§ 202-a. Regulatory impact. 1. In developing a rule, an agency shall,
to the extent consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes,
consider utilizing approaches which are designed to avoid undue
deleterious economic effects or overly burdensome impacts of the rule
upon persons, including persons residing in New York state's rural
areas, directly or indirectly affected by it or upon the economy or
administration of state or local governmental agencies. Such approaches
shall include, but not be limited to, the specification of performance
standards rather than design standards.

2. Each agency shall, except as provided in subdivision five of this
section, issue a regulatory impact statement for a rule proposed for
adoption or a rule adopted on an emergency basis.

3. Each regulatory impact statement shall contain:

(a) Statutory authority. A statement analyzing the statutory authority
for the rule, including but not limited to the agency's interpretation
of the legislative objectives of such authority;

(b) Needs and benefits. A statement setting forth the purpose of,
necessity for, and benefits derived from the rule, a citation for and
summary, not to exceed five hundred words, of each scientific or
statistical study, report or analysis that served as the basis for the
rule, an explanation of how it was used to determine the necessity for
and benefits derived from the rule, and the name of the person that
produced each study, report or analysis;

(c) Costs. A statement detailing the projected costs of the rule,
which shall indicate:

(i) the costs for the implementation of, and continuing compliance
with, the rule to regulated persons;

(ii) the costs for the implementation of, and continued administration
of, the rule to the agency and to the state and its local governments;
and

(iii) the information, including the source or sources of such
information, and methodology upon which the cost analysis is based; or

(iv) where an agency finds that it cannot fully provide a statement of
such costs, a statement setting forth its best estimate, which shall
indicate the information and methodology upon which such best estimate
is based and the reason or reasons why a complete cost statement cannot
be provided;

(d) Paperwork. A statement describing the need for any reporting
requirements, including forms and other paperwork, which would be
required as a result of the rule;

(e) Local government mandates. A statement describing any program,
service, duty or responsibility imposed by the rule upon any county,
city, town, village, school district, fire district or other special
district;

(f) Duplication. A statement identifying relevant rules and other
legal requirements of the state and federal governments, including those
which may duplicate, overlap or conflict with the rule. If the statement
indicates that the rule would duplicate, overlap or conflict with any
other relevant rule or legal requirement, the statement should also
identify all efforts which the agency has or will undertake to resolve,
or minimize the impact of, such duplication, overlap or conflict on
regulated persons, including, but not limited to, seeking waivers of or
exemptions from such other rules or legal requirements, seeking
amendment of such other rules or legal requirements, or entering into a
memorandum of understanding or other agreement concerning such other
rules or legal requirements;

(g) Alternative approaches. A statement indicating whether any
significant alternatives to the rule were considered by the agency,
including a discussion of such alternatives and the reasons why they
were not incorporated into the rule;

(h) Federal standards. A statement identifying whether the rule
exceeds any minimum standards of the federal government for the same or
similar subject areas and, if so, an explanation of why the rule exceeds
such standards; and

(i) Compliance schedule. A statement indicating the estimated period
of time necessary to enable regulated persons to achieve compliance with
the rule.

4. To reduce paperwork on the agencies, an agency may:

(a) Consider a series of closely related and simultaneously proposed
rules as one rule for the purpose of submitting a consolidated
regulatory impact statement; and

(b) Submit a consolidated regulatory impact statement for any series
of virtually identical rules proposed in the same year.

5. (a) An agency may claim an exemption from the requirements of this
section for a rule that involves only a technical amendment, provided,
however, the agency shall state in the notice, prepared pursuant to
section two hundred two of this chapter, the reason or reasons for
claiming such exemption.

(b) A rule defined in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of
subdivision two of section one hundred two of this chapter shall be
exempt from the requirements of this section.

(c) A rule determined by an agency to be a consensus rule and proposed
pursuant to subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of
section two hundred two of this article shall be exempt from the
requirements of this section.

6. Each agency shall issue a revised regulatory impact statement when:

(a) the information presented in the statement is inadequate or
incomplete, provided, however, such revised statement shall be submitted
as soon as practicable to the secretary of state for publication in the
state register, provided, further, if such statement exceeds two
thousand words, the notice shall include only a summary of such
statement in less than two thousand words;

(b) a proposed rule contains any substantial revisions and such
revisions necessitate that such statement be modified. A revised
statement shall describe the reasons for such changes and shall include
any modifications in the regulatory impact statement that are necessary
as a result of such changes; or

(c) there are no substantial revisions in the proposed rule but there
are changes in the text of the rule as adopted when compared with the
text of the latest published version of the proposed rule and such
changes would necessitate that such statement be modified. A revised
statement shall describe the reasons for such changes and shall include
any modifications in the regulatory impact statement that are necessary
as a result of such changes.