New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 1 - ADMINISTRATIVE LAW › Chapter 30 - RULES FOR AGENCY RULEMAKING › Subchapter 5 - PROPOSAL PROCEDURE › Section 1:30-5.7 - Negotiating a rule

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) When an agency desires to negotiate the
				language of a rulemaking, the agency may voluntarily seek the assistance of the
				OAL in accordance with the following provisions. The procedure to negotiate a
				rule established in this section is separate and apart from any methods an
				agency may utilize to conduct a pre-proposal proceeding.
(b) An agency wishing to negotiate a notice
				of proposal shall submit a written request to the Division of Administrative
				Rules, together with a summary of the subject matter; the problem and purpose
				that the agency contemplates addressing; a list of the interests affected; and
				the suggested representatives (negotiating team) of these interests.
(c) Each agency and interest group shall have
				one representative.
(d) A
				negotiation team shall be composed of no more than 10 members, including the
				OAL representative.
(e) The
				Division of Administrative Rules shall review the request, contact the agency
				and representative(s) of interest groups, if needed, and then determine whether
				the subject matter is feasible to negotiate (that is, appropriate for
				non-adversarial fact-finding and consensus); the interests involved are clearly
				defined; representatives of the interests are sufficiently diverse; and that
				each representative is accountable to his or her interest group.
(f) Once the Division of Administrative Rules
				has determined that negotiations should commence, a notice of rule negotiation
				shall appear in the New Jersey Register. The notice shall identify the subject
				matter, interests, participants in the negotiation, and the OAL representative.
				Any interested party who is not heretofore represented on the negotiation team
				may file a petition for participation with the OAL representative.
(g) The petition for participation shall be
				in the form of a letter addressed to the OAL representative, which outlines the
				petitioner's interests, and why they are not represented by the current
				composition of the negotiating team. The petition shall be received by the OAL
				no later than 10 days after the notice of negotiation appears in the Register.
				The OAL representative will then determine within five business days of receipt
				of the petition whether to include the petitioner.
(h) The OAL representative shall convene the
				negotiation team within 20 days of notice of negotiation in the Register. The
				negotiation shall be completed within 10 days of commencement of same, unless
				all participants agree to continue.
(i) The OAL representative will provide all
				participants with a final version of a negotiated rule in the form required by
				1:30-5.1 within 10 days of the
				completion of the negotiations.
(j)
				The agency shall either propose the rules negotiated or notify the OAL and all
				representatives that it rejects the negotiation within 30 days or such further
				period as agreed between the OAL Director and the head of the agency that had
				requested the negotiation.
(k) If,
				after 60 days from the commencement of the negotiation, no negotiated rule has
				been approved, the OAL representative may terminate the negotiation and disband
				the negotiating team. A notice of this action shall appear in the next
				available Register.