The Connecticut Administrative Procedure Act is found in Title 4, Chapter 54, of the Connecticut Annotated Statutes. In Connecticut administrative procedure act is called the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (“Act”). According to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-167, an agency can make regulations and it will be enforceable against any person or party only if:
- it is made available for public inspection;
- the regulation or notice of adoption is published in the Connecticut Law Journal.
According to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-168, an agency before adopting a proposed regulation must give a thirty days’ notice by publishing it in the Connecticut Law Journal. The notice must contain the following:
- Detailed description of the proposed regulation;
- Purposes of the proposed regulation;
- When, where and how interested parties can obtain a copy of the small business impact and regulatory flexibility analyses;
- When, where and how interested parties can present their views on the proposed regulation;
- A mention to the statutory authority for the proposed regulation.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-168 b provides that an agency must maintain a regulation-making record. The regulation-making record must contain:
- Copies of all publication in Connecticut Law Journal concerning the regulation;
- A copy of any written scrutiny prepared for the regulation proceeding;
- Official transcript, tape recording or stenographic record of regulation proceedings;
- Copy of all official documents concerning the proposed regulation;
- All written petitions, requests, submissions, and comments received and considered by the agency in connection with the formulation, proposal or adoption of the regulation or regulation proceeding;
- Copy of any petition for regulation;
- Copies of all comments or communications between the agency and the legislative regulation review committee.
According to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-169, an adoption, amendment or repeal of a regulation will be effective only after getting approval from the attorney general or any person designated by the attorney general. But attorney general’s review of the regulation is limited to the legal sufficiency of that regulation. Legal sufficiency means lack of conflict with other general statutes, federal law or the constitution of Connecticut or of the U.S. There should also be proper compliance with the notice and hearing requirements.
According to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-170, every regulation is kept before the legislative regulation review committee for approval. As per section 170b if agency failed to submit a regulation before the committee, it must be re-submitted before the committee before December first of each year along with the reason why it was not timely submitted.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-174 permits any person to file a petition in an agency for promulgation, amendment and repeal of a regulation. Within thirty days after receiving the petition, an agency can either initiate regulation-making proceedings or can deny the petition in writing stating the reasons for denial.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-175 provides that an interested person can seek for declaratory judgment before a superior court. Declaratory judgment can be sought if a regulation, final decision or threatened application interferes with or injures those persons’ legal rights or privileges and the concerned agency failed to take any action within sixty days of filing of a petition for a declaratory ruling.
According to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-179, a final decision adverse to a party must not be rendered unless the proposed final decision is served upon the parties, and opportunity is given to them to file exceptions, present briefs and oral argument before the members of the agency who will render the final decision.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-183 provides that any person exhausted with all administrative remedies available within the agency and is aggrieved by agency’s final decision can appeal to the superior court. According to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4-184, an aggrieved party can obtain review of the superior court’s decision from an appellate court.
