Florida Senate - 2012                                    SB 1084
       
       
       
       By Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       
       40-01075-12                                           20121084__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to administrative procedures; amending
    3         s. 120.55, F.S.; revising provisions with respect to
    4         the revision and publication of the Florida
    5         Administrative Code to provide that the Department of
    6         State is not required to publish a printed version of
    7         the code but may contract with a publishing firm for a
    8         printed publication; providing that the electronic
    9         version of the code is the official compilation of the
   10         administrative rules of the state; providing for
   11         adopted rules and material incorporated by reference
   12         to be filed in electronic forms; renaming the “Florida
   13         Administrative Weekly” as the “Florida Administrative
   14         Register”; requiring a continuous revision and
   15         publication of the Florida Administrative Register on
   16         an Internet website managed by the Department of
   17         State; revising content and website search
   18         requirements; deleting a requirement to provide
   19         printed copies of the Florida Administrative Register
   20         to certain federal and state entities; providing a
   21         directive to the Division of Statutory Revision;
   22         providing an effective date.
   23  
   24  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   25  
   26         Section 1. Section 120.55, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   27  read:
   28         120.55 Publication.—
   29         (1) The Department of State shall:
   30         (a)1. Through a continuous revision and publication system,
   31  compile and publish electronically, on an Internet website
   32  managed by the department, the “Florida Administrative Code.”
   33  The Florida Administrative Code shall contain all rules adopted
   34  by each agency, citing the grant of rulemaking authority and the
   35  specific law implemented pursuant to which each rule was
   36  adopted, all history notes as authorized in s. 120.545(7),
   37  complete indexes to all rules contained in the code, and any
   38  other material required or authorized by law or deemed useful by
   39  the department. The electronic code shall display each rule
   40  chapter currently in effect in browse mode and allow full text
   41  search of the code and each rule chapter. The department shall
   42  publish a printed version of the Florida Administrative Code and
   43  may contract with a publishing firm for a such printed
   44  publication; however, the department shall retain responsibility
   45  for the code as provided in this section. Supplementation of the
   46  printed code shall be made as often as practicable, but at least
   47  monthly. The electronic printed publication shall be the
   48  official compilation of the administrative rules of this state.
   49  The Department of State shall retain the copyright over the
   50  Florida Administrative Code.
   51         2. Rules general in form but applicable to only one school
   52  district, community college district, or county, or a part
   53  thereof, or state university rules relating to internal
   54  personnel or business and finance shall not be published in the
   55  Florida Administrative Code. Exclusion from publication in the
   56  Florida Administrative Code shall not affect the validity or
   57  effectiveness of such rules.
   58         3. At the beginning of the section of the code dealing with
   59  an agency that files copies of its rules with the department,
   60  the department shall publish the address and telephone number of
   61  the executive offices of each agency, the manner by which the
   62  agency indexes its rules, a listing of all rules of that agency
   63  excluded from publication in the code, and a statement as to
   64  where those rules may be inspected.
   65         4. Forms shall not be published in the Florida
   66  Administrative Code; but any form which an agency uses in its
   67  dealings with the public, along with any accompanying
   68  instructions, shall be filed with the committee before it is
   69  used. Any form or instruction which meets the definition of
   70  “rule” provided in s. 120.52 shall be incorporated by reference
   71  into the appropriate rule. The reference shall specifically
   72  state that the form is being incorporated by reference and shall
   73  include the number, title, and effective date of the form and an
   74  explanation of how the form may be obtained. Each form created
   75  by an agency which is incorporated by reference in a rule notice
   76  of which is given under s. 120.54(3)(a) after December 31, 2007,
   77  must clearly display the number, title, and effective date of
   78  the form and the number of the rule in which the form is
   79  incorporated.
   80         5. The department shall allow adopted rules and material
   81  incorporated by reference to be filed in electronic form as
   82  prescribed by department rule. When a rule is filed for adoption
   83  with incorporated material in electronic form, the department’s
   84  publication of the Florida Administrative Code on its Internet
   85  website must contain a hyperlink from the incorporating
   86  reference in the rule directly to that material. The department
   87  may not allow hyperlinks from rules in the Florida
   88  Administrative Code to any material other than that filed with
   89  and maintained by the department, but may allow hyperlinks to
   90  incorporated material maintained by the department from the
   91  adopting agency’s website or other sites.
   92         (b) Electronically publish on an Internet website managed
   93  by the department a continuous revision and weekly publication
   94  entitled the “Florida Administrative Register Weekly,” which
   95  shall serve as the official Internet website for such
   96  publication and must contain:
   97         1. Notice of adoption of, and an index to, all rules filed
   98  during the preceding week.
   99         1.2. All notices required by s. 120.54(3)(a), showing the
  100  text of all rules proposed for consideration.
  101         2.3. All notices of public meetings, hearings, and
  102  workshops conducted in accordance with the provisions of s.
