NOTICES
INDEPENDENT REGULATORY REVIEW COMMISSION
Notice of Comments Issued
[48 Pa.B. 5807]
[Saturday, September 15, 2018]Section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P.S. § 745.5(g)) provides that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (Commission) may issue comments within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The Commission comments are based upon the criteria contained in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P.S. § 745.5b).
The Commission has issued comments on the following proposed regulations. The agency must consider these comments in preparing the final-form regulation. The final-form regulation must be submitted within 2 years of the close of the public comment period or it will be deemed withdrawn.
Reg. No. Agency/Title Close of the Public
Comment PeriodIRRC Comments Issued 57-320 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Minimum Insurance Requirements for
Motor Carriers of Passengers
48 Pa.B. 3951 (July 7, 2018)8/6/18 9/5/18 16A-7022 State Board of Certified Real Estate
Appraisers
Federally-Mandated Revisions
48 Pa.B. 3955 (July 7, 2018)8/6/18 9/5/18
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
Regulation # 57-320 (IRRC # 3204)
Minimum Insurance Requirements for Motor Carriers of Passengers
September 5, 2018 We submit for your consideration the following comments on the proposed rulemaking published in the July 7, 2018 Pennsylvania Bulletin. Our comments are based on criteria in Section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P.S. § 745.5b). Section 5.1(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P.S. § 745.5a(a)) directs the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to respond to all comments received from us or any other source.
Section 32.11. Passenger carrier insurance.—Reasonableness; Need; Fiscal impact; Less costly or less intrusive method of achieving the goal of the regulation for small businesses; implementation procedures.
This proposed rulemaking will increase the amount of liability insurance a common or contract carrier of passengers (carriers) must maintain on each vehicle capable of transporting fewer than 16 passengers from $35,000 to $125,000 to cover liability for bodily injury, death or property damage incurred in an accident arising from authorized service.
The PUC has explained that the increase ''will ensure that the public is adequately protected in the event of an accident while not imposing an insurmountable burden on passenger carriers operating smaller vehicles.'' In support of this proposal, the PUC reviewed the minimum insurance requirements in other jurisdictions and concluded that the current minimum of $35,000 is too low. The PUC also asserts that the increase will bring these minimum insurance requirements in line with requirements for transportation network companies (TCNs) in Pennsylvania.
As the PUC prepares the final-form rulemaking, we ask that the following questions and concerns be addressed. First, we acknowledge that existing minimum liability amounts are lower than those of other states, TCNs and federal requirements. How do the minimum liability amounts compare to the amounts required for carriers that operate under the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia Parking Authority? This information will assist this Commission in determining the reasonableness of the proposed regulation.
Second, a commentator has asked if the existing rates have caused any problems or are inadequate for the riding public. Does the PUC have data that demonstrates the inadequacy of the existing rates?
Third, a commentator is concerned that the proposed increase could force some carriers out of business and also raise rates for the riding public. Of particular concern are small and rural carriers that do not have the volume of rides that larger and urban carriers have on a regular basis. A less costly or less intrusive alternative for achieving the goal of the regulation could be to phase in the increase over a period of time. This would lessen the immediate fiscal impact that carriers would experience. We ask the PUC to consider this approach as it develops the final-form rulemaking. In addition, we ask the PUC to quantify and consider the potential increase in price for the riding public.
Fourth, Question 29 of the Regulatory Analysis Form (RAF) indicates that the effective date of the new requirement is when the final rulemaking is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. We question if this implementation schedule is reasonable. Has the PUC considered providing a later effective date to allow carriers to obtain the additional insurance coverage? If the PUC wants to require compliance upon publication of the final rulemaking, we ask the PUC to explain what steps will be taken to ensure the carriers have sufficient time to meet the new requirements.
Finally, the PUC states in the RAF and Preamble that existing Form-E is used to certify compliance with minimum liability insurance requirements. How will the PUC ensure that carriers are meeting the new minimum liability insurance requirements? Will a new or amended Form-E have to be filed with the PUC once additional insurance coverage is obtained? We ask the PUC to explain how it will implement the new requirement as it pertains to compliance.
State Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers Regulation # 16A-7022 (IRRC # 3205)
Federally-Mandated Revisions
September 5, 2018 We submit for your consideration the following comments on the proposed rulemaking published in the July 7, 2018 Pennsylvania Bulletin. Our comments are based on criteria in Section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (RRA) (71 P.S. § 745.5b). Section 5.1(a) of the RRA (71 P.S. § 745.5a(a)) directs the State Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers (Board) to respond to all comments received from us or any other source.
1. Section 36.11. Qualifications for certification as residential real estate appraiser. Section 36.12. Qualifications for certification as general real estate appraiser.—Protection of public health, safety and welfare; Reasonableness of requirements.
In the Preamble, the Board states that it proposes to maintain its current requirement in Section 36.11(e)(2) that at least 50 percent of the total number of hours of the experience acquired by the applicant shall be in the actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports. The Board states that this provision is not required by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB), but the Board ''continues to believe that appraisal report writing is a critical component of experience and thus has determined that this requirement is appropriate.'' The Board makes these same statements about the value of appraisal report writing in regards to Section 36.12(e)(2).
Existing Section 36.11(e)(1) relating to qualifications for residential real estate appraisers requires at least 1,250 hours in actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports. However, the Board's proposed adoption of the AQB Qualification Criteria for total experience hours will result in reducing the requirement for actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports to 750 hours.
In Section 36.12 relating to qualifications for general real estate appraisers, the Board proposes to change the existing requirement of ''at least 1,500 hours'' of experience in actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports to the AQB Qualification Criteria of ''at least 50 percent'' of the total experience. However, unlike Section 36.11, the proposed language in Section 36.12 would not change the required number of hours since the AQB Qualification Criteria requires 3,000 hours of experience in total (equating to 1,500 hours of actual preparation).
As noted above, the Board places significant emphasis on experience in actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports as a critical component of qualifications for both residential and general real estate appraisers. However, the Board doesn't explain why it is rather significantly reducing the number of hours of preparation of appraisal reports for residential real estate appraisers. In light of a comment from the Coalition of Pennsylvania Real Estate Appraisers that the Board should, in fact, require 75 percent of the experience to be acquired by the actual preparation of appraisals for both residential and general real estate appraisers, we find the proposed regulation concerning. Did the Board consider requiring a higher percentage of actual preparation hours to account for the lower number of total hours required by the AQB Qualification Criteria?
In the Preamble of the final regulation, we ask the Board to explain why the number of hours of actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports required for both residential and general real estate appraisers is reasonable to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
2. Clarity and lack of ambiguity.
We have one additional concern related to the lack of notification to the regulated community and applicants when there is a change in the AQB Qualification Criteria. Did the Board consider a mechanism for notification? We ask the Board to clarify how the regulated community will be notified of changes to the AQB Qualification Criteria by including in the final regulation a notification requirement such as publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin within a certain period of time, prominent notice on the Board's Web site, links to the AQB Qualification Criteria and/or offering a subscription service.
GEORGE D. BEDWICK,
Chairperson
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 18-1464. Filed for public inspection September 14, 2018, 9:00 a.m.]
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