Office of Information Practices

S Memo 15-1
October 29, 2014
Meeting Notice for Proposed Rules

Act 68, 2014 Hawaii Session Laws, amended the Sunshine Law to allow boards to describe proposed rules as agenda items with statements that the rules can be reviewed in person and online in accordance with the notice provisions for rulemaking found in sections 91-3(a)(1)(A) and 91-2.6, HRS. With respect to online notice, section 91-2.6 requires state agencies to provide its proposed rules on the Office of the Lt. Governor’s (OLG) website.

The Small Business Regulatory Review Board (SBRRB) asked for an opinion as to whether this Act’s new notice provision applied to its review of other agencies’ draft rules. OIP explained that the Sunshine Law’s notice provisions, including the one added in Act 68, apply to all boards under the Sunshine Law, including SBRRB. Thus, to provide online notice in accordance with Act 68, the draft rules must be available for viewing on the OLG website. If the draft rules are not available for viewing on the OLG website, then SBRRB must follow the Sunshine Law’s normal requirement to list in its agenda all of the items to be considered. To ensure that SBRRB can meet Act 68’s online notice requirement without having to develop a list of all items to be considered, OIP recommended that the agencies be advised to make their rules available on the OLG website at the time that they forward draft rules for SBRRB’s review.