The following guidelines will be used whenever land use or management
decisions are being made concerning public lands in Otero County using
only reliable, high-quality, high-utility information, science and
data that has been gathered, interpreted, reported and preserved in
a manner that demonstrates the utmost integrity:
A. Each agency shall identify the problem that it intends to address
(including, where applicable, the failures of private markets or public
institutions that warrant a new agency action) as well as assess the
significance of that problem.
B. Each agency shall (consistent with its own rules, regulations or
procedures) provide the public with meaningful participation in the
regulatory process. In particular, before issuing a notice of proposed
rulemaking, each agency should, where appropriate, seek the involvement
of those who are intended to benefit from and those expected to be
burdened by any regulation (including, specifically, state, local
and tribal officials). In addition, each agency should afford the
public a meaningful opportunity to comment on any proposed regulation,
which in most cases should include a comment period of not less than
60 days. Each agency also is directed to explore and, where appropriate,
use consensual mechanisms for developing regulations, including negotiated
rulemaking.
C. Each agency shall examine whether existing regulations (or other
law) have created, or contributed to, the problem that a new regulation
is intended to correct and whether those regulations (or other law)
should be modified to achieve the intended goal of regulation more
effectively.
D. Each agency shall identify and assess available alternatives to direct
regulation, including providing economic incentives to encourage the
desired behavior, such as user fees or marketable permits, or providing
information upon which choices can be made by the public.
E. In setting regulatory priorities, each agency shall consider, to
the extent reasonable, the degree and nature of the risk posed by
various substances or activities within its jurisdiction.
F. When an agency determines that a regulation is the best available
method of achieving the regulatory objective, it shall design its
regulations in the most cost-effective manner to achieve the regulatory
objective. In doing so, each agency shall consider incentives for
innovation, consistency, predictability, the cost of enforcement and
compliance (to the government-regulated entities and the public),
flexibility, distributive impacts, and equity.
G. Each agency shall base its decisions on the best reasonably obtainable,
peer-reviewed scientific, technical, economic and other information
concerning the need for, and consequences of, the intended regulation.
H. To the degree that an agency action is based on science, to use:
i) the best available, peer-reviewed science and supporting studies
conducted in accordance with sound and objective scientific practices;
and ii) data collected by accepted methods or best available methods
(if the reliability of the method and the nature of the decision justifies
use of the data). These guidelines call for an additional level of
quality in those situations involving influential scientific or statistical
information. The additional level of quality concerns a standard of
care for scientific or statistical analytical results that are capable
of being substantially reproduced pursuant to the standard that is
discussed below.
(1) "Capable of being substantially reproduced" means that independent
reanalysis of the original or supporting data using the same methods
would generate similar analytical results, subject to an acceptable
degree of imprecision.
(2) "Influential," when used in the phrase "influential scientific or
statistical information," means the agency expects that information
in the form of analytical results will likely have an important effect
on the development of domestic or international government or private
sector policies or will likely have important consequences for specific
technologies, substances, products or firms.
I. In all decisionmaking activities, agencies shall seek views of appropriate
state, local, and tribal officials before imposing regulatory requirements
that might significantly or uniquely affect those governmental entities.
Each agency shall assess the effects of federal regulations on state,
local, and tribal governments, including, specifically, the availability
of resources to carry out those mandates, and seek to minimize those
burdens that uniquely or significantly affect such governmental entities,
consistent with achieving regulatory objectives. In addition, as appropriate,
agencies shall seek to harmonize federal regulatory actions with related
state, local, and tribal regulatory and other governmental functions.
J. Each agency shall avoid regulations that are inconsistent, incompatible,
or duplicative with its other regulations or those of other federal,
state or local agencies.
K. Each agency shall tailor its regulations to impose the least burden
on society, including individuals, businesses of differing sizes,
and other entities (including small communities and governmental entities),
consistent with obtaining the regulatory objectives, taking into account,
among other things, and to the extent practicable, the costs of cumulative
regulations. Additionally, all proposed actions shall expressly report
the effect or likely effects of proposed land use or management decisions
on the local communities, their customs, culture, economic stability
and historical heritage.
L. Each agency shall draft its regulations to be simple and easy to
understand with the goal of minimizing the potential for uncertainty
and litigation arising from such uncertainty.
Any firm or entity convicted of a violation of the provisions of §
150-26 of this article shall be deemed guilty of a petty misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300 and/or imprisonment of no more than 90 days, or both, for each offense.