Bill
HB 1434
HB 1434 would auto-expire rules after 10 years unless renewed by the governor; requires notice, a rule-expiration table, and agency amend/repeal within 1 year of expiration.
Status
- Introduced: November 21, 2024
- Sponsors: Reps. O'Brien, Pyle, Schreiber‑Beck; Sen. Roers
- Committee referrals / actions: Read 1st (3/11/2025), referred to State Affairs; amendments adopted during the session.
- Final disposition: Failed to pass (Second reading — yeas 0, nays 92); died at sine die adjournment.
Purpose / intent
- Establish a time‑limited lifecycle for executive branch administrative rules by creating a gubernatorially‑administered review-and‑expiration process. The bill seeks to require periodic review of rules, create automatic expiration after a set period unless renewed, and increase executive oversight and recordkeeping of rule expirations and renewals.
Key provisions
1. New statutory section (to NDCC ch. 28‑32) establishing rule expiration
- Automatic expiration: A rule "expires" on January 1 that falls ten years after the rule’s published effective date in the North Dakota Administrative Code.
- Transitional provision: For rules effective before January 1, 2026, the rule’s expiration date is to be determined by the governor.
2. Governor’s responsibilities
- Must notify the adopting agency/commission at least one year before a rule’s expiration date.
- Must organize and publish a table listing each rule and its expiration date.
- Must review each rule before it expires and may either:
- Update the expiration date for another ten years (effectively renewing it), or
- Determine the rule is expired. If the governor determines a rule is expired, the adopting agency/commission must amend or repeal the rule in accordance with the Administrative Agencies Practice Act within one year of the rule’s expiration date.
- May adopt rules to implement the expiration/review process.
- May exempt specific rules from the statute’s requirements or grant extensions to agencies.
3. Agency obligations
- Agencies/commissions must provide reports to the governor to facilitate the review process as required by the governor’s implementing rules.
4. Amendment to NDCC §28‑32‑06 (force and effect of rules)
- Adds a new ground for rules to cease having force and effect: one year after the governor determines a rule is expired under the new section (i.e., the statute recognizes expiration as a formal terminal condition for a rule’s legal force).
Who would be affected
- State agencies and commissions that adopt administrative rules (responsible for tracking, reviewing, and repromulgating rules).
- Governor’s office and staff (charged with administering, publishing, and reviewing the inventory of rules).
- Legislative Council / Legislative Council staff (publication reference — North Dakota Administrative Code).
- Regulated businesses, licensees, and the public that rely on administrative rules — potential for regulatory gaps if rules expire and are not timely renewed or repromulgated.
Procedural/timeline aspects and implications
- Ten‑year default lifespan for rules with a one‑year advance notice requirement.
- If the governor determines a rule expired, the agency has up to one year after the rule’s expiration date to amend or repeal it; until then the bill adds a specific statutory endpoint (one year after the governor’s determination) when a rule ceases to have force and effect.
- The governor can renew rules for successive ten‑year periods by resetting the expiration date.
- The measure would create administrative workload for agencies (reviews, reports, possible re‑rulemaking) and for the governor’s office (inventory maintenance and review). If not followed, it could lead to unintended gaps in regulatory authority where public programs or oversight depend on rules.
Note
- HB 1434 did not become law; it failed on second reading (0–92). The text and procedural history reflect the version considered by the Legislative Assembly.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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