Maine Revised Statutes Title 5. Administrative Procedures and Services § 8056-A. Technical assistance; annual report

1. Checklist. The Secretary of State shall establish and implement a checklist that must be completed by agencies and attached to adopted rules filed with the Secretary of State after December 31, 1989. The checklist must include the timing of filing and notices as well as other procedural requirements of this subchapter.

2. Technical assistance. The Secretary of State shall develop uniform drafting instructions for use by all agencies that propose rules under this subchapter and shall compile those instructions in a drafting manual. In addition, the Secretary of State shall provide assistance to any agency regarding the form for drafting of rules and supporting materials and the other requirements of this subchapter.

3. Report. The Secretary of State shall report to the Governor and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state and local government prior to February 1st of each year with respect to rule-making activities for the prior year. The report must include a list of all the rules that were adopted, provisionally adopted or finally adopted by agencies during that prior year, as well as state whether each rule is a routine technical or major substantive rule, whether a rule was adopted on an emergency basis and what the statutory authority is for the rule. The report must also include statistical information on agency rule-making activities and recommendations for improvements to the rule-making process. In preparing the report, the Secretary of State shall solicit comments on this subchapter from agencies and their legal counsels, the Executive Director of the Legislative Council and the public.