Governor files bill to reform the regulatory process in gov’t

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón submitted a bill to the Legislature on Monday to amend the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act, in order to simplify and modernize the regulatory process in government agencies.

Administration Bill 107 amends Law 38-2017, which governs the adoption of regulations in the island government and seeks to establish changes to the current process to increase citizen participation, reduce administrative costs and standardize the processes for publishing and reviewing regulations.

The measure proposes the creation of the Regulations Bulletin and the Puerto Rico Code of Regulations, as centralized digital platforms for the publication of regulatory notices and the compilation of all current regulations in a single compendium.

Among the changes included in the legislation is the requirement of an estimated cost statement when a regulation has a substantial fiscal impact, affects Puerto Rico’s competitiveness compared to other jurisdictions, or impacts the private sector. In such cases, an alternative negotiated rulemaking process would be applied.

The bill also incorporates the negotiated rulemaking mechanism, through which agencies will be able to hold a structured dialogue with affected sectors before the publication of a regulation, as well as measures to reinforce compliance with the duty to periodically review existing regulations.

In addition, it establishes an expedited process for the repeal of regulations through formal notification to the Department of State, the adoption by reference of federal regulations, clear language requirements in regulations, and limits on the regulatory discretion of agencies in accordance with their enabling legislation.

The measure stipulates that citizens may request public hearings on proposed regulations and submit comments within a maximum period of 30 days, with the holding of the hearing at the discretion of the agency. The bill was developed as part of the regulatory review and government efficiency initiatives promoted under Executive Order OE-2025-009 and is now under consideration by the Legislative Assembly.