NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 1267
HOUSE BILL 1573

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT STUDY COMMISSION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  There is created the Administrative Procedure Act Study Commission to study the operation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the efficiency of the administrative rule making process, the feasibility of establishing a central pool of administrative hearing officers, and the publication, dissemination and review of State administrative rules.
Sec. 2.  (a) The commission shall have 15 members consisting of the following:
(1)	the Governor shall appoint four members; one of whom shall represent the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and one of whom shall represent the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners;
(2)	the President of the Senate shall appoint three members of the Senate;
(3)	the Speaker of the House shall appoint three members of the House of Representatives;
(4)	the Attorney General shall appoint two members; one of whom shall be the Administrative Law Committee Chairman of the North Carolina Bar Association;
(5)	the Chairman of the Administrative Rules Review Committee of the Legislative Research Commission; the Secretary of State, or his designee; and the Attorney General, or his designee, as ex officio members.
(b)	Appointments of members shall be filed with those offices listed in G.S.
143-47.7 by August 15, 1980. Should appointments not have been filed by that date, the appointing official shall be deemed to have waived the right to make appointments to the commission.
(c)	If a vacancy occurs in the appointive membership of the commission, it shall be filled by action of the officer who made the original appointment to the office, and the person so appointed shall serve for the remainder of the term of the member whom he succeeds.
(d)	The commission shall elect from its membership a chairman and any other officers it deems necessary.
(e)	The commission shall convene its first meeting upon the call of the Attorney General. Should vacancies exist in the commission membership through the operation of subsection (b) of this section, the commission may elect either to proceed with reduced membership or to make appointments by majority vote of the commission members to fill the vacancies from the constituencies not then represented.
Sec. 3.  The commission shall study:
(a)	the present exemption of certain agencies from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, with a view toward applying the Act more uniformly to State government operations;
(b)	the definitions set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act, particularly the definitions of "agency," "rule," and "interpretative rule," to clarify the meanings of the terms used within the Act;
(c)	alternative means by which to reduce the number of and curb the proliferation of State administrative rules;
(d)	the most efficient, effective, expeditious, and economical means of providing public notice and obtaining public input during the rule-making process of the Administrative Procedure Act;
(e)	means by which to conduct an efficient, effective and enforceable review of State administrative rules to ensure that State agencies promulgate and enforce only those rules within their statutory authority and maintain and enforce only those rules reasonably necessary to implement the agencies' public activities and programs, that State agencies enforce only those rules adopted and filed in accordance with G.S. Chapter 150A or the rule-making provisions governing the promulgating agency, and that State agencies do not abuse the emergency rule-making provisions of the Act;
(f)	the most effective, expeditious, and economical means of editing, publishing, distributing, and keeping current the Administrative Rules of the State of North Carolina, including a specific examination of a "State Register" and Administrative Code System such as those in use by other states, including Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, to the end that the public officials and citizens of the State and of its cities and counties may have reasonably convenient access to the current rules, standards, policies and procedures having the effect of law with which they are expected to comply;
(g)	the need and feasibility of creating in a single State agency a central pool of administrative hearing officers to conduct administrative hearings for all State agencies; and
(h)	other issues relevant to the Administrative Procedure Act presented to the commission by the Legislative Rules Review Committee, the Governor, or the Attorney General.
Sec. 4.  The commission shall submit reports on the subject matter of its studies, including summaries of proceedings, findings, recommendations, and appropriate suggested legislation. The initial report shall be filed with the Governor and other members of the Council of State and the members of the General Assembly not later than February 15, 1981. The commission may submit supplementary reports to the First Session of the 1981 General Assembly. The commission shall terminate at the end of fiscal year 1980-81.
Sec. 5.  Upon the request of the commission, all State and local governmental officials shall provide the commission with any information in their possession relevant to the subjects to be studied.
Sec. 6.  The Attorney General shall provide administrative and clerical assistance to the commission. The commission may engage such professional assistance as it finds necessary to the performance of its duties. Upon the commission's request, the Legislative Services Commission shall provide adequate space for meeting in the State Legislative Building between and during legislative sessions.
Sec. 7.  Members of the commission who are members of the General Assembly shall receive subsistence and travel allowances at the rate set forth in G.S. 120-3.1. Any member of the commission who is a State officer or employee shall receive travel allowances at the rate set forth in G.S. 138-6. Members of the commission who are not State officers or employees and who are not members of the General Assembly shall receive per diem compensation and travel expenses at the rate set forth in G.S. 138-5.
Sec. 8.  There is appropriated from the General Fund of the State to the commission the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the fiscal year 1980-81 to conduct the study authorized by this act.
Sec. 9.  This act shall become effective on July 1, 1980.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 25th day of June, 1980.