Florida Florida Statutes

§ 120.54 — Rulemaking

FS § 120.54Ch. 120

Statute text

(1)GENERAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL RULES OTHER THAN EMERGENCY RULES.—(a) Rulemaking is not a matter of agency discretion. Each agency statement defined as a rule by s. 120.52 shall be adopted by the rulemaking procedure provided by this section as soon as feasible and practicable.1. Rulemaking shall be presumed feasible unless the agency proves that:a. The agency has not had sufficient time to acquire the knowledge and experience reasonably necessary to address a statement by rulemaking; or b. Related matters are not sufficiently resolved to enable the agency to address a statement by rulemaking. 2. Rulemaking shall be presumed practicable to the extent necessary to provide fair notice to affected persons of relevant agency procedures and applicable principles, criteria, or standards for agency decisions unless the agency proves that:a. Detail or precision in the establishment of principles, criteria, or standards for agency decisions is not reasonable under the circumstances; or b. The particular questions addressed are of such a narrow scope that more specific resolution of the matter is impractical outside of an adjudication to determine the substantial interests of a party based on individual circumstances.

(b)Whenever an act of the Legislature is enacted which requires implementation of the act by rules of an agency within the executive branch of state government, the agency must publish a notice of rule development as provided in this section within 30 days after the effective date of the law that requires rulemaking and provides a grant of rulemaking authority.

(c)No statutory provision shall be delayed in its implementation pending an agency's adoption of implementing rules unless there is an express statutory provision prohibiting its application until the adoption of implementing rules.

(d)In adopting rules, all agencies must, among the alternative approaches to any regulatory objective and to the extent allowed by law, choose the alternative that does not impose regulatory costs on the regulated person, county, or city which could be reduced by the adoption of less costly alternatives that substantially accomplish the statutory objectives.

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Legislative history

s. 1, ch. 74-310; s. 3, ch. 75-191; s. 3, ch. 76-131; ss. 1, 2, ch. 76-276; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 13, ch. 77-290; s. 3, ch. 77-453; s. 2, ch. 78-28; s. 2, ch. 78-425; s. 7, ch. 79-3; s. 3, ch. 79-299; s. 69, ch. 79-400; s. 5, ch. 80-391; s. 1, ch. 81-309; s. 2, ch. 83-351; s. 1, ch. 84-173; s. 2, ch. 84-203; s. 7, ch. 85-104; s. 1, ch. 86-30; s. 3, ch. 87-385; s. 36, ch. 90-302; ss. 2, 4, 7, ch. 92-166; s. 63, ch. 93-187; s. 758, ch. 95-147; s. 6, ch. 95-295; s. 10, ch. 96-159; s. 6, ch. 96-320; s. 9, ch. 96-370; s. 3, ch. 97-176; s. 3, ch. 98-200; s. 4, ch. 99-379; s. 9, ch. 2001-75; s. 2, ch. 2003-94; s. 50, ch. 2005-278; s. 3, ch. 2006-82; ss. 5, 6, ch. 2008-104; s. 7, ch. 2008-149; s. 4, ch. 2009-187; ss. 1, 5, ch. 2010-279; HJR 9-A, 2010 Special Session A; s. 49, ch. 2011-142; s. 8, ch. 2011-208; s. 1, ch. 2011-225; s. 2, ch. 2012-27; s. 1, ch. 2012-63; s. 4, ch. 2013-14; s. 13, ch. 2013-15; s. 1, ch. 2015-162; s. 1, ch. 2016-116; s. 3, ch. 2025-189.