Rhode Island General Laws Title 42. State Affairs and Government § 42-35-3.2. Incorporation by reference

(a) An agency may incorporate the following by reference in its rules without publishing the incorporated material in full:

(b) For the purposes of subdivision (a)(3) of this section, “ nationally recognized scientific or technical association or organization” means an association or organization that is regularly in the business of developing scientific or technical standards or guidelines, is recognized by those in the relevant professional community as having a high degree of expertise and competence in its field, and whose publications are widely distributed and easily available throughout the nation and the state of Rhode Island.

(c) An agency may incorporate by reference the material set forth in subsection (a) of this section only if the issuing agency, organization, or association makes copies of the material available to the public. An agency may not incorporate any material by reference unless the material has been properly identified in the notice of proposed rule-making pursuant to § 42-35-3.

(d) The reference to any incorporated material shall identify the incorporated material by appropriate agency, organization, or association and by date, title, or citation. The reference shall also state that the rule does not include later amendments to or editions of the incorporated material.

(e) If an agency proposes to incorporate any material by reference in a state rule, the agency shall maintain a copy of the material and shall allow public inspection of the material and provide copies of any non-copyrighted material to the public at cost upon request beginning no later than the date of publication of the notice of proposed rule-making. If any material to be incorporated by reference has been copyrighted, the agency shall upon request provide information about the publisher and the citation to the material.