A process called Negotiated Regulation Making ("Neg-Reg") was authorized in statute in SLA 1998, Ch 117. The original bill, House Bill 264, has a sunset date of July 1, 2003. House Bill 34 repeals that sunset, thus allowing the Neg-Reg process to continue.

Negotiated regulation making is widely supported because it makes the regulation-writing process more applicable to reality. It allows a team of affected, interested parties to negotiate and submit recommendations BEFORE the regulations are published for public review.

The process has been used with great success, most notably in writing cruise ship regulations. Though it does involve some up-front costs to assemble the negotiating team, it saves far more money at the other end of the process by eliminating lawsuits and lengthy public appeals.

Another important advantage is that the affected industries are involved from the beginning so the resulting regulations are far more practical and enforceable.

Passage of HB 34 before the end of the 2003 legislative session will allow this valuable "Neg-Reg" process to remain in statute.

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