Delaware General Assembly

Signed 7/22/15

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

6/3/15

Hocker

Sen. Marshall
Reps. B. Short, Q. Johnson, Carson, Dukes, Gray, D. Short, Smyk, Spiegelman, Wilson, Yearick

Sen. Blevins, Bonini, Bushweller, Cloutier, Ennis, Hall-Long, Henry, Lavelle, Lawson, Lopez, McBride, McDowell, Peterson, Pettyjohn, Poore, Richardson, F Simpson, Sokola, Townsend
Reps. Barbieri, Baumbach, Bennett, Briggs King, Collins, Hensley, Hudson, Jaques, J. Johnson, Kenton, Kowalko, Longhurst, Matthews, Miro, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Osienski, Outten, Paradee, Peterman, Potter, Ramone, Schwartzkopf, M. Smith, K. Williams

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE REGULATORY TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2015.

The Regulatory Transparency and Accountability Act of 2015 improves Delaware’s regulatory environment for individuals and small businesses in several significant ways. First, the Act improves transparency by requiring each agency to submit a “regulatory impact statement” to the Registrar of Regulations whenever it proposes to adopt or amend certain regulations affecting individuals and/or small businesses. Among other things, each regulatory impact statement must (1) describe the purpose of the regulation; (2) identify the individuals and/or small businesses subject to it; (3) provide an estimate of the potential costs of compliance; and (4) describe any less intrusive or less costly alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the regulation. In addition, the Act further enhances transparency by requiring the Registrar of Regulations to transmit regulatory impact statements to the appropriate standing committee of the General Assembly. Further, the Act expands the definition of “small business” for purposes of the chapter of the Delaware Code relating to regulatory flexibility (Title 29, Chapter 104). The practical effect of this change is that many more small businesses will enjoy the benefits of this chapter because the “universe” of small businesses will be larger. Finally, the Act requires the adoption of Guidelines to assist agencies in fulfilling their obligations under the Act. The Guidelines must be submitted for final publication by November 15, 2015. When enacted, the Regulatory Accountability and Transparency Act is effective for all new or amended regulations submitted to the Registrar of Regulations on or after January 1, 2016.

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Takes effect upon being signed into law

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