SB894,1,4 1An Act to amend 227.135 (5) and 227.19 (3) (intro.); and to create 160.07 (4m),
2227.135 (1m), 227.182 and 227.19 (3) (i) of the statutes; relating to: peer review
3of administrative rules, comments to proposed statements of scope, and review
4of proposed groundwater enforcement standards.

This bill creates an external peer review process for administrative rules.

Under the bill, an interested party may request an external peer review of a
proposed rule at any time before the proposed rule is submitted to the governor for
review. An interested party is any person who will be regulated under the proposed
rule or any person whose client, member, or customer will be regulated under the
proposed rule. The bill also provides that the Joint Committee for Review of
Administrative Rules may request an external peer review of a proposed rule or of
any agency rule that has been published in the administrative code. Under the bill,
if an agency receives a valid request for peer review of a proposed rule or of a rule that
has been published in the code, the agency must initiate the external peer review
process. A request for peer review may be made only for rules that are based on or
that rely on scientific studies, scientific or technical data, scientific methods, or other
similar scientific information. A request is valid if it objects to specific studies or
scientific or technical data, specific methods, or specific findings, conclusions, or
assumptions that the agency used in developing the rule.

The bill provides that an agency that receives a valid request for peer review
of a proposed rule may not continue promulgating the proposed rule until the peer
review process is complete. Under the bill, the external peer review process must be
completed within six months from the date on which the request for peer review was
submitted, except that the deadline for completion may be extended by an additional
six months if the initial six months is determined to not be feasible. In addition, the
bill requires peer review questions and protocols to be approved prior to use in the
peer review process by the agency and any parties requesting the peer review.

Under the bill, an agency that receives a valid request for peer review of a rule
must contract with the National Academy of Sciences, Toxicology Excellence for Risk
Assessment, or any similar independent scientific entity, or with a group of
independent scientists of comparable stature and qualifications, to conduct an
external peer review of the studies or scientific or technical data, the methods, or the
findings, conclusions, or assumptions that the agency used in developing the rule.