Section 5: Regulations; filing; small business impact statement
Section 5. Two attested copies of the regulations of each agency shall be filed with the state secretary together with a citation of the law by authority of which the same purport to have been issued, and together with the dates of approval by other boards or agencies if required and any other information necessary to show compliance with statutory requirements relative to issuance of such regulations. Upon receipt of agency regulations prepared in accordance with this chapter, the state secretary shall accept them for filing and endorse thereon the time and date of the filing.
No rule or regulation so filed with the state secretary shall become effective until an estimate of its fiscal effect including that on the public and private sector, for its first and second year, and a projection over the first five-year period, or a statement of no fiscal effect has been filed with said state secretary. In addition, no rule or regulation so filed, unless filed for the purposes of setting rates within the commonwealth, shall become effective until an agency has filed with the state secretary a statement considering the impact of said regulation on small business. The requirements to file small business impact statements under this section and sections 2, 3 and 5A shall be enforceable by a civil action for mandamus relief, but the sufficiency of the statement filed shall not be grounds for invalidating or staying the effect of the regulation. Said state secretary shall forthwith notify all agencies required to file rules or regulations pursuant to this section.
Prior to the adoption of a proposed regulation, an agency shall file an amended small business impact statement, which considers, without limitation, whether any of the following methods of reducing the impact of the proposed regulation on small businesses would hinder achievement of the purpose of the proposed regulation:
(1) establishing less stringent compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;
(2) establishing less stringent schedules or deadlines for compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;
(3) consolidating or simplifying compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;
(4) establishing performance standards for small businesses to replace design or operational standards required in the proposed regulation;
(5) an analysis of whether the proposed regulation is likely to deter or encourage the formation of new businesses in the commonwealth; and
(6) minimizing adverse impact on small businesses by using alternative regulatory methods.
The state secretary shall make and publish rules and regulations, not otherwise inconsistent with law, with respect to the deadlines to be met and the form to be employed by any agency in preparing and filing regulations, hearing schedules and any other materials which the secretary may require. Compliance with such rules and regulations shall be a condition precedent to the effectiveness of agency regulations.