Section 202-B. Regulatory flexibility for small businesses

1. In developing
  a  rule,  the  agency  shall  consider  utilizing  approaches  that will
  accomplish the objectives of applicable statutes  while  minimizing  any
  adverse  economic  impact  of  the  rule  on  small businesses and local
  governments. Consistent with the objectives of applicable statutes,  the
  agency shall consider such approaches as:
    (a)   the   establishment   of   differing   compliance  or  reporting
  requirements  or  timetables  that  take  into  account  the   resources
  available to small businesses and local governments;
    (b) the use of performance rather than design standards; and
    (c)  an  exemption  from coverage by the rule, or by any part thereof,
  for small businesses and local governments so long as the public health,
  safety or general welfare is not endangered.
    2. In proposing a rule for adoption  or  in  adopting  a  rule  on  an
  emergency  basis,  the  agency  shall  issue  a  regulatory  flexibility
  analysis regarding the rule being proposed for adoption or the emergency
  rule being adopted. A copy of such analysis and any finding, and reasons
  for such finding, pursuant to subdivision three of this  section,  shall
  be submitted to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the
  speaker  of  the assembly, the office of business permits and regulatory
  assistance and the administrative regulations review commission  at  the
  time   such  analysis  is  submitted  to  the  secretary  of  state  for
  publication and, upon written request, a copy shall be sent to any other
  person. Each regulatory flexibility analysis shall contain:
    (a) a description of the types and an estimate of the number of  small
  businesses and local governments to which the rule will apply;
    (b)  a  description  of  (i)  the  reporting,  recordkeeping and other
  compliance requirements of the rule, and (ii) the kinds of  professional
  services  that a small business or local government is likely to need in
  order to comply with such requirements;
    (c) an estimate of the initial capital costs and an  estimate  of  the
  annual cost of complying with the rule, with an indication of any likely
  variation  in  such  costs  for small businesses or local governments of
  different types and of differing sizes;
    (d) an assessment of the economic  and  technological  feasibility  of
  compliance with such rule by small businesses and local governments;
    (e)  an indication of how the rule is designed to minimize any adverse
  economic impact of such rule on small businesses and local  governments,
  including  information  regarding  whether  the  approaches suggested in
  subdivision one  of  this  section  or  other  similar  approaches  were
  considered; and
    (f)  a  statement  indicating how the agency complied with subdivision
  six of this section.
    3.  (a)  This  section  shall  not  apply  to  any  rule  defined   in
  subparagraph  (ii)  of  paragraph  (a) of subdivision two of section one
  hundred two of this chapter, nor shall it apply to any rule  which  does
  not  impose  an  adverse  economic  impact  on small businesses or local
  governments and which the  agency  finds  would  not  impose  reporting,
  recordkeeping  or  other  compliance requirements on small businesses or
  local governments.  The agency's finding and the reasons upon which  the
  finding  was  made, including what measures the agency took to ascertain
  that the rule would not impose such compliance requirements, or  adverse
  economic  impact  on  small  businesses  or  local governments, shall be
  included in the rule making notice as required by  section  two  hundred
  two of this chapter.
    (b) 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.
    4.  In  order  to  avoid  duplicative action, an agency may consider a
  series of closely related rules as one rule for the purpose of complying
  with subdivision two of this section.
    5. In complying  with  the  provisions  of  subdivision  two  of  this
  section,  an  agency  may  provide  either  a  quantifiable or numerical
  description of the  effects  of  a  rule  or  more  general  descriptive
  statements if quantification is not practicable or reliable.
    6.  When  any  rule  is  proposed  for  which a regulatory flexibility
  analysis is required, the agency shall assure that small businesses  and
  local  governments  have been given an opportunity to participate in the
  rule making through such activities as:
    (a) the publication of a general notice for the proposed  rule  making
  in  publications  likely  to  be  obtained by small businesses and local
  governments of the types affected by the proposed rule;
    (b) the direct notification of interested small businesses  and  local
  governments affected by the proposed rule;
    (c)  the  conduct  of special open conferences concerning the proposed
  rule for small businesses and local governments affected  by  the  rule;
  and
    (d)  the adoption or modification of agency procedural rules to reduce
  the cost or complexity of participation in  the  rule  making  by  small
  businesses and local governments.
    7.  Each  agency shall issue a revised regulatory flexibility analysis
  when:
    (i) the information presented in the analysis  submitted  pursuant  to
  this  section  is  inadequate  or  incomplete,  provided,  however, such
  revised analysis 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;
    (ii) a proposed rule  contains  any  substantial  revisions  and  such
  revisions necessitate that such analysis be modified; or
    (iii)  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 analysis be modified.
    8. The governor's office of regulatory reform  shall  issue  quarterly
  reports  to the governor and the legislature identifying the alternative
  approaches utilized by state agencies to minimize any  adverse  economic
  impact of rules on small businesses and local governments, in accordance
  with subdivision one of this section.