section 4-168 shall not be required in the case of such resubmission.

(f) If an agency fails to submit any regulation approved in whole or in part by the standing legislative regulation review committee to the office of the Secretary of the State as provided in section 4-172, not later than fourteen days after the date of approval, the agency shall notify the committee, not later than five days after such fourteen-day period, of its reasons for failing to submit such regulation. If any agency fails to comply with the time limits established under subsection (c) of section 4-168, or under subsection (e) of this section, the administrative head of such agency shall submit to the committee a written explanation of the reasons for such noncompliance. The committee, upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members, may grant an extension of the time limits established under subsection (c) of section 4-168 and under subsection (e) of this section. If no such extension is granted, the administrative head of the agency shall personally appear before the standing legislative regulation review committee, at a time prescribed by the committee, to explain such failure to comply. After any such appearance, the committee may, upon the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members, report such noncompliance to the Governor. Not later than fourteen days thereafter, the Governor shall report to the committee concerning the action the Governor has taken to ensure compliance with the provisions of section 4-168 and with the provisions of this section.

(1971, P.A. 854, S. 5; 1972, P.A. 258, S. 2; P.A. 73-396, S. 1, 2; P.A. 76-297, S. 2; 76-434, S. 3, 12; P.A. 78-283, S. 2; P.A. 79-623, S. 2, 8; P.A. 80-471, S. 4; P.A. 83-322, S. 1, 2; P.A. 85-608, S. 2; P.A. 86-250, S. 2, 4; 86-403, S. 9, 132; P.A. 88-317, S. 5, 107; P.A. 90-124, S. 2; P.A. 94-76; P.A. 95-41; P.A. 99-90, S. 5; P.A. 01-195, S. 75, 181; P.A. 05-288, S. 17; P.A. 09-19, S. 4; P.A. 11-150, S. 19; P.A. 12-92, S. 4, 5; P.A. 13-247, S. 31; 13-274, S. 6; P.A. 14-187, S. 5; P.A. 15-18, S. 6.)

History: 1972 act specified the form of proposed regulations to be presented to regulation review committee; P.A. 73-396 changed date of appointment from July 1 to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January of odd-numbered years and required seventeen copies rather than one copy to be given the review committee; P.A. 76-297 allowed submission of regulations in summary form and included procedure for course of action if committee rejects resolution without prejudice; P.A. 76-434 deleted provision providing per diem and reimbursement for expenses; P.A. 78-283 required that regulations be filed in secretary of the state’s office and required notification of review committee if filing not performed; P.A. 79-623 added provisions concerning fiscal notes; P.A. 80-471 revised form of submitted regulations and permitted summary form; P.A. 83-322 specified the date of submission of proposed regulations for the purposes of Subsec. (c), and required that the proposed regulations be submitted at the designated office of the legislative regulation review committee; P.A. 85-608 upon disapproval of a proposed regulation, mandated adoption of a substantively new regulation, when required by public act and permitted adoption of any other regulation, mandated resubmission of revised regulation, if the adoption of such regulation is required by public act and permitted resubmission of any other regulation and provided procedures upon failure to comply with time limits imposed by Sec. 4-168; P.A. 86-250 made technical changes, deleted requirement that agency adopt a substantively new regulation in case of disapproval by committee and specified time for resubmittal of regulation rejected without prejudice; P.A. 86-403 made technical change; P.A. 88-317 made technical changes, effective July 1, 1989, and applicable to agency proceedings commencing on or after that date; P.A. 90-124 amended Subsec. (b) to require that agency, at the time of submission of a proposed regulation to the regulation review committee, submit such regulation to each committee of the general assembly having cognizance of the subject of the regulation and provided no regulation shall be found invalid due to an agency’s failure to submit such regulation to each such committee if such submission has been made to one such committee; P.A. 94-76 in Subsec. (b) authorized the approval of a Connecticut regulation which specifically incorporates future amendments to a federal statute or regulation; P.A. 95-41 amended Subsec. (e) to change date by which committees shall review and take action on revised regulation from “within” to “no later than” thirty-five days after date of submission; P.A. 99-90 amended Subsec. (b) by dividing the Subsec. into Subdivs. and Subparas., substituting “eighteen copies” for “seventeen copies” and inserting “, in a manner designated by the committee,” in Subdiv. (1), and allowing new language in a regulation to be underlined as an alternative to capital letters, as determined by the committee, in Subdiv. (2) and made technical changes; P.A. 01-195 made technical changes in Subsec. (f), effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 09-19 amended Subsec. (b)(1)(A) to include regulatory flexibility analyses and made technical changes in Subsec. (b)(5); P.A. 11-150 amended Subsec. (b) to substitute “an electronic copy” for “eighteen copies”, to require agency to submit an electronic copy of the regulation and fiscal note, and to make technical changes; P.A. 12-92 amended Subsec. (b)(1)(C) to add references to certified and electronic copy and to online posting of the regulation, effective July 1, 2013, and amended Subsec. (e) to replace reference to publication in Connecticut Law Journal with reference to posting online and amended Subsec. (f) to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 13-247 amended Subsec. (a) to replace provision re election of chairpersons with provision re appointment of chairpersons by appointing authority and to define “appointing authority”, amended Subsec. (b) to add references to electronic copy and posting of regulation on eRegulations System rather than online, to require new language to be underlined, to delete reference to capital letters for new language and to make technical changes, and amended Subsec. (e) to replace provision re posting online with provision re posting on eRegulations System, effective July 1, 2014, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 13-274 made identical changes as P.A. 13-247, effective July 1, 2014, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 14-187 amended Subsecs. (b), (c) and (d) to make technical changes and amended Subsec. (e) to add reference to approval for legal sufficiency by Attorney General and to make technical changes, effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to regulations noticed on and after that date; P.A. 15-18 made technical changes in Subsec. (f), effective June 5, 2015.