A. Guidance documents shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter, pursuant to this section. Guidance documents do not include agency (i) rulings and advisory opinions, (ii) forms and instructions, (iii) bulletins and legislative summaries, (iv) studies and reports, and (v) internal manuals and memoranda.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 2.2-4002.1

  • Agency: means any authority, instrumentality, officer, board or other unit of the state government empowered by the basic laws to make regulations or decide cases. See Virginia Code 2.2-4001
  • Guidance document: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 2.2-4001
  • in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • regulation: means any statement of general application, having the force of law, affecting the rights or conduct of any person, adopted by an agency in accordance with the authority conferred on it by applicable basic laws. See Virginia Code 2.2-4001
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
  • Virginia Register of Regulations: means the publication issued under the provisions of Article 6 (§ 2. See Virginia Code 2.2-4001
  • Virginia Regulatory Town Hall: means the website operated by the Department of Planning and Budget, which has online public comment forums and displays information about regulatory actions under consideration in the Commonwealth and sends this information to registered public users. See Virginia Code 2.2-4001

B. The agency that develops a guidance document shall certify that the document conforms to the definition of a guidance document in § 2.2-4101.

The guidance document shall be subject to a 30-day public comment period, to include public comment through the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall website, after publication in the Virginia Register of Regulations and prior to its effective date.

The agency shall provide notice of the opportunity for public comment to interested parties as identified under § 2.2-4007.02 prior to the start of the 30-day public comment period.

C. If a written comment is received during a public comment period asserting that the guidance document is contrary to state law or regulation, or that the document should not be exempted from the provisions of this chapter, the effective date of the guidance document by the agency shall be delayed for an additional 30-day period. During this additional period, the agency shall respond to any such comments in writing by certified mail to the commenter or by posting the response electronically in a manner consistent with the provisions for publication of comments on regulations provided in this chapter. Any person who remains aggrieved after the effective date of the final guidance document may avail himself of the remedies articulated in Article 5 (§ 2.2-4025 et seq.).

2018, c. 820.

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