SPONSOR:	Rep. Hudson & Sen. Bunting & Sen. Booth & Sen. Cloutier;
	Reps. Hocker, Briggs King, Lee, Peterman, D. Short, Carson, B. Short; Sens. Simpson, Sokola, Venables

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 286

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC HEARINGS PURSUANT TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1.Amend §§10115, 10116, and 10117, Chapter 101, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining and deletions as shown by strikethrough as follows:

§10115. Notice.

(a) Whenever an agency proposes to formulate, adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation, it shall file notice and full text of such proposals, together with copies of the existing regulation being adopted, amended or repealed, with the Registrar for publication, in full or as a summary, in the Register of Regulations pursuant to §1134 of this title.

(1) The notice shall describe the nature of the proceedings including a brief synopsis of the subject, substance, issues, possible terms of the agency action, a reference to the legal authority of the agency to act and reference to any other regulations that may be impacted or affected by the proposal;

(2) The notice shall state the manner in which persons may present their views: (i) if in writing, with of the place to which and the final date by which such those views may be submitted; or (ii) if at a public hearing, and the date, time, and place of the public hearing. If a public hearing is to be held, such The public hearing shall may not be scheduled less than 20 days following publication of notice of the proposal in the Register of Regulations.

(b) If a public hearing will be held on the proposal, n Notice of the time, date, and place of the hearing and a summary of the nature of the proposal shall must also be published in at least 2 Delaware newspapers of general circulation a minimum of 20 days prior to such the public hearing.

(c) The notice shall must also be mailed to all persons who have made timely written requests of the agency for advance notice of its regulation-making proceedings.

§10116. Written submittals.

Before adopting, amending or repealing any regulation, an agency shall give notice as prescribed in §10115 of this title and shall receive all written suggestions, compilations of data, briefs, or other written materials submitted to it by any person. The agency, in its discretion, may designate a subordinate to organize, classify, summarize, and make recommendations with respect to the materials,. whichThe recommendations may be considered with the materials by the agency in reaching its conclusions.

§10117. Public hearings.

When an agency is required by law to (a) All State agencies shall hold public hearings before adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation and, otherwise, if an agency in its discretion determines to hold public hearings, in addition to giving shall give the public the opportunity for the submission of written materials, the following shall apply to the conduct of such hearings:.

(1) (b)The A public hearing shall must be conducted either by the a State agency or by a subordinate designated by the agency for that purpose who shall be empowered may, in connection with such the hearing to:

a. (1) Issue subpoenas, in the agency's sole or the subordinate's discretion, for witnesses or other evidence, on the agency's or subordinate's initiative or at the request of any person;

b. (2) Administer oaths to witnesses; and

c. (3) Exclude irrelevant, immaterial, insubstantial, cumulative, or privileged matter and unduly repetitive proofs, rebuttals, and cross-examination.

(2) (c)A record from which a verbatim transcript can be prepared shall must be made of all hearings. The expense of preparing any transcript shall be borne by the person requesting it person requesting a transcript shall bear the expense of its preparation.

SYNOPSIS

This bill requires all State agencies to hold public hearings on all proposed regulatory changes except emergency regulations under §10119 of the Administrative Procedures Act and those presently exempted under §10113 of the Administrative Procedures Act.At present many agencies may choose not to hold public hearings for many proposed regulations.Agencies may choose to hold monthly meetings to consider proposed regulations, using existing staff and facilities to mitigate costs. DNREC and the Division of Professional Regulation are already required to hold these public hearings.The Department of Education holds regulatory change discussions during their regularly scheduled board meetings.