You asked for information about a model administrative procedure act for states. You want to know when the last major revision of Connecticut's Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) was enacted.

SUMMARY

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) is the state-supported organization that develops and provides states with uniform laws they can use as models for their state statutes. In 1946, it developed the first version of an administrative procedure act and has revised it twice since then, in 1961 and 1981. The conference is undertaking another revision that has been in the drafting process since 2004. The new version, developed with the participation of the American Bar Association (ABA), will address significant changes like the emergence of the Internet as an efficient and low-cost method for communicating with the public. The revision will also address changes in agency rulemaking and an interest in legislative oversight, as well as the large number of judicial decisions on federal and state administrative procedure. The NCCUSL expects to adopt the latest model act revision in July 2010.

The Connecticut Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA) (Chapter 54, CGS § 4-166 et seq.) was revised in 1988 (PA 88-317, sSB 209). This first comprehensive revision since the act's enactment in 1971 came pursuant to the recommendations of the state's Law Revision Commission (LRC) “to address the growth and complexity of administrative laws since adoption of the UAPA.”

The 1988 amendments to the UAPA required agencies to keep more detailed records of information and proceedings in the rule-making process; set standards for intervention in contested cases; clarified hearing officers' authority; and clarified the appeal process. The legislature has amended the UAPA many times since then, but not as comprehensively as the 1988 law.

MODEL STATE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT

In general, NCCUSL is the 116-year-old organization that provides states with non-partisan, state-supported drafted legislation in critical areas of statutory law.

In 1946, NCCUSL developed its first version of the Model State Administrative Procedure Act (MSAPA or the Act) to provide states with guidance based on the federal administrative procedure act. To accommodate the differences in history and circumstances among the states, the drafters incorporated only the most general, basic principles characteristic of a “model.” By 1960, 12 states had adopted the 1946 Act.

A 1961 revision also included only basic principles, some of which addressed agency rulemaking procedures and judicial review of rules and agency adjudication. Over half the states, including Connecticut, adopted all or parts of the 1961 Act.

Based on more experience with administrative procedures and the expansion of state government in areas such as the environment, the conference began working on another revision in the 1970's that became the 1981 MSAPA. This version addressed more details of administrative law. It is the current model and the basis of the new revision expected in 2010.

Since 2004, a 16-member drafting committee has been working in meetings and conference calls to revise the 1981 version of the Act. The committee's most recent draft, available on the NCCUSL website at

http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/msapa/2009mar_clean.pdf, was available for discussion at its Chicago meeting on March 27-29, 2009.

This most recent revision was to have been completed for the NCCUSL annual conference in July 2009, but the commission's executive director announced:

This July [2009] the Committee will read the rulemaking provisions – Articles 2, 3, 7 and the relevant definitions in Article 1 – and after them as many of the judicial review provisions of Articles 4, 4A, 5 and 6 (and the related definitions in Article 1) as time permits. Consideration in July 2010 will be focused almost exclusively on the judicial review provisions. MSAPA will have its final consideration and a vote by the states, in July 2010.

The committee addresses 27 years of intervening legislative action, judicial opinion, and legal commentary covering model acts and the federal law; not to mention the emergence of the Internet and its affect on procedures.

NCCUSL drafting committees include ABA advisors who participate in the formulation of uniform acts. Then each organization has separate approval procedures by which they adopt or support a uniform law as policy.

1988 CONNECTICUT UAPA REVISION

The legislature's revision of the UAPA was the result of the LRC's first comprehensive review of the law since its adoption in 1971. Prior to the LRC study, the Administrative Law section of the Connecticut Bar Association began work on the review in 1984. Interest in the revision developed after the 1981 adoption of the model state administrative procedure act by NCCUSL.

The Government Administration and Elections Committee raised a bill in the 1987 session that did not pass. In bringing out the 1988 bill, then-Representative Looney attributed the failure of the prior session's proposal to its length and complexity and the interest in further review.

PA 88-317 (sSB 209, referred to the Judiciary Committee) resolved several problems with the prior UAPA by:

1. allowing agencies to begin the regulation process after passage of a public act but before its effective date;

2. clarifying declaratory ruling procedures;

3. setting standards for ex parte contacts, reconsideration and modification of final agency decisions, and intervention in contested cases;

4. clarifying hearing officers' authority to conduct hearings and to allow inspection and copying of material prior to hearings;

5. clarifying what constitutes the record in a contested case; and

6. clarifying the appeal process.

PA 88-317 also required agencies to keep a detailed record of the regulation-making process and index their decisions. It allowed a person challenging regulations to bring the action in any Superior Court, not just the Hartford-New Britain court. An Act Concerning Amendments to the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act became effective July 1, 1989 to give agencies time to prepare for its changes.

A copy of the detailed public act summary for PA 88-317 is attached.

MJ:ak