Time Table

Pre-filing with ICAR [ 3 V.S.A. § 837]
Pre-filing with the Inter Agency Committee on Administrative Rules (ICAR) occurs 15 days before filing the Proposed rule under 3 V.S.A. § 838.

Filing: Proposed Rule [ 3 V.S.A. § 838 ]
Proposed Rule may be filed with the Office of the Secretary of State no sooner than 15 days from pre-filing the rule with ICAR.

Publishing Notice of Proposed Rules [ 3 V.S.A. § 839]
Provided statutory and regulatory requirements are met, notices of Proposed Rule filings (received no later than 3:30 p.m. on the last scheduled day of the work week) will be posted online 1 week from receipt (on the Wednesday of the week) and published in the newspapers of record 2 weeks from receipt (on the Thursday of the week), for more specific details regarding notices see: Notices of Rulemaking.

Public Hearing and Comment Period [ 3 V.S.A. § 840]
If a hearing is scheduled, it shall be held no sooner than 30 days following the posting of the rule online [3 V.S.A. § 840(a)] and written comments shall be accepted through the 7th day following the last public hearing [3 V.S.A. 840(c)].

Filing: Final Proposed Rule [ 3 V.S.A. § 841]
Final proposed filings may be submitted following the close of the public hearing and comment period. Final proposed filings are filed with both the Office of the Secretary of State and the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR).

Legislative Review Period [ 3 V.S.A. § 842]
LCAR has 30 days from the date a rule is first placed on the committee's agenda but no later than 45 days after the filing of a final proposal to take action on the rule. [3 V.S.A. § 842 (a)].

Response to LCAR when required [ 3 V.S.A. § 842]
If LCAR votes to object to a rule, the agency shall, within 14 days of receiving notice of the objection, respond in writing to the committee. [3 V.S.A. § 842(a)].

If an objection is based on the grounds that the economic impact statement fails to recognize a substantial economic impact, the committee may return the rule to the agency as unacceptable [3 V.S.A. § 842 (d)].

Once an objection has been made the review period will be suspended until the agency responds to the objection. The review period will resume upon notice of the agency's intent toward the defect [LCAR Rules of Procedure Section 4(f)].

Filing: Adopted Rule [ 3 V.S.A. § 843]
Adopted Rule filings may be made after:

1. passage of 30 days** from the date a rule is first placed on the committee's agenda or 45 days after filing of a final proposal, whichever occurs first, without receiving notice of objection from committee, or
2. receiving notice of approval from committee, or
3. responding to an objection of the committee

Effect of Rules [ 3 V.S.A. § 845]
Adopted rules shall take effect 15 days after adoption is complete or at a later time provided in the text of the rule or on its adopting page. [3 V.S.A. § 845(d)].

Emergency Rules [ 3 V.S.A. § 844]
Emergency Rules will take effect upon filing, or at a later time provided in the text of the rule or on its adopting page [3 V.S.A. § 845(d)] but shall not remain in effect for more than 120 days [3 V.S.A. § 844(b)].

** An agency shall have eight months from the date of initial filing with the Office of the Secretary of State to adopt a rule unless extended by action or request of the legislative committee.

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If you have general questions about the rulemaking process, please contact

Louise Corliss by e-mail at or by phone 802-828-2863