Adoption of Permanent Rules
An agency intending to adopt, amend, or repeal a rule must publish a notice of text in the North Carolina Register. The notice must include the text of the proposed rule, a short explanation of the reason for the proposed rule, a citation to the law that gives the agency the authority to adopt the rule, the proposed effective date of the rule, the date, time, and place of any public hearing schedule on the rule or instructions on how a person may demand a public hearing on a proposed rule if the notice does not schedule a public hearing on the proposed rule, the period of time during which and the person to whom written comments may be submitted on the proposed rule, if a fiscal note has been prepared for the rule, a statement that a copy of the fiscal note can be obtained from the agency, and the procedure by which a person can object to a proposed rule and the requirements for subjecting a proposed rule to the legislative review process.
An agency must hold a public hearing on a rule it proposes to adopt if the agency publishes the text of the proposed rule in the North Carolina Register and the agency receives a written request for a public hearing on the proposed rule within 15 days after the notice of text is published. The agency must accept comments at the public hearing on both the proposed rule and any fiscal note that has been prepared in connection with the proposed rule. An agency may hold a public hearing on a proposed rule and fiscal note in other circumstances. When an agency is required to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule or decides to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule when it is not required to do so, the agency must publish in the North Carolina Register a notice of the date, time, and place of the public hearing. The hearing date of a public hearing held after the agency publishes notice of the hearing in the North Carolina Register must be at least 15 but not later than 60 days after the date the notice is published. If notice of a public hearing has been published in the North Carolina Register and that public hearing has been cancelled, the agency must publish notice in the North Carolina Register at least 15 days prior to the date of any rescheduled hearing.
An agency must accept comments on the text of a proposed rule that is published in the North Carolina Register and any fiscal note that has been prepared in connection with the proposed rule for at least 60 days after the text is published or until the date of any public hearing held on the proposed rule, whichever is longer. An agency must consider fully all written and oral comments received.
When final action is taken, the adopting agency must file the rule with the Rules Review Commission (RRC) within 30 days of the adoption. After approval by RRC, the adopted rule becomes effective on the first day of the month following the month the rule is approved by the Commission, unless the rule is subjected to legislative review, pursuant G.S. 150B-21.3(b1) and (b2), or the agency requests a delayed effective date.