Minnesota Session Laws - 2003, Regular Session

                              CHAPTER 3-S.F.No. 61 
                  An act relating to state government; specifying 
                  certain contents for a statement of need and 
                  reasonableness for proposed administrative rules; 
                  amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 14.131. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 14.131, is 
        amended to read: 
           14.131 [STATEMENT OF NEED AND REASONABLENESS.] 
           By the date of the section 14.14, subdivision 1a, notice, 
        the agency must prepare, review, and make available for public 
        review a statement of the need for and reasonableness of the 
        rule.  The statement of need and reasonableness must be prepared 
        under rules adopted by the chief administrative law judge and 
        must include the following to the extent the agency, through 
        reasonable effort, can ascertain this information: 
           (1) a description of the classes of persons who probably 
        will be affected by the proposed rule, including classes that 
        will bear the costs of the proposed rule and classes that will 
        benefit from the proposed rule; 
           (2) the probable costs to the agency and to any other 
        agency of the implementation and enforcement of the proposed 
        rule and any anticipated effect on state revenues; 
           (3) a determination of whether there are less costly 
        methods or less intrusive methods for achieving the purpose of 
        the proposed rule; 
           (4) a description of any alternative methods for achieving 
        the purpose of the proposed rule that were seriously considered 
        by the agency and the reasons why they were rejected in favor of 
        the proposed rule; 
           (5) the probable costs of complying with the proposed rule, 
        including the portion of the total costs that will be borne by 
        identifiable categories of affected parties, such as separate 
        classes of governmental units, businesses, or individuals; and 
           (6) the probable costs or consequences of not adopting the 
        proposed rule, including those costs or consequences borne by 
        identifiable categories of affected parties, such as separate 
        classes of government units, businesses, or individuals; and 
           (6) (7) an assessment of any differences between the 
        proposed rule and existing federal regulations and a specific 
        analysis of the need for and reasonableness of each difference.  
           The statement must describe how the agency, in developing 
        the rules, considered and implemented the legislative policy 
        supporting performance-based regulatory systems set forth in 
        section 14.002. 
           The statement must also describe the agency's efforts to 
        provide additional notification under section 14.14, subdivision 
        1a, to persons or classes of persons who may be affected by the 
        proposed rule or must explain why these efforts were not made. 
           The agency must send a copy of the statement of need and 
        reasonableness to the legislative reference library when the 
        notice of hearing is mailed under section 14.14, subdivision 1a. 
           Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 1 is effective July 1, 2003, and applies to a 
        rulemaking proceeding for which notice of intent to adopt rules 
        is published in the State Register on or after that date. 
           Presented to the governor March 20, 2003 
           Signed by the governor March 24, 2003, 9:30 a.m.