SECOND REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES SCHOELLER (Sponsor), MUNZLINGER, BIVINS, RICHARD, STEVENSON, KASTEN, COX, JONES (89), SCHARNHORST, FAITH, JETTON, STREAM, WASSON, GRILL, COOPER (120), HUNTER, FUNDERBURK, SCHLOTTACH, EMERY AND SMITH (150) (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time March 13, 2008 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 640.015, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to environmental standards.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 640.015, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 640.015, to read as follows:
640.015. 1. All provisions of the law to the contrary notwithstanding, all rules that prescribe environmental conditions or standards promulgated by the department of natural resources, a board or a commission, pursuant to authorities granted in this chapter and chapters 260, 278, 319, 444, 643, and 644, RSMo, the hazardous waste management commission in chapter 260, RSMo, the state soil and water districts commission in chapter 278, RSMo, the land reclamation commission in chapter 444, RSMo, the safe drinking water commission in this chapter, the air conservation commission in chapter 643, RSMo, and the clean water commission in chapter 644, RSMo, shall [cite the specific section of law or legal authority. The rule shall also] be based on the regulatory impact report provided in this section.
2. The regulatory impact report required by this section relating to environmental conditions or standards shall include:
(1) A detailed explanation of the purpose of the proposed rule;
(2) A [report on] description of the [peer-reviewed] scientific reports, studies, or data used to commence the rulemaking process. The description shall explain how the scientific reports, studies, or data was used, relied upon, or rejected to develop the rule including whether each scientific report, study, or data was peer-reviewed;
[(2) A description of persons who will most likely be affected by the proposed rule, including persons that will bear the costs of the proposed rule and persons that will benefit from the proposed rule;]
(3) A description of the environmental and economic costs and benefits of the proposed rule. Such description of costs and benefits shall address both short-term and long-term consequences of the proposed rule. Such description shall also discuss the risks to human health, public welfare, or the environment addressed by the proposed rule including the sources of scientific information used in evaluating the risk and a summary of such information;
[(4) 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 revenue;
(5) A comparison of the probable costs and benefits of the proposed rule to the probable costs and benefits of inaction, which includes both economic and environmental costs and benefits;
(6) A determination of whether there are less costly or less intrusive methods for achieving the proposed rule;
(7)] (4) A description of any alternative [method] methods, if any, for achieving the purpose of the proposed rule [that were seriously considered by the department] including less costly or less intrusive methods and the reasons why they were rejected in favor of the proposed rule;
[(8) An analysis of both short-term and long-term consequences of the proposed rule;
(9) An explanation of the risks to human health, public welfare, or the environment addressed by the proposed rule;
(10) The identification of the sources of scientific information used in evaluating the risk and a summary of such information;
(11) A description and impact statement of any uncertainties and assumptions made in conducting the analysis on the resulting risk estimate;
(12) A description of any significant countervailing risks that may be caused by the proposed rule; and
(13) The identification of at least one, if any, alternative regulatory approaches that will produce comparable human health, public welfare, or environmental outcomes.]
(5) A draft fiscal note describing those costs to public agencies as prescribed by subsection 1 of section 536.200, RSMo;
(6) A draft fiscal note describing those costs to any person, firm, corporation, association, partnership, proprietorship, or business entity of any kind or character as prescribed by subsection 1 of section 536.205, RSMo.
3. [The department, board, or commission shall develop the regulatory impact report required by this section using peer-reviewed and published data or when the peer-reviewed data is not reasonably available, a written explanation shall be filed at the time of the rule promulgation notice explaining why the peer-reviewed data was not available to support the regulation. If the peer-reviewed data is not available, the department must provide all scientific references and the types, amount, and sources of scientific information that was used to develop the rule at the time of the rule promulgation notice.] Any regulatory impact report required by this section relating to permit and application fees shall include a discussion of proposed fees or other charges, a description of projected revenues, and a description of proposed expenditures.
4. Any regulatory impact report required by this section relating to procedural rules shall include a description of the procedure, justification for the new or modified procedure, and how the procedure is expected to enhance productivity and services provided to the public.
[4.] 5. The department, board, or commission shall publish [in at least one newspaper of general circulation, qualified pursuant to chapter 493, RSMo, with an average circulation of twenty thousand or more and] on the department, board, or commission web site [a notice of availability of any] all regulatory impact [report] reports conducted pursuant to this section [and shall make such assessments and analyses available to the public by posting them on the department, board, or commission web site]. The department, board, or commission shall publish notice of availability of the regulatory impact report to an e-mail notification service to which any person may subscribe. The department, board, or commission shall allow at least [sixty] thirty days for the public to submit comments and shall post all comments and respond to all significant or material comments prior to promulgating the rule.
6. Should the department, board, or commission proceed to publish the proposed rule in the Missouri register, the department, board, or commission shall amend the regulatory impact report and include a response to all significant or material comments. The revised regulatory impact report shall be referred to in the Missouri register notice of proposed rulemaking and shall be published on the department, board, or commission web site. The notice of the revised regulatory impact report shall also be published to an e-mail notification service to which any person may subscribe.
[5.] 7. The department, board, or commission shall file a copy of the regulatory impact report with the joint committee on administrative rules concurrently with the filing of the proposed rule pursuant to section 536.024, RSMo.
[6.] 8. If the department, board, or commission fails to conduct the regulatory impact report as required for each proposed rule pursuant to this section, such rule shall be void [unless the written explanation delineating why the peer-reviewed data was not available has been filed at the time of the rule promulgation notice].
[7.] 9. Any other provision of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, the department, board, or commission referenced in subsection 1 of this section may adopt a rule without conducting a regulatory impact report if the director of the department determines that immediate action is necessary to protect human health, public welfare, or the environment; provided, however, in doing so, the department, board, or commission shall be required to provide written justification as to why it deviated from conducting a regulatory impact report and shall complete the regulatory impact report within one hundred eighty days of the adoption of the rule.
[8.] 10. The provisions of this section shall not apply if the department adopts environmental protection agency rules and rules from other applicable federal agencies without variance. For environmental protection agency rules and rules from other applicable federal agencies that are adopted with variance, the requirements of this rule shall only apply to those portions excepted, modified, or expanded.
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