CHAPTER 62
HB 1448 – FINAL VERSION
7Mar2012… 0830h
25Apr2012… 1686EBA
2012 SESSION
09/10
HOUSE BILL 1448
AN ACT requiring public access to any document and Internet content which is incorporated by reference in administrative rules.
SPONSORS: Rep. Manuse, Rock 5; Rep. S. Tremblay, Rock 3; Rep. B. Patten, Carr 4; Rep. P. Schmidt, Straf 4; Rep. Pilotte, Hills 16; Rep. C. McGuire, Merr 8; Rep. Bowers, Sull 3; Rep. L. Jones, Straf 1; Rep. Winter, Merr 3; Sen. Groen, Dist 6; Sen. White, Dist 9; Sen. Carson, Dist 14
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
This bill requires agencies to provide public access to any document and Internet content which is incorporated by reference in administrative rules.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
7Mar2012… 0830h
25Apr2012… 1686EBA
12-2270
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT requiring public access to any document and Internet content which is incorporated by reference in administrative rules.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
62:1 New Paragraph; Definition; Internet Content. Amend RSA 541-A:1 by inserting after paragraph VII-a the following new paragraph:
VII-b. “Internet content” means material that exists only on a website on the Internet.
62:2 New Paragraphs; Administrative Rules; Public Access to Documents and Internet Content Incorporated by Reference. Amend RSA 541-A:12 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraphs:
VI. Each agency shall, upon request for a copy of any document or Internet content incorporated by reference in the agency’s rules, make available for inspection any such document or downloaded Internet content.
VII. Each agency shall include the information required in subparagraph IV(b) as an appendix with each filing of the proposed or adopted rule. The agency shall make the information available to the public with a proposed or adopted rule whenever the rule is made available to or requested by the public. When the rule is published pursuant to RSA 541-A:15, the information shall be published as an appendix to the rule chapter containing the rule with a reference in the rule to the appendix. The information shall not be required to be filed on a separate page.
62:3 New Paragraph; Exception. Amend RSA 541-A:21 by inserting after paragraph VII the following new paragraph:
VIII. Rules relative to the department of health and human services medical assistance program coverage criteria for medical services and items, adopted under either RSA 161:4-a, IX or other rulemaking authority of the commissioner of the department relative to the medical assistance program, shall be exempt from RSA 541-A:12, V and may incorporate by reference these criteria as Internet content without specifying a date or edition for the content incorporated. Amendments to these criteria shall be exempt from the requirements of RSA 541-A:5 through RSA 541-A:14.
62:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: May 14, 2012
Effective Date: July 13, 2012