Maryland General Assembly Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review (AELR) 2016 Membership Roster

Transcription

1 Administrative, Joint Committee on Executive, and Legislative Review

2 Maryland General Assembly Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review (AELR) 2016 Membership Roster Senator Roger Manno (Senate Chair) Delegate Samuel I Rosenberg (House Chair) Senators John C. Astle Robert Cassilly Adelaide C. Eckardt Lisa A. Gladden Guy Guzzone James N. Mathias, Jr. Catherine E. Pugh Victor R. Ramirez Steve Waugh Delegates Eric M. Bromwell Luke Clippinger Robert L. Flanagan Marvin E. Holmes, Jr. Jay A. Jacobs Susan K. McComas Dan K. Morhaim Nathaniel T. Oaks Kirill Reznik Committee Staff Marie H. Razulis George H. Butler Crystal Lemieux

3 'i.~} /;-7~~\r. \S.\~"~ ~M~~~~~!flJr) THE MARYLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND December 14,2016 The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., Co-chair Ladies and Gentlemen: The following report of the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review for 2016 is submitted in accordance with 2-506(b) of the State Government Article. Functions of the Committee The committee has several statutory review functions relating to the activities of the Executive Branch. The committee's primary role is to review regulations issued by State administrative agencies. The specific statutory functions of the committee are as follows: review of all regulations proposed by State executive agencies before publication of the regulations in the Maryland Register; review and approval of all requests from State executive agencies for the immediate adoption, through the emergency process, of proposed regulations; discretionary review of the operations of any executive agency; discretionary inquiry into any alleged failure of an officer or employee of any branch of State government to comply with the laws of the State; review and approval of any executive order promulgated by the Governor pursuant to the Governor's emergency energy powers under Title 14, Subtitle 3 of the Public Safety Article;

4 '" The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., Co-chair December 14, 2016 Page 2 review of executive agency "work plans" and "evaluation reports" submitted in the course of an agency's cyclical review of its existing regulations under the Regulatory Review and Evaluation Act, as implemented by Executive Order ; ongoing supervisory responsibilities under the "State Documents Law" relating to the publication of the Maryland Register and the Code oj Maryland Regulations (CO MAR) and; other specific review responsibilities established by statute. Statistical Overview As of December 12, 2016, the committee had received 13 regulations submitted by executive agencies in 2016 for emergency approval and 364 regulations proposed for adoption within normal timeframes, for an overall total of377 regulations. In 2015, the committee received 34 emergency regulations and 415 proposed regulations for a total of 449 regulations. The committee has compiled statistics since 1993 on the number of regulations received by the committee from each agency. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) consistently has been the most prolific in submitting regulations to the committee. In 2016, DHMH submitted 117 regulations to the committee, of which 2 were emergency proposals and 115 were proposed regulations. The regulations submitted by DHMH constituted 31% of the total number of regulations the committee received for the year. The Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, which submitted 3 emergency regulations and 55 proposed regulations for a total of 58 regulations, was the second most prolific source of regulations. The Department of Natural Resources was the third highest source of regulations in 2016, submitting 1 emergency regulation and 32 proposed regulations, for a total of 33 regulations. Other agencies submitting significant numbers of regulations were the Maryland Insurance Administration (1 emergency regulation and 27 proposed regulations), the State Board of Education (1 emergency regulation and 24 proposed regulations), the Maryland Higher Education Commission (11 regulations), the Department of the Environment (11 regulations), the Department of Human Resources (l0 regulations), the Department of Transportation (l0 regulations), the Department of Agriculture (3 emergency regulations and 7 proposed regulations), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (10 regulations).

5 The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., Co-chair December 14,2016 Page 3 Major Regulatory Issues of 2016 Department of the Transportation Proposed Regulations DLS Control No Department of Transportation: Office of the Secretary: Major Transportation Project Scoring and Ranking System: COMAR and.02 On September 20, 2016, the Department of Transportation submitted regulations implementing Chapter 36 of 20 16, the Maryland Open Transportation Investment Decision Act of 2016, by establ ishing a scoring system using the goals and measures established under the Act for ranking major transportation projects. The regulations also assign weighting metrics for each goal and measure, and specify the equation to be used when calculating a weighted project score. Lastly, the regulations require the department to use the weighted project score to rank a major transportation project for inclusion in the draft and final Consolidated Transportation Program (etp). The committee held a public hearing on November 18, 2016 to provide committee members and the public with an opportunity to learn more about these regulations, ask questions, and voice any lingering concerns. The hearing was well-attended - one agency, the Department of Transportation, testified in support of the regulations, one panel and two organizations testified in opposition to the regulations, and one individual did not take a stance on the regulations but rather provided expertise on scoring and ranking transportation projects. Proponents and opponents were given unlimited time to provide testimony and answer questions. In response to concerns raised at the hearing, the committee placed these regulations on hold on December 6, Department of the Environment Proposed Regulations DLS Control No Department of the Environment: Oil and Gas Resources: Oil and Gas Exploration and Production: COMAR through.61 On September 26, 2016, the Department of the Environment submitted regulations repealing existing regulations applicable to oil and gas exploration and production in the State and establishing new more stringent provisions to address new technologies and practices. Specifically, the regulations establish a suite of best practices to be followed for oil and gas production in

6 The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., Co-chair December 14, 2016 Page 4 the regulations establish a suite of best practices to be followed for oil and gas production in Maryland; they are intended to protect public health, safety, natural resources, and the environment. The committee will hold a public hearing on December 20, 2016 to provide committee members and the public with an opportunity to learn more about these regulations, ask questions, and voice any lingering concerns. The committee retains jurisdiction over these regulations through December 29,2016. Supervisory Responsibilities under the State Documents Law As part of its supervisory responsibilities under the "State Documents Law" (Title 7, Subtitle 2 of the State Government Article), the committee continued to monitor significant developments concerning publications of the Division of State Documents (OS D), a unit within the Office of the Secretary of State. DSD publishes the Maryland Register and the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). Existing Agency Operations and Regulations Under 2-S06(b) of the State Government Article, the committee is required to comment on any recommendations to bring about the more efficient operation of the branches of the State government and on any legislative action that is needed to change or reverse a regulation of a unit of the Executive Branch. The committee has been satisfied with the continued cooperation it receives from the Executive Branch and is pleased to report that no recommendations for change are required at this time. The committee wishes to note its appreciation for the continued cooperation of the Executive Branch and its various agencies in making the process of legislative review of regulations successful. /;,,'11 / I' ~"", /' I.'/~. " r /' ", '-...U-jl''-'V " LC l 'I,Vv lf7- (.'if. l..a.-- Senator Roger Manno Senate Chair (Presiding) Respectfully submitted, I /ilij -, ; J :' 1 :'}.--.-' ~//) t'..»: YIP ( Xt'/l'V,UJ.(..-,..,;- - I ~/x:.".u/,,'~ V'~r ('1 <.) :' c ',J'~-_. Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg House Chair RM:SIR IMHR:CLL:GHB/cr cc: Mr. Warren G. Deschenaux Ms. Carol L. Swan Mr. Ryan J. Bishop