  103  120.525, including a statement of the manner in which a copy of
  104  the agenda may be obtained.
  105         3.4. A notice of each request for authorization to amend or
  106  repeal an existing uniform rule or for the adoption of new
  107  uniform rules.
  108         4.5. Notice of petitions for declaratory statements or
  109  administrative determinations.
  110         5.6. A summary of each objection to any rule filed by the
  111  Administrative Procedures Committee during the preceding week.
  112         7. A cumulative list of all rules that have been proposed
  113  but not filed for adoption.
  114         6.8. Any other material required or authorized by law or
  115  deemed useful by the department.
  116  
  117  The department may contract with a publishing firm for a printed
  118  publication shall publish a printed version of the Florida
  119  Administrative Register Weekly and make copies available on an
  120  annual subscription basis. The department may contract with a
  121  publishing firm for printed publication of the Florida
  122  Administrative Weekly.
  123         (c) Review notices for compliance with format and numbering
  124  requirements before publishing them on the Florida
  125  Administrative Weekly Internet website.
  126         (c)(d) Prescribe by rule the style and form required for
  127  rules, notices, and other materials submitted for filing.
  128         (e) Correct grammatical, typographical, and like errors not
  129  affecting the construction or meaning of the rules, after having
  130  obtained the advice and consent of the appropriate agency, and
  131  insert history notes.
  132         (d)(f) Charge each agency using the Florida Administrative
  133  Register Weekly a space rate to cover the costs related to the
  134  Florida Administrative Register Weekly and the Florida
  135  Administrative Code.
  136         (e)(g) Maintain a permanent record of all notices published
  137  in the Florida Administrative Register Weekly.
  138         (2) The Florida Administrative Register Weekly Internet
  139  website must allow users to:
  140         (a) Search for notices by type, publication date, rule
  141  number, word, subject, and agency.;
  142         (b) Search a database that makes available all notices
  143  published on the website for a period of at least 5 years.;
  144         (c) Subscribe to an automated e-mail notification of
  145  selected notices to be sent out before or concurrently with
  146  weekly publication of the printed and electronic Florida
  147  Administrative Register Weekly. Such notification must include
  148  in the text of the e-mail a summary of the content of each
  149  notice.;
  150         (d) View agency forms and other materials submitted to the
  151  department in electronic form and incorporated by reference in
  152  proposed rules.; and
  153         (e) Comment on proposed rules.
  154         (3) Publication of material required by paragraph (1)(b) on
  155  the Florida Administrative Register Weekly Internet website does
  156  not preclude publication of such material on an agency’s website
  157  or by other means.
  158         (4) Each agency shall provide copies of its rules upon
  159  request, with citations to the grant of rulemaking authority and
  160  the specific law implemented for each rule.
  161         (5) Any publication of a proposed rule promulgated by an
  162  agency, whether published in the Florida Administrative Register
  163  Code or elsewhere, shall include, along with the rule, the name
  164  of the person or persons originating such rule, the name of the
  165  agency head who approved the rule, and the date upon which the
  166  rule was approved.
  167         (6) Access to the Florida Administrative Register Weekly
  168  Internet website and its contents, including the e-mail
  169  notification service, shall be free for the public.
  170         (7)(a) Each year the Department of State shall furnish the
  171  Florida Administrative Weekly, without charge and upon request,
  172  as follows:
  173         1. One subscription to each federal and state court having
  174  jurisdiction over the residents of the state; the Legislative
  175  Library; each state university library; the State Library; each
  176  depository library designated pursuant to s. 257.05; and each
  177  standing committee of the Senate and House of Representatives
  178  and each state legislator.
  179         2. Two subscriptions to each state department.
  180         3. Three subscriptions to the library of the Supreme Court
  181  of Florida, the library of each state district court of appeal,
  182  the division, the library of the Attorney General, each law
  183  school library in Florida, the Secretary of the Senate, and the
  184  Clerk of the House of Representatives.
  185         4. Ten subscriptions to the committee.
  186         (b) The Department of State shall furnish one copy of the
  187  Florida Administrative Weekly, at no cost, to each clerk of the
  188  circuit court and each state department, for posting for public
  189  inspection.
  190         (7)(8)(a) All fees and moneys collected by the Department
  191  of State under this chapter shall be deposited in the Records
  192  Management Trust Fund for the purpose of paying for costs
  193  incurred by the department in carrying out this chapter.
  194         (b) The unencumbered balance in the Records Management
  195  Trust Fund for fees collected pursuant to this chapter may not
  196  exceed $300,000 at the beginning of each fiscal year, and any
  197  excess shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund.
  198         Section 2. The Division of Statutory Revision of the Office
  199  of Legislative Services is requested to prepare a reviser’s bill
  200  for the 2013 Regular Session of the Legislature to substitute
  201  the term “Florida Administrative Register” for the term “Florida
  202  Administrative Weekly” throughout the Florida Statutes.
  203         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2012.