In response to a decades-long concern about regulatory activity, the federal government and many states adopted administrative procedure acts. The intent is to improve public access to agency decision-making and increase awareness of agency rules.
The document linked below lists the State of Maine Agency rulemaking liaisons who have been appointed pursuant to 5 M.R.S. sec. 8051-A:
Secretary of State posts notices of all proposed and adopted rules. Agencies, on its website, either post its own proposed and adopted rules or links to the Secretary of State's website.
Notice of each rule making proceeding is published on the Secretary of State's website 17 to 24 days prior to the public hearing or at least 30 days prior to the last date public comments may be submitted if no public hearing was scheduled.
The statutory definition (5 MRS sec. 8002 sub-sec. 9) is important because it triggers the application of the rulemaking procedures as described below. There are two parts to the definition of "rule." The first describes a "rule" in broadly inclusive terms:
If a Maine state agency plans any changes to its rule chapters during the coming year, it must file with the Secretary of State an "annual regulatory agenda" under the provisions of 5 MRS Section 8060. The filing deadline is 100 days after the end of the regular legislative session, so it varies from year to year.
Rule chapters in the Code of Maine Rules (CMR) are arranged by unique numbers which identify the department, departmental unit, and chapter. For example, 01-015 CMR Chapter 1 is Chapter 1 of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Milk Commission.
