NY State Admin Pro Act § 102 (2021)
2021 New York Laws SAP - State Administrative Procedure Act Article 1 - General Provisions 102 - Definitions.

§ 102. Definitions. As used in this chapter,   1. "Agency" means any department, board, bureau, commission, division, office,  council, committee or officer of the state, or a public benefit corporation or public  authority  at  least  one  of  whose  members  is appointed  by  the  governor, authorized by law to make rules or to make final decisions in adjudicatory proceedings but shall  not  include  the governor,  agencies  in  the legislative and judicial branches, agencies created by interstate compact or international agreement,  the  division of   military   and  naval  affairs  to  the  extent  it  exercises  its responsibility for military and naval affairs,  the  division  of  state police,  the  identification  and  intelligence  unit of the division of criminal justice services, the state insurance  fund,  the  unemployment insurance  appeal  board,  and except for purposes of subdivision one of section two hundred two-d of this  chapter,  the  workers'  compensation board  and  except  for  purposes  of  article  two of this chapter, the department of corrections and community supervision.   2. (a) "Rule" means (i) the whole or part of  each  agency  statement, regulation  or  code of general applicability that implements or applies law, or prescribes a fee charged  by  or  paid  to  any  agency  or  the procedure   or  practice  requirements  of  any  agency,  including  the amendment,  suspension  or  repeal  thereof  and  (ii)  the   amendment, suspension,  repeal,  approval, or prescription for the future of rates, wages, security authorizations, corporate  or  financial  structures  or reorganization  thereof,  prices,  facilities,  appliances,  services or allowances therefor or of valuations, costs or accounting, or  practices bearing  on  any  of  the  foregoing  whether  of  general or particular applicability.  (b) Not included within paragraph (a) of this subdivision are:  (i) rules concerning the internal management of the  agency  which  do not  directly  and  significantly  affect the rights of or procedures or practices available to the public;  (ii) rules relating to the use of public works, including streets  and highways, when the substance of such rules is indicated to the public by means of signs or signals;  (iii)  rulings  issued  under  section two hundred four or two hundred five of this chapter;  (iv) forms and instructions, interpretive statements and statements of general policy which in themselves have no legal effect but  are  merely explanatory;  (v)  rules  promulgated  to  implement  agreements pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law;  (vi) rates of interest prescribed by the superintendent  of  financial services pursuant to section fourteen-a of the banking law;  (vii)  rules  relating  to  the  approval or disapproval of subscriber rates contained in an application  to  the  public  service  commission, after  public  hearing and approval by the applicable municipality for a certificate of confirmation or an amendment to a franchise agreement;  (viii) state equalization rates, class  ratios,  special  equalization rates  and  special equalization ratios established pursuant to the real property tax law;  (ix)  rates  subject  to  prior  approval  by  the  superintendent  of financial  services  or to section two thousand three hundred forty-four of the insurance law;  (x) any  regulation  promulgating  an  interim  price  and  any  final marketing  order  made  by  the  commissioner of agriculture and markets pursuant to section two hundred fifty-eight-m  of  the  agriculture  and markets law;  (xi) any fee which is:  (1) set by statute;  (2) less than one hundred dollars;  (3)  one  hundred  dollars  or  more and can reasonably be expected to result in an annual aggregate collection of not more than  one  thousand dollars;  (4)  established through negotiation, written agreement or competitive bidding, including, but not  limited  to,  contracts,  leases,  charges, permits for space use, prices, royalties or commissions; or  (5)  a charge or assessment levied by an agency upon another agency or by an agency upon another unit of state government.  (xii) changes in a schedule filed by a telephone  corporation  subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission;  (xiii)  rules  relating  to  requests  for  authority  by  a telephone corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission under sections ninety-nine, one hundred  and  one  hundred  one  of  the public  service  law and by a public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission under section one hundred seven of  the public service law;  (xiv)  any regulation comprised solely of one or more additions to the list of nonprescription drugs reimbursable under  the  medicaid  program pursuant  to  paragraph (a) of subdivision four of section three hundred sixty-five-a of the social services law.   3. "Adjudicatory proceeding" means any activity which is  not  a  rule making  proceeding  or an employee disciplinary action before an agency, except  an  administrative  tribunal  created  by  statute  to  hear  or determine  allegations of traffic infractions which may also be heard in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, in which  a  determination  of  the legal  rights, duties or privileges of named parties thereto is required by law to be made only on a  record  and  after  an  opportunity  for  a hearing.   4.  "License"  includes  the  whole  or  part  of  any  agency permit, certificate,  approval,  registration,  charter,  or  similar  form   of permission required by law.   5.  "Licensing"  includes  any  agency  activity respecting the grant, denial, renewal, revocation, suspension, annulment, withdrawal,  recall, cancellation or amendment of a license.   6.   "Person"   means   any   individual,   partnership,  corporation, association, or public or private organization of  any  character  other than  an  agency  engaged  in  the  particular  rule making, declaratory ruling, or adjudication.   7. "Party" means any person or agency named or admitted as a party  or properly seeking and entitled as of right to be admitted as a party; but nothing  herein  shall  be construed to prevent an agency from admitting any person or agency as a party for limited purposes.   8. "Small business" means any  business  which  is  resident  in  this state, independently owned and operated, and employs one hundred or less individuals.   9. "Substantial revision" means any addition, deletion or other change in the text of a rule proposed for adoption, which materially alters its purpose,  meaning  or  effect,  but  shall  not include any change which merely defines or clarifies such text and does not materially alter  its purpose,  meaning  or  effect.  To  determine  if  the revised text of a proposed rule contains a substantial revision, the revised text shall be compared to the text of the rule for which a  notice  of  proposed  rule making  was  published  in  the  state register; provided, however, if a notice of revised rule making was  previously  published  in  the  state register,  the  revised  text  shall be compared to the revised text for which the most recent notice of revised rule making was published.    10. "Rural area" means those portions  of  the  state  so  defined  by subdivision  seven  of  section four hundred eighty-one of the executive law.   11.  "Consensus  rule" means a rule proposed by an agency for adoption on an expedited basis pursuant to the  expectation  that  no  person  is likely  to  object  to  its  adoption  because  it  merely  (a)  repeals regulatory provisions which are no longer applicable to any person,  (b) implements or conforms to non-discretionary statutory provisions, or (c) makes technical changes or is otherwise non-controversial.   13.  "Data"  means written information or material, including, but not limited to, statistics or measurements used as the basis for  reasoning, calculations or conclusions in a study.   14.  "Guidance  document"  means  any guideline, memorandum or similar document prepared by an agency  that  provides  general  information  or guidance to assist regulated parties in complying with any statute, rule or other legal requirement, but shall not include documents that concern only the internal management of the agency or declaratory rulings issued pursuant to section two hundred four of this chapter.