Section 5 Regulations; filing

Section 5. Two attested copies of the regulations of each agency shall be filed with the state secretary together with a citation of the law by authority of which the same purport to have been issued, and together with the dates of approval by other boards or agencies if required and any other information necessary to show compliance with statutory requirements relative to issuance of such regulations. Upon receipt of agency regulations prepared in accordance with this chapter, the state secretary shall accept them for filing and endorse thereon the time and date of the filing.

No rule or regulation so filed with the state secretary shall become effective until an estimate of its fiscal effect including that on the public and private sector, for its first and second year, and a projection over the first five-year period, or a statement of no fiscal effect has been filed with said state secretary. In addition, no rule or regulation so filed, unless filed for the purposes of setting rates within the commonwealth, shall become effective until an agency has filed with the state secretary a statement considering the impact of said regulation on small business. Such statement of consideration shall include, but not be limited, to a description of the projected reporting, record keeping and other compliance requirements of the proposed regulations, the appropriateness of performance standards versus design standards and an identification of all relevant regulations of the promulgating agency which may duplicate or conflict with the proposed regulation. Said state secretary shall forthwith notify all agencies required to file rules or regulations pursuant to this section.

The state secretary shall make and publish rules and regulations, not otherwise inconsistent with law, with respect to the deadlines to be met and the form to be employed by any agency in preparing and filing regulations, hearing schedules and any other materials which the secretary may require. Compliance with such rules and regulations shall be a condition precedent to the effectiveness of agency regulations.