Sec 41-1055. Economic, small business and consumer impact statement

A. The economic, small business and consumer impact summary in the preamble shall include:

1. An identification of the proposed rule making, including all of the following:

(a) The conduct and its frequency of occurrence that the rule is designed to change.

(b) The harm resulting from the conduct the rule is designed to change and the likelihood it will continue to occur if the rule is not changed.

(c) The estimated change in frequency of the targeted conduct expected from the rule change.

2. A brief summary of the information included in the economic, small business and consumer impact statement.

3. If the economic, small business and consumer impact summary accompanies a proposed rule or a proposed expedited rule, the name and address of agency employees who may be contacted to submit or request additional data on the information included in the economic, small business and consumer impact statement.

B. The economic, small business and consumer impact statement shall include:

1. An identification of the proposed rule making.

2. An identification of the persons who will be directly affected by, bear the costs of or directly benefit from the proposed rule making.

3. A cost benefit analysis of the following:

(a) The probable costs and benefits to the implementing agency and other agencies directly affected by the implementation and enforcement of the proposed rule making. The probable costs to the implementing agency shall include the number of new full-time employees necessary to implement and enforce the proposed rule. The preparer of the economic, small business and consumer impact statement shall notify the joint legislative budget committee of the number of new full-time employees necessary to implement and enforce the rule before the rule is approved by the council.

(b) The probable costs and benefits to a political subdivision of this state directly affected by the implementation and enforcement of the proposed rule making.

(c) The probable costs and benefits to businesses directly affected by the proposed rule making, including any anticipated effect on the revenues or payroll expenditures of employers who are subject to the proposed rule making.

4. A general description of the probable impact on private and public employment in businesses, agencies and political subdivisions of this state directly affected by the proposed rule making.

5. A statement of the probable impact of the proposed rule making on small businesses. The statement shall include:

(a) An identification of the small businesses subject to the proposed rule making.

(b) The administrative and other costs required for compliance with the proposed rule making.

(c) A description of the methods prescribed in section 41-1035 that the agency may use to reduce the impact on small businesses, with reasons for the agency's decision to use or not to use each method.

(d) The probable cost and benefit to private persons and consumers who are directly affected by the proposed rule making.

6. A statement of the probable effect on state revenues.

7. A description of any less intrusive or less costly alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the proposed rule making, including the monetizing of the costs and benefits for each option and providing the rationale for not using nonselected alternatives.

8. A description of any data on which a rule is based with a detailed explanation of how the data was obtained and why the data is acceptable data. An agency advocating that any data is acceptable data has the burden of proving that the data is acceptable. For the purposes of this paragraph, "acceptable data" means empirical, replicable and testable data as evidenced in supporting documentation, statistics, reports, studies or research.

C. If for any reason adequate data are not reasonably available to comply with the requirements of subsection B of this section, the agency shall explain the limitations of the data and the methods that were employed in the attempt to obtain the data and shall characterize the probable impacts in qualitative terms. The absence of adequate data, if explained in accordance with this subsection, shall not be grounds for a legal challenge to the sufficiency of the economic, small business and consumer impact statement.

D. An agency is not required to prepare an economic, small business and consumer impact statement pursuant to this chapter and is not required to file a petition pursuant to subsection E of this section for the following rule makings:

1. Initial making, but not renewal, of an emergency rule pursuant to section 41-1026.

2. Proposed expedited rule making or final expedited rule making.

E. Before filing a proposed rule with the secretary of state, an agency may petition the council for a determination that the agency is not required to file an economic, small business and consumer impact statement. The petition shall demonstrate both of the following:

1. The rule making decreases monitoring, record keeping, costs or reporting burdens on agencies, political subdivisions, businesses or persons.

2. The rule making does not increase monitoring, record keeping, costs or reporting burdens on persons subject to the proposed rule making.

F. The council shall place a petition under subsection E of this section on the agenda of its next meeting if at least four council members make such a request of the council chairperson within two weeks after the filing of the petition.

G. The preamble for a rule making that is exempt pursuant to subsection D or E of this section shall state that the rule making is exempt from the requirements to prepare and file an economic, small business and consumer impact statement.

H. The cost-benefit analysis required by subsection B of this section shall calculate only the costs and benefits that occur in this state.

I. If a person submits an analysis to the agency regarding the rule's impact on the competitiveness of businesses in this state as compared to the competitiveness of businesses in other states, the agency shall consider the analysis.