The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
"Act" means the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq.
"Administrative correction or change" means a correction or change to the text of a rule without formally promulgating the amendment (see 1:30-2.7 ).
"Adopt" means the action whereby a rule is officially approved and authorized for promulgation by an adopting agency.
"Adopting agency" means that agency authorized by law to conduct a rulemaking proceeding.
"Agency" or "State agency" is defined in 52:14B-2(a).
"Adopting agency head" means either that person designated by statute as authorized to promulgate rules, or the principal executive officer or an authorized adopting agency.
"Amend" means to modify, alter, revise, or suspend the operative effect of a previously promulgated rule.
"Appendix" means any collateral material that serves to clarify, illustrate, or explain a rule.
"Code" means the New Jersey Administrative Code, published pursuant to 52:14B-7(a).
"Codify" means to devise, pursuant to 52:14B-7(f), the form in which rules are published to achieve a logical and consistent arrangement of the provisions.
"Director" means the Director of the Office of Administrative Law.
"Division of Administrative Rules" means that Division of the Office of Administrative Law to which documents shall be submitted for publication in the New Jersey Register; that reviews such documents for compliance with this chapter and the Act; that maintains permanent records concerning rule promulgation; and that provides assistance to agencies concerning the preparation, consideration, publication, and interpretation of rules.
"Document" means any writing submitted to the Office of Administrative Law by an agency for the purpose of filing, publishing, or other processing pursuant to law. The singular of this term refers to the entirety of each writing although such writing establishes or affects more than one rule or subject matter, or consists of more than one page or part.
"Effective" means that a rule, pursuant to the Constitution, the Act and this chapter, has been duly adopted, filed with the Office of Administrative Law, and in the case of a new rule, amendment, or repeal, promulgated in the New Jersey Register. A readoption is effective upon timely filing with the OAL.
"Electronic mailing list" means a computer program that allows agency website visitors, at their discretion, to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, an e-mail discussion group or e-mail mailing list controlled by the agency, and which program enables the agency to automatically send e-mail messages to multiple e-mail addresses on the user-generated subscriber list.
"Emergency adoption" means the promulgation of an amendment, repeal, or new rule without public comment in response to an imminent peril to the public health, safety, and welfare (see N.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(c) and N.J.A.C. 1:30-6.5).
"Executive Order No. 27 (1994)" means the 27th executive order issued by Governor Whitman in 1994. Commonly referred to as the "Federal standards" provision, the executive order requires a statement or analysis as to whether a rule exceeds standards or requirements imposed by Federal law. Federal law includes statutes, rules, regulations, orders, directives, or guidelines.
"Exempt agency" means any agency excluded from the requirements of the Act because it does not meet the definition of "agency" in N.J.S.A. 52:14B-2(a).
"Exempt rule" means any rule of an exempt agency or a rule of a non-exempt agency that, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-5.1(e), does not require an expiration date.
"File" means the action whereby a copy of a document is received by the Division of Administrative Rules; notated with the date of receipt; entered into the registry; and thereafter accepted for publication by the Director. All documents accepted for publication shall be considered filed as of the date of receipt.
"Intra-agency statement" means a communication between members of a single agency that does not substantially impact upon the rights or legitimate interests of the regulated public.
"Inter-agency statement" means a communication between separate agencies that does not substantially impact upon the rights or legitimate interests of the regulated public.
"Joint proposal and joint adoption" is the process by which two or more agencies, with concurrent or complementary jurisdiction, jointly propose and adopt identical rules, at the same time. The process may be mandated by legislation or voluntarily initiated, where appropriate.
"Negotiating a rule" means the process whereby an agency requests, and the OAL provides a representative to conduct a preliminary, non-adversarial proceeding with respect to a contemplated rulemaking proceeding, and which results in a rule presented to the "adopting agency" head in the form required by 1:30-5.1.
"Notice of adoption" means that document described in N.J.A.C. 1:30-6.1, which must be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing and then published in the New Jersey Register to give legal effect to a proposed rulemaking.
