Committee Statement to Assembly, No. 5461 — Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee

Summary

A committee statement to the Assembly, No. 5461, dated March 20, 2025, in which the Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 5461. The statement says the bill would make various changes to the "Administrative Procedure Act" to alter the procedures State agencies follow when they adopt rules and regulations. Among them, the bill would extend the public comment period for rule proposals from 30 days to 60 days and require a notice of intent at least 90 days before a formal rule proposal. It would also require a public hearing on a proposal estimated to involve a substantive increase in expenditures, with a minimum threshold of $50 million in a calendar year.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

ASSEMBLY COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND
           AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

                          STATEMENT TO

                     ASSEMBLY, No. 5461

       STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                           DATED: MARCH 20, 2025

          The Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and
      Agriculture Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 5461.
          This bill would make various changes to the "Administrative
      Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) and other laws
      that supplement that act, in order to alter the procedures State agencies
      are required to follow when they adopt rules and regulations to
      implement State and federal laws. The bill would also provide for the
      payment of attorney’s fees in certain circumstances when the head of
      an agency rejects or modifies the recommended report and decision of
      an administrative law judge and the decision is overturned by a court.
          Specifically, the bill would require State agencies to make
      available for public viewing on the agency's website (1) all public
      comments received related to each rule proposal issued by the agency,
      and (2) all data sets and other information that were used by the
      agency to formulate the proposed rule. The bill would also require
      that each rule proposal be directed toward a single object, prohibiting
      agencies from bundling together unrelated rule proposals.
          The bill would extend the public comment period for rule
      proposals from 30 days to 60 days. The bill would require that the
      socio-economic impact statement for rule proposals include estimates,
      in dollars, of the proposed rule's effect on annual expenditures by the
      State, municipalities, businesses, and residents. The bill would also
      require rule proposals to include a consideration of alternatives to the
      rule proposal, with a justification for why the proposed rule is superior
      to the alternatives.
          The bill would provide that, if 50 or more commenters request a
      30-day extension to the public comment period or a public hearing for
      a proposed rule, this would constitute "sufficient public interest" for
      the purposes of section 4 of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-4) and the
      agency proposing the rule would be required to grant the extension or
      hold a public hearing, as applicable. In addition, the bill would require
      State agencies to hold a public hearing on a rule proposal if the
      proposal is estimated to involve a substantive increase in expenditures
      by the State, municipalities, businesses, or residents. The bill would
      direct each State agency to formulate standards for what constitutes a
                                    2

"substantive increase in expenditures," but would establish a minimum
threshold of $50 million in a calendar year.
    In addition, the bill would require State agencies to file a notice of
intent for each contemplated rulemaking at least 90 days prior to
issuing a formal rule proposal notification. Under current law,
agencies are authorized, but not required, to file a notice of intent. The
notice of intent is required to include a statement of either the terms or
substance of the intended action or a description of the subjects and
issues involved. The agency would be required to establish the time
when, the place where, and the manner in which interested persons
may present their views on the contemplated rule-making. The bill
would also require agencies to review and respond to petitions that
claim that one of the agency's rules is in conflict or inconsistent with
another State or federal rule. Similarly, the bill would require State
agencies to analyze their rules to verify that they do not conflict with
other State and federal rules, prior to readopting them.
    The bill would require the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to
include all public comments received, and all data and other
information used, for each rulemaking action in its online database of
rulemaking actions. The bill would also explicitly require State
agencies to provide all necessary information to the OAL for the
development of the online database. In addition, the bill would require
the OAL to update the database daily, rather than making "regular and
timely updates," as in current law.
    Finally, the bill would provide that, whenever the head of the
agency rejects or modifies the recommended report and decision of an
administrative law judge pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10 of
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-10), and the modification or rejection is
subsequently overturned by judicial review, the agency would be liable
for the plaintiff's attorneys' fees incurred in the court challenge to the
final agency decision.


File and source

File

2025-03-20_ACE_A5461_S1.pdf

Size

121,514 bytes

SHA-256

23febf852b9823b2d0d985dcfba25574dbf11827e5bd14f5587efc7f3b9ebe09

Our copy

2025-03-20_ACE_A5461_S1.pdf

Original

No public link identified.