2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 33 - Human Services › Chapter 59 - Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children [Contingently Enacted] › § 5911. Rulemaking functions of the Interstate Commission [Contingently enacted]

§ 5911. Rulemaking functions of the Interstate Commission [Contingently enacted]
(a) The Interstate Commission shall promulgate and publish rules in order to effectively and efficiently achieve the purposes of the Compact.
(b) Rulemaking shall occur pursuant to the criteria set forth in this article and the bylaws and rules adopted pursuant thereto. Such rulemaking shall substantially conform to the principles of the “Model State Administrative Procedures Act,” 1981 Act, Uniform Laws Annotated, Vol. 15, p.1 (2000), or such other administrative procedure acts as the Interstate Commission deems appropriate consistent with due process requirements under the U.S. Constitution as now or hereafter interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court. All rules and amendments shall become binding as of the date specified, as published with the final version of the rule as approved by the Interstate Commission.
(c) When promulgating a rule, the Interstate Commission shall, at a minimum do all of the following:
(1) publish the proposed rule’s entire text stating the reason or reasons for that proposed rule;
(2) allow and invite any and all persons to submit written data, facts, opinions, and arguments, which information shall be added to the record, and be made publicly available; and
(3) promulgate a final rule and its effective date, if appropriate, based on input from state or local officials or interested parties.
(d) Rules promulgated by the Interstate Commission shall have the force and effect of administrative rules and shall be binding in the compacting states to the extent and in the manner provided for in this Compact.
(e) Not later than 60 days after a rule is promulgated, an interested person may file a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia or in the Federal District Court where the Interstate Commission’s principal office is located for judicial review of such rule. If the court finds that the Interstate Commission’s action is not supported by substantial evidence in the rulemaking record, the court shall hold the rule unlawful and set it aside.
(f) If a majority of the legislatures of the member states rejects a rule, those states may, by enactment of a statute or resolution in the same manner used to adopt the Compact, cause that such rule shall have no further force and effect in any member state.
(g) The existing rules governing the operation of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children superseded by this subchapter shall be null and void no less than 12, but no more than 24 months after the first meeting of the Interstate Commission created hereunder, as determined by the members during the first meeting.
(h) Within the first 12 months of operation, the Interstate Commission shall promulgate rules addressing the following:
(1) transition rules;
(2) forms and procedures;
(3) timelines;
(4) data collection and reporting;
(5) rulemaking;
(6) visitation;
(7) progress reports and supervision;
(8) sharing of information and confidentiality;
(9) financing of the Interstate Commission;
(10) mediation, arbitration, and dispute resolution;
(11) education, training, and technical assistance;
(12) enforcement; and
(13) coordination with other interstate compacts.
(i) Upon determination by a majority of the members of the Interstate Commission that an emergency exists:
(1) The Interstate Commission may promulgate an emergency rule only if it is required to:
(A) protect the children covered by this Compact from an imminent threat to their health, safety, and well-being; or
(B) prevent loss of federal or state funds; or
(C) meet a deadline for the promulgation of an administrative rule required by federal law.
(2) An emergency rule shall become effective immediately upon adoption, provided that the usual rulemaking procedures provided hereunder shall be retroactively applied to said rule as soon as reasonably possible but not later than 90 days after the effective date of the emergency rule.
(3) An emergency rule shall be promulgated as provided for in the rules of the Interstate Commission. (Contingently added 2021, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)