An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Working Group To Improve Public Understanding and Participation in the Rulemaking Process
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 2213
Committee: State and Local Government
Amends: 5 MRSA §8051-A, 5 MRSA §8052, 5 MRSA §8053, 5 MRSA §8054, 5 MRSA §8057-A

Legislative Document 
No. 2213 
H.P. 1580 
House of Representatives, February 14,2008 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Working Group 
To Improve Public Understanding and Participation in the 
Rulemaking Process 
Reported by Representative BARSTOW of Gorham for the Joint Standing Committee on 
State and Local Government pursuant to Joint Order, H.P. 1540. 
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed 
under Joint Rule 218. 
'-71jd1wJd 1/7. 7Ilac~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §8051-A, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 574, §2, is amended to read: 
§80S1-A. Appointment of liaison 
The commissioner or director of each state agency shall designate a person to serve 
as a liaison between the agency and the general public, the Legislature, the Secretary of 
State and the office of the Attorney General with respect to rulemaking. The liaison shall 
serve as a representative of the agency with respect to providing information about 
agency rules. 
The liaison shall be ~ responsible for implementing the procedural 
provisions of this subchapter. The Secretary of State shall maintain a list of all agency 
liaisons and their contact information on a publicly accessible website. 
I I 
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §8052, sub-§l, as amended by PL 1997, c. 110, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
1. Notice; public hearing. Prior to the adoption of any rule, the agency shall give 
notice as provided in section 8053 and may hold a public hearing, provided except that a 
public hearing is must be held if otherwise required by statute or requested by any 5 
interested persons or if the rule is a major substantive rule as defined in section 8071, 
subsection 2, paragraph B. 
A public meeting or other public forum held by an agency for any purpose that includes 
receiving public comments on a proposed agency rule is a public hearing and is subject to 
all the provisions of this subchapter regarding public hearings. 
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §8053, sub-§6 is enacted to read: 
6. 
Electronic publication. 
In addition to the printed publication required in 
subsection 5, the Secretary of State shall maintain a publicly accessible website for 
posting the notices of all proposed and adopted rules. The notice must include a brief 
explanation of the proposed or adopted rule. 
Departments and agencies shall post 
proposed and adopted rules in their jurisdictions on publicly accessible agency websites 
or links to the rules on the Secretary of State's website. Notice of each rule-making 
proceeding must be published on the Secretary of State's website 17 to 24 days prior to 
the public hearing on the proposed rule or at least 30 days prior to the last date on which 
views and arguments may be submitted to the agency for consideration if no public 
hearing was scheduled. 
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §8054, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1979, c. 425, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
2. Agency findings. Any emergency rule sflal.l must include, with specificity, the 
agency's findings with respect to the existence of an emergency, including any 
modifications of procedures, and such findings shall be are subject to judicial review 
under section 8058. No emergency sRall may be found to exist when the primary cause of 
the emergency is delay caused by the agency involved. 
Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §8057-A, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2007, c. 181, §6, is further 
amended to read: 
1. Preparation of rules. At the time that an agency is preparing a rule, the agency 
shall consider the goals and objectives for which the rule is being proposed, possible 
alternatives to achieve the goals and objectives and the estimated impact of the rule. The 
agency's estimation of the impact of the rule shaJ..l must be based on the information 
available to the agency and any analyses conducted by the agency or at the request of the 
agency. The agency shall establish a fact sheet that provides the citation of the statutory 
authority of the rule. In addition, the agency, to the best of its ability, shall also include in 
the fact sheet the following: 
1 
A. 
The principal reasons for the rule; 
B. 
A comprehensive but concise description of the rule that accurately reflects the 
purpose and operation of the rule; 
C. 
An estimate of the fiscal impact of the rule; and 
D. 
An analysis of the rule~; and 
E. A brief summary of the relevant information considered during the development 
of the rule. 
Sec. 6. Improve rule-making information on website. Upon the effective 
date of this Act, the Secretary of State shall begin working with the InforME Board and 
InforME, created pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 1, chapter 14, to improve 
the sorting, searchability and arrangement of rule-making information on the "maine.gov" 
website. The work required under this section must be accomplished within the existing 
resources of InforMe and the Department of the Secretary of State. 
Sec. 7. Review boards contact information posted. The Secretary of State 
shall post on a publicly accessible website the names and contact information of members 
on all Governor-appointed review boards and councils that are engaged in rulemaking. 
Sec. 8. 
Rulemaking cover sheets redesign. 
The Secretary of State shall 
redesign the so-called "MAPA-I" and "MAPA-3" cover sheet forms that are filled out by 
each department, bureau or agency when submitting proposed and adopted rules to the 
Secretary of State. 
The redesigned forms must include a summary paragraph that is 
easily identified by any member of the public interested in the rule and must be written in 
plain English that is understandable by the average citizen. 
Sec. 9. 
Improve the role of liaison between agency and public. 
The 
Secretary of State shall work with state agencies to ensure that each has designated a 
liaison between the agency and the public as required in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
5, section 8051-A. The liaison must be able to direct members of the public to staff who 
can answer queries in a timely manner. 
Sec. to. Legislative policy committee oversight and training. The Secretary 
of State shall work with the Legislative Council to improve training and orientation 
sessions for new Legislators, committee chairs and ranking minority members on 
I 
rulemaking and the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, including ideas for scheduling 
committee meetings with briefings from agency liaisons designated pursuant to the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 8051-A and reviewing the departmental regulatory 
agendas under committee jurisdictions. 
SUMMARY 
This bill implements the recommendations of the Working Group to Improve Public 
Understanding and Participation in the Rulemaking Process. 
It makes the following 
changes. 
I. The Secretary of State is required to post a list of all agency liaisons and their 
contact information on a publicly accessible website. 
2. Agencies are required to hold public hearings on all major substantive rules. 
3. The Secretary of State is required to post the notices of all proposed and adopted 
rules on a publicly accessible website. All agencies are also required to post or link to all 
proposed and adopted rules within their jurisdictions. 
4. Emergency rules must include the specific changes to procedure that resulted from 
emergency adoption. 
5. The fact sheet that is prepared by agencies when proposing rules must include a 
brief summary of the relevant information that was considered during the development of 
the rule. 
6. The Secretary of State is required to work with the InforME Board and InforME to 
improve the sorting, searchability and arrangement of rule-making information on the 
"maine.gov" website. 
7. The Secretary of State is required to publish on a publicly accessible website the 
names and contact information for members of Governor-appointed review boards and 
councils that are concerned with rulemaking. 
8. The Secretary of State is required to redesign certain cover sheet forms that are 
filled out by departments, bureaus or agencies when submitting proposed and adopted 
rules to the Secretary of State. The redesigned forms must include a summary paragraph 
that is easily identified and understood by a member of the public interested in the rule. 
9. The Secretary of State shall work with agencies to ensure that each has designated 
a liaison to the public. 
10. 
The Secretary of State shall work with the Legislative Council to improve 
training for Legislators on rulemaking and the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, 
including ideas on scheduling committee meetings with briefings from agency liaisons 
and reviewing departmental regulatory agendas.