(a)  An agency shall maintain the rulemaking record for each proposed rule, which will be the official rulemaking record. Unless the record, and any materials incorporated by reference, are privileged or exempt from disclosure under law of this state other than this chapter, the record and materials must be readily available for public inspection in the principal office of the agency.

(1)  Beginning on January 1, 2019, and thereafter, the agency shall publish on its agency website the rulemaking record for a rule upon commencement of the public-comment period; the agency may remove the rulemaking record upon the effective date of the rule.

(2)  Beginning on January 1, 2019, agencies shall submit rulemaking records to the secretary of state, in a format and process determined by the secretary of state. Thereafter, rulemaking records shall be available for public display on the website maintained by the secretary of state, in a manner prescribed by the secretary of state.

(3)  If an agency or the secretary of state determines that the rulemaking record or any part of the rulemaking record cannot be displayed practicably or is inappropriate for public display on the website, the agency or the secretary of state shall describe the part and note that the record or part is not displayed and state the reason why the record or part is not displayed.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-2.3

  • agency: means a state agency, authority, board, bureau, commission, department, district, division, institution, office, officer, quasi-public agency, or other political subdivisions created by the general assembly or the governor, other than the legislature or the judiciary, that is authorized by law of this state to make rules or to determine contested cases. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Agency action: means :

    (i)  The whole or part of an order or rule;

    (ii)  The failure to issue an order or rule; or

    (iii)  An agency's performing, or failing to perform, a duty, function, or activity or to make a determination required by law. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1

  • Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
  • Final rule: means a rule promulgated under Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Index: means a searchable list in a record of subjects and titles with page numbers, hyperlinks, or other connectors that link each index entry to the text to which it refers. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Rule: means the whole or a part of an agency statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy or the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency and has the force of law. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • State register: means the publication required under Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Website: means a website on the internet or other similar technology or successor technology that permits the public to search a database that archives materials required to be published or exhibited by the secretary of state or an agency under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1

(b)  A rulemaking record must contain:

(1)  A copy of all publications in the state register relating to the rule and the proceeding on which the rule is based;

(2)  A copy of any part of the rulemaking docket containing entries relating to the rule and the proceeding on which the rule is based;

(3)  A copy and, if prepared, an index, of all factual material, studies, and reports agency personnel submitted as part of formulating the proposed or final rule;

(4)  Any notice of proposed rulemaking under § 42-35-2.7(b);

(5)  Any official transcript of oral presentations made in the proceeding on which the rule is based or, if not transcribed, any audio recording or verbatim transcript of the presentations, and any memorandum summarizing the contents of the presentations prepared by the agency official who presided over the hearing;

(6)  A copy of all comments received by the agency under § 42-35-2.8 in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking;

(7)  A copy of the rule and explanatory statement filed with the secretary of state; and

(8)  Any petition for agency action on the rule, except a petition governed by § 42-35-8.

(9)  Internal agency documents are exempt from inclusion in the rulemaking record to the extent they constitute preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, and intra-agency memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended, except that a specific document is not exempt from inclusion when it is publicly cited by an agency in connection with its decision. Unless otherwise exempt from disclosure by law, inter-agency memoranda pertaining to regulatory enforcement will be published as part of the agency rulemaking record.

(10)  Upon judicial review, the file required by this section constitutes the official agency rulemaking record with respect to that rule. Unless otherwise required by law, the official agency rulemaking record need not be the exclusive basis for agency action on that rule.

History of Section.
P.L. 2001, ch. 61, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 203, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 206, § 2.