Section 51.6. Petitions or requests for regulations

(a) Form. Petitions or requests for regulations addressed to the Commission shall be submitted in the format set forth in 1 Pa. Code § 35.18 (relating to petitions for issuance, amendment, waiver or deletion of regulations).

(b) Initial staff review.

(1) The staff will review every petition for regulations to ensure that:

(i) It is complete as required by 1 Pa. Code § 35.18.

(ii) The petition requests an action within the authority or jurisdiction of the Commission.

(iii) The petition does not conflict with applicable Commonwealth or Federal law.

(2) If the staff determines the petition is not acceptable for one of the reasons set forth in paragraph (1), it will return the petition to the petitioner together with a statement of the reason why it is not acceptable.

(c) Oral presentation. A petitioner will be given the opportunity to make a 5-minute oral presentation on a petition that the staff determines is appropriate for further consideration. The oral presentation will be scheduled for the next meeting of the Commission occurring more than 30 days after completion of the initial staff review.

(d) Commission determination. After the oral presentation, the Commission will determine whether or not to accept the petition for further review. The Commission may refuse to accept the petition when one or more of the following conditions exist:

(1) The Commission has within the previous 3 years considered the issue addressed by the petition or request.

(2) The action requested by the petitioner concerns a matter in litigation.

(3) The action is not appropriate for rulemaking by the Commission.

(4) The petition involves an issue previously considered by the Commission and it does not contain information which is new or sufficiently different to warrant reconsideration. If a petition does present new or sufficiently different information, this information must have been unavailable at the time of the Commission’s previous decision.

(e) Staff report. If the Commission accepts the petition, the staff has 180 days to prepare a report evaluating the petition and containing the staff’s recommendations for disposition. The staff may request additional time to evaluate a petition. Upon completion of the staff report, it will be sent to the petitioner who may, within 30 days, submit written comments, objections or suggestions concerning the staff report. The staff may append their response to the petitioner’s comments when forwarding the report and the comments to the Boating Advisory Board, in cases of petitions for boating regulations, or the Commission, in cases of other regulations.

(f) Boating regulations. For boating regulations, the staff will submit the petition, the staff report, the petitioner’s response, if any, and the staff response, if any, to the Boating Advisory Board for review and consideration at its next regular meeting occurring more than 30 days after the file is deemed complete. The Boating Advisory Board shall review the materials and provide advice and recommendations to the Commission as provided in section 5121(c) of the code (relating to promulgation).

(g) Commission action. The staff shall submit the petition, the staff report, the petitioner’s response, if any, the staff response, if any and, in the case of boating regulations, the advice and opinions of the Boating Advisory Board to the Commission for consideration as part of the agenda of the next regular meeting occurring more than 30 days after the file is deemed complete. The Commission will determine what action to undertake with respect to the petition at a public meeting.

The provisions of this § 51.6 adopted October 14, 1994, effective October 15, 1994, 24 Pa.B. 5231; amended March 27, 1998, effective March 28, 1998, 28 Pa.B. 1521. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (216383) to (216385).

Notation

Authority

The provisions of this § 51.6 issued under section 10 of the Sunshine Act (65 P. S. § 280); and section 506 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. § 186).