Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 3 Sec. 845

  • Agency: means a State board, commission, department, agency, or other entity or officer of State government, other than the Legislature, the courts, the Commander in Chief, and the Military Department, authorized by law to make rules or to determine contested cases. See
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Rule: means each agency statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy and that has been adopted in the manner provided by sections 836-844 of this title. See
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.

§ 845. Effect of rules

(a) Rules shall be valid and binding on persons they affect and shall have the force of law unless amended or revised or unless a court of competent jurisdiction determines otherwise. Except as provided by subsections 842(c) and 844(e) of this title, rules shall be prima facie evidence of the proper interpretation of the matter to which they refer.

(b) No agency shall grant routine waivers of or variances from any provisions of its rules without either amending the rules or providing by rule for a process and specific criteria under which the agency may grant a waiver or variance in writing. The duration of the waiver or variance may be temporary if the rule so provides.

(c) Nothing in this chapter:

(1) allows rules to provide for penalties, fines, or imprisonment not authorized by other law;

(2) enlarges the authority of any agency to impose requirements on any member of the public; or

(3) allows an agency by rule to require permits, licenses, or fees or to define unprofessional conduct unless specifically authorized by other law.

(d) Rules adopted under this chapter shall take effect 15 days after adoption is complete or at a later time provided in the text of the rule or on its adopting page. However, an emergency rule shall take effect upon filing, or at a later time provided in the text of the rule or on its adopting page.

(e) Rules shall remain in effect until:

(1) repealed or modified by subsequent rule;

(2) limited or invalidated by a court; or

(3) repealed or modified by statute. (Added 1981, No. 82, § 6; amended 1995, No. 61, § 3; 1995, No. 186 (Adj. Sess.), § 32, eff. May 22, 1996; 1999, No. 52, § 44; 2017, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)