Well, . . . no. No matter what the Division of Administrative Rules’ rule says, seven days is not the same as eight days.
During the 2006 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 316. Among other things, H.B. 316 inserted a comment consideration period between the end of the public comment period and the first possible effective date. Based on its initial reading of the law, the Division determined that this period must be seven complete days. Therefore, it wrote its rule (filed as an emergency rule effective 4/15/2006 through 8/13/2006) to permit an agency to make a rule effective on the eighth day following the end of the public comment period.
Subsequently, as the Division was making programming changes to its filing application, staff rechecked the statute. At that point, the Division determined that the statute permits a rule to be made effective on the seventh day following comment. The Division confirmed this interpretation with counsel.
This fall, the Division will file a proposed rule that will bring the rule into compliance with the statute. Questions or comments about the rule should be directed to Ken Hansen (801-538-3777).