N.J. Admin. Code § 1:30-5.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 1:30-5.5 - Public hearings

(a) An agency shall conduct a public hearing on a proposed rulemaking if requested to do so by a Legislative Committee, a State agency, or a county, local, or municipal governmental entity or if sufficient public interest is shown. The party requesting the public hearing shall submit the request to the agency within 30 days following publication of the notice of proposal in the Register.

1. "Sufficient public interest" for conducting a public hearing pursuant to this subsection shall be determined by the proposing agency based upon definite standards it has adopted as part of its rules of practice required under 52:14B-3(2).

(b) If a public hearing is to be held as part of a proceeding for a pre-proposal or a proposal, the agency shall provide at least 15 days' notice of the public hearing.

1. When a public hearing is scheduled as part of a proceeding for a pre-proposal or a proposal, notice of the public hearing shall be contained in the notice of pre-proposal or proposal published in the New Jersey Register.

2. When a public hearing is scheduled after the notice of pre-proposal or proposal has been published, notice of the public hearing shall be published in the New Jersey Register, if such publication provides 15 days' notice of the hearing. If timely Register publication is not feasible, notice of the public hearing may be published in the Register with less than 15 days' notice, as long as 15 days' notice of the public hearing is given in another manner reasonably calculated to reach the interested public. A copy of such notice shall be filed with OAL. An agency shall also publish notice of a public hearing under this paragraph on the agency's Internet website at least 15 days prior to the hearing date.

(c) All public hearings shall be conducted by a hearing officer, who may be an official of the agency, a member of its staff, a person on assignment from another agency, a person from the Office of Administrative Law assigned pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14F-5, or an independent contractor.

(d) Hearings shall be conducted at such times and in locations that shall afford interested parties the opportunity to attend.

(e) If the hearing pertains to an agency notice of proposal, at the beginning of each hearing or series of hearings the agency shall present a summary of the factual information on which its notice of proposal is based, and shall respond to questions posed by any interested party.

(f) The hearing officer shall make recommendations to the agency regarding the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule. These recommendations shall be made public.

(g) In addition to any other publication of the results of the public hearing, the recommendations of the hearing officer, and the agency's response either accepting or rejecting the recommendations, shall be summarized and published in the New Jersey Register as set out in (g)1 through 4 below. The notice shall also state where a copy of the public hearing record may be reviewed or obtained.

1. When no proposed rulemaking results from the public hearing, the summary shall be published as a public notice.

2. When a proposed rulemaking results from the public hearing, the summary shall be published as part of the notice of proposal.

3. When a public hearing is held as part of a proposed rulemaking and the proposed rule is adopted, the summary shall be published in the notice of adoption.

4. When a public hearing is held as part of a proposed rulemaking but the proposed rule is withdrawn or not adopted, the summary shall be published as a notice of agency action.

(h) The public hearing shall be recorded electronically or stenographically, and audio tapes, stenographic tapes, or other untranscribed record of the proceeding shall be maintained by the agency. If a copy of the record is requested by any interested person, the agency shall arrange for the production of a copy of the record. After the requester pays the agency's actual cost for the copy, the copy shall be delivered to the requester.

N.J. Admin. Code § 1:30-5.5

Amended by47 N.J.R. 1311(b), Effective 6/15/2015

Amended by 50 N.J.R. 1433(a), effective 6/18/2018