S-0830.2                   _______________________________________________

                                                     SENATE BILL 5748

                              _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Senators Hochstatter, Haugen, Moyer, Oke, West and M. Rasmussen

Read first time 02/11/93.  Referred to Committee on Government Operations.

Ensuring consideration of public comments in rule making.

          AN ACT Relating to administrative rule making; amending RCW 34.05.335 and 34.05.355; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that notwithstanding current law that requires administrative agencies to consider public comments of proposed rules and to provide statements of reasons for the adoption of rules that were adopted against the urging of public comments, still the public in general perceives that its comments are not receiving due accord by agencies.  To restore public confidence in the rule-making process, it is the purpose of this act to have a third party ensure that the comments of the public are indeed being considered before the adoption of rules.

        Sec. 2.  RCW 34.05.335 and 1989 c 175 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) A proposed rule may be withdrawn by the proposing agency at any time before adoption.  A withdrawn rule may not be adopted unless it is again proposed in accordance with RCW 34.05.320.

          (2) Before adopting a rule, an agency shall consider the written and oral submissions, or any memorandum summarizing oral submissions on an individual basis, and shall accord substantial deference and weight to the preponderant viewpoint reflected by the submissions as a whole.

          (3) Rules not adopted and filed with the code reviser within one hundred eighty days after publication of the text as last proposed in the register shall be regarded as withdrawn.  An agency may not thereafter adopt the proposed rule without refiling it in accordance with RCW 34.05.320.  The code reviser shall give notice of the withdrawal in the register.

          (4) An agency may not adopt a rule before the time established in the published notice, or such later time established on the record or by publication in the state register.

        Sec. 3.  RCW 34.05.355 and 1988 c 288 s 310 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) At the time it files an adopted rule with the code reviser or within thirty days thereafter, an agency shall place into the rule-making file maintained under RCW 34.05.370 a concise explanatory statement about the rule, identifying (a) the agency's reasons for adopting the rule, and (b) a description of any difference between the text of the proposed rule as published in the register and the text of the rule as adopted, other than editing changes, stating the reasons for change.

          (2) ((Upon the request of any interested person)) Within thirty days after adoption of a rule, the agency shall issue a concise statement of the principal reasons for overruling the considerations urged against its adoption.  The statement must state whether the considerations against the rule's adoption taken as a whole reflect the preponderant viewpoint.  If the rule overrules the preponderant viewpoint, the agency shall attach to the statement the certification by an administrative law judge assigned to the agency that (a) there exist clear legal reasons that require the overruling; (b) there exists sufficient evidence to rebut a presumption that the preponderant viewpoint is reflective of the will of the public majority; or (c) if neither (a) nor (b) of this subsection apply, then that the rule was adopted against the preponderant viewpoint.

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