In carrying out its mandate to protect the health, safety and welfare of the People, it is the duty of the State government to act effectively and efficiently, but without imposing unnecessary burdens upon the citizens of the State, employers, or upon State or local government. It is a duty which has particular significance for State agencies charged with regulatory responsibilities. These agencies must cultivate and maintain a sensitivity to the impact of their regulatory activity and be constant in their efforts to reduce or to eliminate conflicting, duplicative or unneeded regulations. No new regulation should be adopted unless there is reasonable assurance that the regulation is no more demanding than is required to meet legislative goals, and unless it is designed so that compliance may be achieved as simply and economically as possible.
To achieve the goal of simplifying rules and regulations, and to encourage confidence in the regulatory process, I, Hugh L. Carey, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and Laws of the State of New York, do hereby promulgate this Executive Order.
I. Analysis of Proposed Regulations; Regulatory Impact Statements. Before an agency proposes a rule or regulation, it shall evaluate the potential impact of such a rule or regulation upon those to be regulated, upon State and local government and upon the public. In order to ensure that legislative purposes are met in as efficient a manner as possible, all State agencies shall carry out the following procedures:
a. Except as provided in subdivision (e) of this subsection, agencies shall publish a regulatory impact statement upon the issuance of any proposed rule or regulation. Such a statement or, in the event it exceeds 2,000 words, a summary, shall be submitted along with the proposed rule or regulation to the Secretary of State for publication in the State Register. A copy of the statement in its entirety shall be provided to the Governor, the Temporary President of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Administrative Regulations Review Commission, the Office of Business Permits and, upon request, to interested parties.b. The regulatory impact statement shall include at least the following items: i. a concise statement of the legislative objectives served by, the need for, and the benefits to be derived from, the proposed rule or regulation;ii. the precise statutory authority for the proposed rule or regulation;iii. a description of the relationship between the proposed rule or regulation and any related State or Federal requirements or programs;iv. a description of, and a statement of the need for, any new reporting requirements or forms that will be required for the implementation of the proposed rule or regulation;v. an analysis of the costs involved to State and local government, to regulated parties and to the general public in complying with the rule or regulation, and of any other foreseeable economic consequences; where an agency finds that it cannot provide a particular element of such an analysis, it shall state the reasons;vi. a discussion of viable alternative approaches to the proposed rule or regulation, and the reasons why those alternatives were not selected; andvii. the name, title, business address and phone number of a contact person within the agency.c. To avoid waste of agency resources, an agency may: i. consider a series of closely related and simultaneously proposed rules or regulations as one rule or regulation for purposes of filing a single regulatory impact statement; orii. file a single regulatory impact statement for any series of virtually identical proposed rules or regulations which are proposed in the same year.d. When, pursuant to subdivision 3 of section 202 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, an agency submits to the Secretary of State a notice of agency action in which it is stated that there are substantive changes in the final action in comparison with the proposed rule or regulation, the agency shall also summarize the changes, if any, which must be made in the regulatory impact statement in order to reflect accurately the impact of the final action taken.e. An agency may claim an exemption from the requirements set forth above under any of the following conditions, provided that it shall state the reason or reasons for claiming the exemption in the State Register at the time the agency publishes the proposed rule or regulation:i. where a rule or regulation must be issued on an emergency basis, pursuant to paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 and paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 202 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, in which event the agency shall publish, pursuant to the procedures set forth in subdivision (a) of this subsection, a regulatory impact statement within 30 days after the rule or regulation is effective; orii. where a rule or regulation involves only a technical amendment or an amendment to an existing rule or regulation solely to conform to the plain language requirement of subsection II of this Executive Order.f. The head of each State agency shall be responsible for the agency's adherence to the requirements of this subsection.II. Plain Language Requirement. Rules, regulations and forms shall be understandable to those parties that must comply with their terms, instructions or directives, and to the public. Therefore, every agency shall promulgate its rules, regulations and forms in plain language, except where technical terms or terms of art must be used. Furthermore, agencies shall make every effort to examine existing rules, regulations and forms in order to bring them into conformity with this subsection.
III. Definitions. As used in this Executive Order:
a. Agency shall mean any department, board, bureau, commission, division, office, council or agency of the State, or a public benefit corporation or public authority the head of which is appointed by the Governor.b. Proposed rule or regulation shall mean the proposed adoption, suspension, amendment or repeal, whether on a permanent, temporary or emergency basis, of any "rule" as defined by subdivision 2 of section 102 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, except where the proposed rule or regulation is defined by subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of such section and its substance was initially proposed by the regulated entity to which it would apply.c. Form shall mean the whole or part of any State agency permit, license, certificate, approval, registration, charter or similar form of permission required by law, rule or regulation having the force and effect of law and any written request to any party wherein data, facts or other information is sought.d. Interested parties shall mean any person, group, corporation, governmental or other legal entity requesting information concerning a proposed rule or regulation.IV. Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to create grounds for judicial review or relief, nor shall this Executive Order be construed in such a way as to cause any undue delay in the orderly implementation of rules and regulations.V. This Executive Order shall take effect June 10, 1980 and, unless extended, shall expire December 31, 1984. Signed: Hugh L. CareyDated: April 8, 1980
N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 3.100