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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 07-2084

RULES AND REGULATIONS

Title 31--INSURANCE

INSURANCE DEPARTMENT

[ 31 PA. CODE CH. 58 ]

Objections and Procedure for Hearing on Reports of Examination

[37 Pa.B. 6110]
[Saturday, November 17, 2007]

   The Insurance Department (Department) hereby deletes Chapter 58 (relating to objections and procedure for hearings on reports of examination), under the authority of sections 206, 506, 1501 and 1502 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §§ 66, 186, 411 and 412); 2 Pa.C.S. Chapters 1 and 5 (relating to general provisions; and practice and procedure); and section 905 of The Insurance Department Act of 1921 (act) (40 P. S. § 323.5).

   Notice of proposed rulemaking is omitted in accordance with section 204(3) of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240) known as The Commonwealth Documents Law (CDL) (45 P. S. § 1204(3)).

Purpose

   The purpose of this final-omitted rulemaking is to eliminate obsolete, unnecessary regulations. The regulations, adopted January 11, 1974, relate to objections and hearings on reports of examinations conducted by the Department. Section 58.2 (relating to requirements for making objections) sets forth requirements that examinees must meet when filing objections to reports of examination and § 58.3 (relating to hearing procedure) describes the procedure for hearings on objections. The sections have been superseded by section 905 of the act added December 18, 1992. In particular, section 905(b) of the act provides that an examinee may ''make a written submission or rebuttal with respect to any matters contained in the examination report.'' The currently effective process for hearings related to examination reports and written rebuttals is found in section 905(c)--(e) of the act, which provides only for a limited, investigatory hearing at the discretion of the Insurance Commissioner's (Commissioner) designee. The provisions in section 905 of the act for finalizing reports of examination through written submissions or rebuttals and a discretionary investigatory hearing are sufficient and are inconsistent with the procedure for ''objections'' set forth in the regulations, which were promulgated under a prior statutory procedure that was repealed and replaced by the procedure established by section 905 of the act. Therefore, the regulations have been superseded by section 905 of the act and are no longer necessary.

   Under section 204(3) of the CDL, notice of proposed rulemaking may be omitted if the agency finds that the notice procedures are impracticable and unnecessary. This deletion of Chapter 58 eliminates obsolete regulations that are no longer applicable to reports of examination conducted by the Department. Furthermore, public comments cannot change the obsolete status of the regulations. Accordingly, the Commissioner finds that the proposed rulemaking procedures in sections 201 and 202 of the CDL (45 P. S. §§ 1201 and 1202) are impracticable and unnecessary in this situation.

Affected Parties

   Because the regulations are obsolete, there are no parties affected by the deletion of the regulations.

Fiscal Impact

   The deletion of the regulations has no fiscal impact.

Paperwork

   The deletion of the regulations has no impact on paperwork.

Effectiveness/Sunshine Date

   This order is effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. No sunset date has been assigned because the order repeals obsolete regulations.

Contact Person

   Questions regarding the final-omitted rulemaking may be addressed to Peter J. Salvatore, Regulatory Coordinator, Insurance Department, 1326 Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, PA 17120, (717) 787-4429. Questions may also be e-mailed to psalvatore@state.pa.us or faxed to (717) 772-1969.

Regulatory Review

   Under section 5.1(c) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(c)), the Department submitted a copy of the rescission with the proposed rulemaking omitted on September 28, 2007, to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and the Chairpersons of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee and the House Insurance Committee. On the same date, the rescission was submitted to the Office of Attorney General for review and approval under the Commonwealth Attorneys Act (71 P. S. §§ 732-101--732-506).

   In accordance with section 5.1(j.2) of the Regulatory Review Act, the regulations were deemed approved by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on October 31, 2007, and deemed approved by the House Insurance Committee on October 31, 2007 under section 5.1(e). IRRC met on November 1, 2007 and approved the regulations.

Findings

   The Commissioner finds that:

   (1)  There is good cause to rescind Chapter 58, effective upon publication with the proposed rulemaking omitted. Deferral of the effective date of these regulations would be impractical and not serve the public interest. Under section 204(3) of the CDL there is no purpose to be served by deferring the effective date.

   (2)  There is good cause to forego public notice of the intention to rescind Chapter 58, because notice of the amendment under the circumstances is unnecessary and impractical under section 204(3) of the CDL because the authorizing statute was repealed, therefore, the regulations have no effect and create confusion and contradict the current statute.

Order

   The Commissioner, acting under the authority in sections 206, 506, 1501 and 1502 of The Administrative Code of 1929, orders that:

   (1)  The regulations of the Department, 31 Pa. Code Chapter 58, are amended by deleting §§ 58.1--58.3 to read as set forth in Annex A.

   (2)  The Department shall submit this order and Annex A to the Office of Attorney General and the Office of General Counsel for approval as to form and legality as required by law.

   (3)  The Department shall certify this order and Annex A and deposit them with the Legislative Reference Bureau as required by law.

   (4)  This order shall take effect upon its publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

JOEL SCOTT ARIO,   
Acting Insurance Commissioner

   (Editor's Note: For the text of the order of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission relating to this document, see 37 Pa.B. 6181 (November 17, 2007).)

   Fiscal Note: 11-155 final-omitted. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.

Annex A

TITLE 31. INSURANCE

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Subpart F. RULES OF PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 58. (Reserved)

§§ 58.1--58.3. (Reserved).

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 07-2084. Filed for public inspection November 16, 2007, 9:00 a.m.]


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