Regulation Reform Pilot Program
Chapters 444 and 445 of the 2018 Acts of Assembly established a three-year regulatory reduction pilot program to be administered by the Department of Planning and Budget (DPB).
This legislation identifies two pilot agencies (the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, and the Department of Criminal Justices Services) and requires them to develop a baseline regulatory catalog, report their catalog data to DPB by July 1, 2018, and reduce or streamline their regulatory requirements. (See Pilot Agency Catalogs.)
A baseline regulatory catalog lists each section of the Virginia Administrative Code that applies to an agency, along with all regulatory requirements identified by the agency and the authority and/or mandate for each requirement. The authority for a requirement is the legal basis that allows the agency or board to promulgate the requirement. A mandate is the legal directive that directs the agency or board to do so.
This legislation also requires all other executive branch agencies that are subject to the Administrative Process Act (APA) (Virginia Code § 2.2-4000 et seq) to develop a baseline regulatory catalog and report their catalog data to DPB by July 1, 2020. (See Other Executive Branch Agency Catalogs.) This excludes all executive branch agencies that are exempt from the APA, as well as all non-executive branch agencies (legislative, judicial, independent). These agencies are listed in the reports by the Secretary of Finance, indicated below.
As part of the pilot program, the Secretary of Finance and DPB have additional reporting requirements. (See Additional Reporting and Tracking Requirements).
All executive branch agencies subject to the Administrative Process Act develop a baseline regulatory catalog and report their catalog data, and any specific federal or state mandates or statutory authority, to DPB.
Baseline Templates – click on the agency name below to access the template for that agency.
If a link is not provided, the baseline template is currently under revision or in development and will be included here when it is available.
As part of the pilot program, the Secretary of Finance is required to provide annual reports to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee on the progress of the pilot program. These reports are available on the General Assembly’s website at the following links:
October 1, 2019: Progress Report on the Regulatory Reduction Pilot Program. [https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2019/RD403] October 1, 2020: Progress Report on the Regulatory Reduction Pilot Program. [https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2020/RD394] August 15, 2021: Progress Report on the Regulatory Reduction Pilot Program. [https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2021/RD356]
In addition to administering the pilot program, DPB is required to track and report on the extent to which agencies comply with existing requirements to periodically review all regulations every four years. All participating agencies are required to provide to DPB a schedule listing each regulation that shall be reviewed in each of the four years. This information is provided on the Town Hall’s Periodic Reviews page.