17A.4A - REGULATORY ANALYSIS.
17A.4A REGULATORY ANALYSIS.
1. An agency shall issue a regulatory analysis of a proposed rule
that complies with subsection 2, paragraph "a", if, within
thirty-two days after the published notice of proposed rule adoption,
a written request for the analysis is submitted to the agency by the
administrative rules review committee or the administrative rules
coordinator. An agency shall issue a regulatory analysis of a
proposed rule that complies with subsection 2, paragraph "b", if
the rule would have a substantial impact on small business and if,
within thirty-two days after the published notice of proposed rule
adoption, a written request for analysis is submitted to the agency
by the administrative rules review committee, the administrative
rules coordinator, at least twenty-five persons signing that request
who each qualify as a small business or by an organization
representing at least twenty-five such persons. If a rule has been
adopted without prior notice and an opportunity for public
participation in reliance upon section 17A.4, subsection 3, the
written request for an analysis that complies with subsection 2,
paragraph "a" or "b", may be made within seventy days of
publication of the rule.
2. a. Except to the extent that a written request for a
regulatory analysis expressly waives one or more of the following,
the regulatory analysis must contain all of the following:
(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) A description of the probable quantitative and qualitative
impact of the proposed rule, economic or otherwise, upon affected
classes of persons, including a description of the nature and amount
of all of the different kinds of costs that would be incurred in
complying with the proposed rule.
(3) 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.
(4) A comparison of the probable costs and benefits of the
proposed rule to the probable costs and benefits of inaction.
(5) A determination of whether less costly methods or less
intrusive methods exist for achieving the purpose of the proposed
rule.
(6) 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.
b. In the case of a rule that would have a substantial impact
on small business, the regulatory analysis must contain a discussion
of whether it would be feasible and practicable to do any of the
following to reduce the impact of the rule on small business:
(1) Establish less stringent compliance or reporting requirements
in the rule for small business.
(2) Establish less stringent schedules or deadlines in the rule
for compliance or reporting requirements for small business.
(3) Consolidate or simplify the rule's compliance or reporting
requirements for small business.
(4) Establish performance standards to replace design or
operational standards in the rule for small business.
(5) Exempt small business from any or all requirements of the
rule.
c. The agency shall reduce the impact of a proposed rule that
would have a substantial impact on small business by using a method
discussed in paragraph "b" if the agency finds that the method is
legal and feasible in meeting the statutory objectives which are the
basis of the proposed rule.
3. Each regulatory analysis must include quantifications of the
data to the extent practicable and must take account of both
short-term and long-term consequences.
4. Upon receipt by an agency of a timely request for a regulatory
analysis, the agency shall extend the period specified in this
chapter for each of the following until at least twenty days after
publication in the administrative bulletin of a concise summary of
the regulatory analysis:
a. The end of the period during which persons may make
written submissions on the proposed rule.
b. The end of the period during which an oral proceeding may
be requested.
c. The date of any required oral proceeding on the proposed
rule.
5. In the case of a rule adopted without prior notice and an
opportunity for public participation in reliance upon section 17A.4,
subsection 3, the summary must be published within seventy days of
the request.
6. The published summary of the regulatory analysis must also
indicate where persons may obtain copies of the full text of the
regulatory analysis and where, when, and how persons may present
their views on the proposed rule and demand an oral proceeding
thereon if one is not already provided. Agencies shall make
available to the public, to the maximum extent feasible, the
published summary and the full text of the regulatory analysis
described in this subsection in an electronic format, including, but
not limited to, access to the documents through the internet.
7. If the agency has made a good faith effort to comply with the
requirements of subsections 1 through 3, the rule may not be
invalidated on the ground that the contents of the regulatory
analysis are insufficient or inaccurate.
8. a. For the purpose of this section, "small business"
means any entity including but not limited to an individual,
partnership, corporation, joint venture, association, or cooperative,
to which all of the following apply:
(1) It is not an affiliate or subsidiary of an entity dominant in
its field of operation.
(2) It has either twenty or fewer full-time equivalent positions
or less than one million dollars in annual gross revenues in the
preceding fiscal year.
b. For purposes of this definition, "dominant in its field
of operation" means having more than twenty full-time equivalent
positions and more than one million dollars in annual gross revenues,
and "affiliate or subsidiary of an entity dominant in its field of
operation" means an entity which is at least twenty percent owned
by an entity dominant in its field of operation, or by partners,
officers, directors, majority stockholders, or their equivalent, of
an entity dominant in that field of operation. Section History: Recent Form
98 Acts, ch 1202, §10, 46; 2008 Acts, ch 1031, §81
Referred to in §17A.33