"Notice of petition for rulemaking" means that document described in N.J.A.C. 1:30-4.1, which must be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the Register when a request for agency rulemaking action is made by an interested person, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(f).
"Notice of pre-proposal" means that document described in N.J.A.C. 1:30-5.3, which must be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the New Jersey Register, when an agency determines to conduct, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(e), a preliminary proceeding with respect to a contemplated rulemaking proceeding or when, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:30-5.3, a pre-proposal shall be submitted.
"Notice of proposal" means that document described in N.J.A.C. 1:30-5.1, which must be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing and then published in the New Jersey Register and distributed to the Legislature and interested persons.
"OAL" means the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, which is in, but not of, the Department of the Treasury.
"Operative" means that the adopting agency shall enforce and the affected public shall obey the terms of an effective rule. Unless otherwise specified in the rule or notice of adoption of the rule, a rule becomes operative when effective.
"Organizational rule" means a rule promulgated pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-3(l), including a description of the structure of the agency; the persons from whom and places from which information, applications, and other forms may be obtained; and the persons to whom and places to which applications, requests, and other submissions may be made.
"Person" means any natural individual, association, board, venture, partnership, corporation, organization, institution, and governmental instrumentality recognized by law for any purpose whatsoever.
"Pre-proposal" means a preliminary proceeding for the purpose of eliciting ideas, views, and comments of interested persons on a contemplated rulemaking proceeding, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:30-5.3(b). This preliminary proceeding precedes the filing of a formal rule proposal.
"Promulgate" means to proclaim officially in the Register and thereby render effective a new rule, amendment, or repeal that was duly adopted by an agency and filed with the Office of Administrative Law.
"Propose" means the action whereby an adopting agency submits a notice of proposed rule to the Office of Administrative Law for filing and publication by the Director.
"Public hearing" means a legislative type proceeding conducted either as part of a rulemaking or to consider a possible rulemaking that affords the public an opportunity to present to the promulgating agency oral and written comments, arguments, data, and views on the rulemaking or the contemplated rulemaking.
"Readopt" means to conduct a rulemaking proceeding for the purpose of continuing in effect an emergency rule that would otherwise expire pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-4(c) (see N.J.A.C. 1:30-6.5), or a rule that expires pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-5.1(see N.J.A.C. 1:30-6.4). In a rulemaking proceeding to readopt a rule, the rule continues in effect upon the timely filing of the notice of adoption with the Office of Administrative Law.
"Register" means the "New Jersey Register" published pursuant to 52:14B-7(b).
"Registry" means the serial list of documents submitted for filing with the Director.
"Repeal" means to conduct a rulemaking proceeding to declare void a rule, the effect of which is to terminate the legal effect of such rule prospectively only. Any rule so terminated shall continue thereafter to be enforced in and applied to all proceedings, formal or otherwise, initiated pursuant to rule or to law prior to the effective date of such repeal.
"Rule" or "administrative rule" is defined in 52:14B-2(e). For purposes of determining effective dates, there are five types of rules: new rules, amendments, repeals, readoptions, and emergency rules.
"Rule activity" means any agency action with respect to a rule authorized or required by the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., and including a petition for a rule, a pre-proposal for a rule, and rulemaking proceeding.
"Rulemaking proceeding" means those steps that shall be followed pursuant to the Act and this chapter, for a rule to be validly promulgated, and which include the procedures for proposal of a rule, N.J.A.C. 1:30-5, the proper adoption of a rule, and the procedures upon adoption of a rule, N.J.A.C. 1:30-6.
"Signature of agency head" shall include the actual, physical signature of the agency head, the prior-approved stamp or electronic signature, or the submission of a notice for publication through an e-mail address approved by the agency for the purpose of submitting notices approved by the agency head to the OAL.
"URL address" means a Uniform Resource Locator address, that is used for the purposes of Internet navigation and is commonly referred to as a website link, and which uses a protocol, such as "http", and a domain name to identify, and provide website visitors with direct access to, a particular Internet file or website page.
N.J. Admin. Code § 1:30-1.2