HB 1234 – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
08/05
HOUSE BILL 1234
AN ACT establishing a department of environmental services oversight and grievance committee.
SPONSORS: Rep. Giuda, Merr 7; Rep. LaCasse, Sull 4; Rep. Chandler, Carr 1; Rep. Kreis, Merr 6; Rep. C. McGuire, Merr 8; Rep. McDonnell, Merr 7; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5; Rep. Seaworth, Merr 7; Rep. J. Richardson, Merr 8; Rep. Peterson, Hills 19; Sen. Forrester, Dist 2
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill establishes a department of environmental services oversight and grievance committee.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2419
08/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT establishing a department of environmental services oversight and grievance committee.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Sections; Department of Environmental Services Oversight Committee. Amend RSA 21-O by inserting after section 22 the following new sections:
21-O:23 Oversight Committee; Establishment; Purpose.
I. There shall be an oversight committee on environmental services consisting of 8 members as follows:
(a) Three members of the senate, at least one of whom shall be a member of the senate public works committee and one of whom shall be a member of the senate finance committee, appointed by the president of the senate; and
(b) Five members of the house of representatives, one of whom shall be from the public works committee, and one of whom shall be from the house finance committee, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
II. Membership on the oversight committee shall be for the biennium and shall be coterminous with membership in the general court.
III. The oversight committee on environmental services shall provide legislative oversight of the department to support a cost effective, comprehensive, coordinated system of environmental services that is efficient and cost-effective. The committee shall promote greater efficiencies by consolidating and centralizing reporting requirements and other responsibilities of the department under this section to avoid duplication of efforts involving other non-regulatory boards, commissions, councils, advisory committees, and task forces.
21-O:24 Organization and Compensation. The oversight committee shall have a chairperson who shall be chosen by vote from among the committee membership. The chairperson’s term of office shall be for the biennium. The committee shall have a clerk who shall be chosen by vote by the members of the committee. The clerk’s term of office shall be for the biennium. The members of the committee shall receive legislative mileage when in performance of their duties.
21-O:25 Duties of Oversight Committee.
I. The committee:
(a) Shall provide legislative oversight to the department to support a cost effective, streamlined, coordinated system of environmental protections that is user-friendly and balances the competing interests of environmental protections and human impacts on the environment.
(b) Shall monitor the efficiency of operation and the quality of service provided by the department’s programs.
(c) Shall promote greater efficiencies by consolidating and centralizing reporting requirements and other responsibilities of the department under this section to avoid duplication of efforts involving other non-regulatory boards, commissions, councils, advisory committees, and task forces.
(d) Shall institute an objective grievance procedure for the committee external to the department of environmental services.
(e) Shall maintain communications with the department, and any other departments, as necessary to accomplish its work.
(f) May provide informational meetings on the programs, policies, and rules of the department as brought to its attention by committee members, legislators, department personnel, or others. The committee’s work may include, but is not limited to, analyzing the efficacy of selected programs, researching trends affecting program costs and benefits, and reviewing alternate approaches to programmatic and administrative concerns.
(g) May make recommendations to the commissioner and recommendations for legislation and rules as indicated by its findings.
II. The oversight committee shall create subcommittees, councils, task forces, or other ancillary bodies including a committee to hear grievances against the department as necessary to implement its responsibilities. In developing these bodies, the committee shall take into account major program areas of the department. The authorization for each such body shall be repealed on December 31 of the even-numbered year of the biennium. The committee shall:
(a) Establish specific guidelines or outcomes for each such body, including reporting requirements.
(b) Appoint members to each such body, including at least one legislator and, as appropriate, other members as determined by the expertise necessary to accomplish the work of the body. Legislative members need not be a member of the oversight committee.
(c) Appoint a chair of each such body, who shall be a legislator and who shall act as the liaison between the body and the oversight committee.
III. The committee shall meet at the call of the chair but in no case less than every 2 months.
IV. The committee shall make a report no later than the first day of November of the second year of the biennium as to its activities and recommendations to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.