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The Vermont Statutes Online
Title
03
:
Executive
Chapter
025
:
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
§
842. Review by legislative committee
(a) Within 30
days of the date a rule is first placed on the committee's agenda but no later
than 45 days after the filing of a final proposal unless the agency consents to
an extension of this review period, the legislative committee on administrative
rules, by majority vote of the entire committee, may object under subsection
(b), (c), or (d) of this section, and recommend that the agency amend or
withdraw the proposal. The agency shall be notified promptly of the objections.
Failure to give timely notice shall be deemed approval. The agency shall within
14 days of receiving notice respond in writing to the committee. After receipt
of this response the committee may withdraw or modify its objections.
(b) The committee
may object under this subsection if:
(1) a proposed
rule is beyond the authority of the agency;
(2) a proposed
rule is contrary to the intent of the legislature;
(3) a proposed
rule is arbitrary; or
(4) the agency
did not adhere to the strategy for maximizing public input prescribed by the
interagency committee on administrative rules.
When objection is made under this
subsection, and the objection is not withdrawn after the agency responds, on
majority vote of the entire committee, it may file the objection in certified
form with the secretary of state. The objection shall contain a concise
statement of the committee's reasons for its action. The secretary shall affix
to each objection a certification of its filing and as soon as practicable
transmit a copy to the agency. After a committee objection is filed with the
secretary under this subsection, or on the same grounds under subsection 817(d)
of this title, to the extent that the objection covers a rule or portion of a
rule, the burden of proof thereafter shall be on the agency in any action for
judicial review or for enforcement of the rule to establish that the part
objected to is within the authority delegated to the agency, is consistent with
the intent of the legislature, is not arbitrary, and the agency did adhere to
the strategy for maximizing public input prescribed by the interagency
committee on administrative rules. If the agency fails to meet its burden of
proof, the court shall declare the whole or portion of the rule objected to
invalid. The failure of the committee to object to a rule is not an implied
legislative authorization of its substantive or procedural lawfulness.
(c) The
committee may object under this subsection if a proposed rule is not written in
a satisfactory style according to section 833 of this title.
(d) The
committee may object under this subsection if the economic impact statement
fails to recognize a substantial economic impact of the proposed rule that the
committee describes in its notice of objection.
The committee may object one time under
this subsection and return the proposed rule to the agency as unacceptable for
filing. The agency may then cure the defect and adopt the rule, or it may adopt
the rule without change.
(e) When an
objection is made under subsection (b) of this section and has been certified
by the secretary of state, notice of the objection shall be included on all
copies of the rule distributed to the public. (Added 1981, No. 82, § 6; amended
1981, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1999, No. 9, § 1, eff. May 4, 1999; 2001, No.
149 (Adj. Sess.), § 52, eff. June 27, 2002.)