2015 PUBLIC ACTS REQUIRING AGENCY REGULATIONS

Location:
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT;

2015 PUBLIC ACTS REQUIRING AGENCY REGULATIONS

By: Terrance Adams, Associate Analyst

ISSUE

Identify provisions in 2015 public acts requiring agencies to adopt regulations.

SUMMARY

Connecticut's regulation-adoption process begins when the legislature enacts a new law authorizing or requiring an agency to adopt regulations. We identified 18 provisions in 2015 public acts that explicitly require agencies to adopt regulations. Additionally, we identified 17 provisions that potentially require agencies to adopt regulations.

When a public act requires an agency to adopt regulations, the agency must post a notice of intent to adopt regulations (1) within five months after the effective date of the act requiring adoption or (2) by the time specified in the act. The agency must submit required regulations to the Regulation Review Committee within 180 days after posting the notice of intent to adopt regulations (CGS § 4-168(c)). For more information on the regulation-adoption process, see OLR Report 2015-R-0064.

PUBLIC ACTS REQUIRING AGENCIES TO ADOPT REGULATIONS

Table 1 lists provisions in 2015 public acts explicitly requiring agencies to adopt regulations. It identifies each public act, statutory citation (if applicable), agency, and subject matter.

Table 1: 2015 Public Acts that Require Agencies to Adopt Regulations

Public Act	CGS §	Agency	Subject Matter
15-25 § 2 15-5, June Special Session (JSS) § 412	15-140f(b)	Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)	Water skiing endorsement and instruction
15-76 § 2 15-242 § 57	New section	Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), in consultation with Department of Public Health (DPH)	Cottage food production
15-102 § 1	17b-601	Department of Social Services (DSS)	Payments to residential care facilities
15-108 § 4	10-145d(a)	State Department of Education	Teacher certification: Elementary endorsement
15-140 § 1	New section	DPH	Use of “sous vide” culinary technique
15-141 § 1	New section	State Board of Education (SBE)	Use of physical restraint and seclusion
15-146 § 29	New section	DPH	Cost and market impact reviews for certain transfers of hospital ownership
15-148 § 1	19a-36	DPH	Public pools
15-174 §§ 2 & 3	19a-79 & 19a-87b	Office of Early Childhood	Exemptions from childhood immunization requirements
15-197 § 5	27-102l(d)	Department of Veterans' Affairs	Written complaints concerning the Veterans' Home's policies, procedures, and administrative decisions
15-220 § 1	New section	DPH, in consultation with DCP	Allowing acidification of sushi rice as an alternative to temperature control
15-242 § 61	20-32	DPH	Chiropractors' continuing education
15-242 § 63	20-195c	DPH	Marital and family therapists' continuing education
15-242 § 64	20-195cc	DPH	Professional counselors' continuing education
15-2 (JSS) § 9	54-124a	Board of Pardons and Paroles	Expedited pardons process
15-5 (JSS) § 117	4-61dd(l)	Chief human rights referee	Procedures for complaints filed by employees of state shellfish grounds lessees
15-5 (JSS) § 405	New section	DCP	Swimming pool assembler licenses
15-5 (JSS) §§ 440 & 517	22a-66l	DEEP, in consultation with DPH	Pesticide application record retention by state agencies

PUBLIC ACTS THAT MAY REQUIRE AGENCIES TO ADOPT REGULATIONS

Public acts often make substantive changes in statutes related to agencies' existing regulations. For example, prior law may have required an agency to adopt regulations implementing a program. If a later public act amends the program criteria, the agency may need to adopt regulations to conform to the new requirements. However, the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the regulation-adoption process, does not establish standards for determining when an agency must adopt regulations to conform to a legislative change.

It appears that in practice, agencies evaluate legislative changes to determine whether they create a conflict between the law and their existing regulations. If no conflict exists, or the changes are sufficiently addressed by existing regulations, they generally do not adopt new or amended regulations.

Table 2 lists provisions in 2015 public acts that potentially require agencies to adopt regulations. It identifies each public act, statutory citation (if applicable), agency, and subject matter.

Table 2: 2015 Public Acts that May Require Agencies to Adopt Regulations

Public Act	CGS §	Agency	Subject Matter
15-10 § 1	19a-55	DPH	Testing newborn infants for cytamegalovirus
15-32 § 1	19a-504c	DPH	Standards for hospital discharge planning services
15-69 § 26	17b-294a	DSS	HUSKY Plus coverage and services
15-163 § 2	20-123b	DPH, with advice and assistance of State Dental Commission	Use of sedation
15-197 § 1	27-102l	Department of Veterans' Affairs	Operation, administration, and management of department
15-199 § 19	17a-11(g)	Department of Children and Families (DCF)	Voluntary DCF services
15-204 § 2	26-86a(a)	DEEP	Sunday hunting
15-233 §§ 1-9 15-236 §§ 1-2	17b-461*	DSS	Protective services for the elderly
15-244 §§ 71-77 & 222 15-5 (JSS) §§ 133-136 & 525	12-405l*	Department of Revenue Services	Sales and use tax
15-5 (JSS) §§ 63, 66-71	46a-56 & 46a-68j*	Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO)	Nondiscrimination requirements in contracts, contractor compliance, and contractors' affirmative action plans
15-5 (JSS) § 70	46a-68k	CHRO	Public agencies' contract compliance programs
15-5 (JSS) § 165	15-13	Department of Transportation	Marine pilot licenses
15-5 (JSS) § 286	10-17f	SBE	Bilingual education


Table 2 (Cont.)
Public Act	CGS §	Agency	Subject Matter
15-5 (JSS) §§ 373-374	17b-290 & 17b-292 17b-10*	DSS	Elimination of unsubsidized HUSKY B coverage
15-5 (JSS) § 383	17b-342(e)*	DSS	Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders: Eligibility and co-payments
15-5 (JSS) § 390	New section 17b-10*	DSS	Orthodontic services for certain Medicaid recipients
15-5 (JSS) § 391	17b-354(j)*	DSS	Nursing facility bed moratorium

* This statute was not amended by the indicated public act, but it contains a broad regulation-adoption requirement that applies to the act's subject matter

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