HF 2349 (LSB 5527YH (2) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2349

BY  WILLS

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for review and ongoing rescission of administrative rules.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 17A.7, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Beginning July January 1, 2012 2027, over each five-year period of time, an each agency shall conduct an ongoing and comprehensive review of all of the agency’s rules. The goal of the review is the identification and elimination of all rules of the agency that are outdated, redundant, or inconsistent or incompatible with statute or its own rules or those of other agencies. An Over each five-year period of time, an agency shall commence its review by developing a plan of review in consultation with major stakeholders and constituent groups. When the agency completes the five-year review of the agency’s own rules, the agency shall provide a summary of the results to the administrative rules coordinator and the administrative rules review committee.
    Sec. 2.  Section 17A.7, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3.  a.  Each chapter of rules is rescinded five years after the date on which the chapter as a whole became effective. A chapter rescinded in this manner ceases to be effective as of the date of rescission. Before or after such rescission occurs, the agency that adopted the chapter may adopt the chapter anew. Such adoption shall be subject to this chapter.
   b.  The effective date of adoption, amendment, or rescission of individual rules or portions of rules in a chapter, and the date of any changes to the chapter or rules or portions of rules in the chapter pursuant to section 2B.13, shall not be considered when determining the effective date of the chapter as a whole for purposes of this subsection. The date of rescission of a chapter under paragraph “a” shall not be altered if such date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday.
   c.  (1)  If a chapter has been rescinded under this subsection, the agency that adopted the chapter shall notify the administrative code editor in writing of the rescission. The administrative rules coordinator may notify the administrative code editor in writing on behalf of the agency.
   (2)  As soon as practicable after receiving such notification, the administrative code editor shall publish notice of the rescission in the Iowa administrative bulletin and, no sooner than two weeks after such publication, remove the chapter from the Iowa administrative code.
   d.  When a chapter of rules becoming effective as a whole is published in the Iowa administrative code, the administrative code editor shall include the next rescission date of the chapter, as provided in this subsection, with the chapter.
   e.  For a chapter of rules that most recently became effective as a whole prior to January 1, 2023, the effective date of the chapter shall be deemed January 1, 2023, for purposes of this subsection. For a chapter that most recently became effective as a whole on or after January 1, 2023, the date of rescission pursuant to this subsection shall be based on the most recent effective date of the chapter as a whole.
   f.  An agency may submit proposed legislation to the general assembly pursuant to section 2.16 that would modify the applicability of this subsection to rules adopted by the agency governing a narrowly specified subject. Such submission may be made no less than one year and no more than two years prior to the rescission of the chapter pursuant to this subsection. The agency shall submit a cost-benefit analysis of the rules affected by the proposed legislation to the general assembly with the proposed legislation and post the analysis on the agency’s internet site.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  By July 1, 2025, the administrative rules coordinator shall establish a process to utilize artificial intelligence technology to review the Iowa administrative code on an ongoing basis and identify rules that are outdated, redundant, or inconsistent or incompatible with statute or other rules. The administrative rules coordinator shall review the rules identified and submit a summary of such rules that meet the criteria of this subsection to the general assembly by January 1 each year. The general assembly shall post the summary on the general assembly’s internet site. The summary shall include a citation of each rule identified; whether the rule is outdated, redundant, or inconsistent or incompatible with statute or other rules; and a brief description of the reason for this determination. The administrative rules coordinator shall also submit a summary to each agency of the rules adopted by the agency that were identified in this manner, if any. The office of the chief information officer shall assist the administrative rules coordinator in the implementation of this subsection upon request.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill establishes a process for ongoing rescission of rules in the Iowa administrative code. The bill provides that each chapter of rules is rescinded five years after the date on which the chapter as a whole became effective. A chapter rescinded in this manner ceases to be effective as of the date of rescission. Before or after the rescission, the agency that adopted the chapter may adopt the chapter anew.
   The bill provides that the effective date of adoption, amendment, or rescission of individual rules or portions of rules in a chapter shall not be considered when determining the effective date of the chapter as a whole for purposes of the ongoing rescission process.
   If a chapter has been rescinded under this process, the agency that adopted the chapter shall notify the administrative code editor in writing of the rescission. The administrative rules coordinator may notify the administrative code editor in writing on behalf of the agency. As soon as practicable after receiving such notification, the administrative code editor shall publish notice of the rescission in the bulletin and, no sooner than two weeks after such publication, remove the chapter from the Iowa administrative code. When a chapter of rules becoming effective as a whole is published in the Iowa administrative code, the bill requires the administrative code editor to include the next rescission date of the chapter.
   For a chapter of rules that most recently became effective as a whole prior to January 1, 2023, the effective date of the chapter shall be deemed January 1, 2023, for purposes of the ongoing rescission process. For a chapter that most recently became effective as a whole on or after January 1, 2023, the date of rescission shall be based on the most recent effective date of the chapter as a whole.
   The bill authorizes an agency to submit proposed legislation to the general assembly that would modify the applicability of the ongoing rescission process to rules adopted by the agency governing a narrowly specified subject. The bill requires an agency that does so to submit a cost-benefit analysis of the rules affected by the proposed legislation to the general assembly with the proposed legislation and to post the analysis on the agency’s internet site.
   The bill provides that the next period for the ongoing review of rules by agencies required under current law shall commence January 1, 2027.
   The bill requires the administrative rules coordinator to establish by July 1, 2025, a process to utilize artificial intelligence technology to review the Iowa administrative code on an ongoing basis and identify rules that are outdated, redundant, or inconsistent or incompatible with statute or other rules. The bill provides for an annual summary of the results of this process to be submitted to the general assembly and relevant agencies.