(a)  Unless the record is exempt from disclosure under law of this state other than this chapter, an agency shall publish and make available for public inspection, and on request and for a reasonable charge, make available through regular or electronic mail:

(1)  Each notice of a proposed rulemaking under § 42-35-2.7;

(2)  Each rule filed under this chapter;

(3)  Each summary of regulatory analysis required by § 42-35-2.9;

(4)  Each declaratory order issued under § 42-35-8;

(5)  The index of declaratory orders prepared under § 42-35-8;

(6)  Each guidance document issued under § 42-35-2.12;

(7)  The index of currently effective guidance documents prepared under § 42-35-2.12;

(8)  Each final order in a contested case issued under § 42-35-12.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-2.2

  • agency: means a state agency, authority, board, bureau, commission, department, district, division, institution, office, officer, quasi-public agency, or other political subdivisions created by the general assembly or the governor, other than the legislature or the judiciary, that is authorized by law of this state to make rules or to determine contested cases. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Contested case: means a proceeding, including but not restricted to, ratemaking, price fixing, and licensing, in which the legal rights, duties, or privileges of a specific party are required by law to be determined by an agency after an opportunity for hearing. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Final rule: means a rule promulgated under § 42-35-2. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Guidance document: means a record of general applicability developed by an agency which lacks the force of law but states the agency's current approach to, or interpretation of, law or describes how and when the agency will exercise discretionary functions. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Index: means a searchable list in a record of subjects and titles with page numbers, hyperlinks, or other connectors that link each index entry to the text to which it refers. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Order: means the whole or a part of a final disposition, whether affirmative, negative, injunctive, or declaratory in form, of a contested case. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Reasonable charge: means the lowest, customary charge for a service. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Rule: means the whole or a part of an agency statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy or the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency and has the force of law. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1
  • Website: means a website on the internet or other similar technology or successor technology that permits the public to search a database that archives materials required to be published or exhibited by the secretary of state or an agency under this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 42-35-1

(b)  All documents in this section must be published on the agency website by December 31, 2018, and maintained on the website thereafter.

(c)  An agency shall file with the secretary of state, in a format acceptable to the secretary of state:

(1)  Notice of a proposed rulemaking;

(2)  A summary of the regulatory analysis required by § 42-35-2.9 for each proposed rule;

(3)  Each final rule;

(4)  An index of currently effective guidance documents under § 42-35-2.12; and

(5)  Any other notice or matter that an agency is required to publish under this chapter.

History of Section.
P.L. 2001, ch. 61, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 203, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 206, § 2.