(a) Notice to board.--The department shall notify and provide the board with any regulatory proposal or proposed general permit which would regulate agriculture or any proposed technical guidance that would affect agriculture.

(b) Meeting and consultation with board.--(Deleted by amendment).

(b.1) Board review.--The department may not publish any proposed regulation or proposed general permit that regulates agriculture or proposed technical guidance that affects agriculture prior to:

(1) consultation with the board in the formulation of the proposed regulation, proposed general permit or proposed technical guidance, as reflected in the minutes or by written comments of the board; or

(2) sixty days from the date when the proposed regulation, proposed general permit or proposed technical guidance was provided under subsection (a), unless the board sooner decides by majority vote that no consultation under paragraph (1) is required.

(c) Inclusion of comments with proposed rulemaking.--The department shall include any written comments of the board, received prior to the department's submission of a proposed rulemaking package to the Environmental Quality Board, as part of its submission to the Environmental Quality Board.

(d) Exceptions.--The requirements of this section shall not apply to regulations with mandatory statutory deadlines, to regulations required to be adopted by court order, to emergency regulations, to final regulations adopted pursuant to section 204 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P.L.769, No.240), referred to as the Commonwealth Documents Law, or where interim regulations are otherwise authorized by statute. The department shall advise the board as soon as possible of the development of regulations identified in this subsection which would regulate agriculture.

(Oct. 24, 2018, P.L.1179, No.162, eff. 60 days)

2018 Amendment. Act 162 amended the section heading and subsec. (a), added subsec. (b.1) and deleted subsec. (b). Section 3 of Act 162 provided that members of the Nutrient Management Advisory Board and members of the Agricultural Advisory Board, as of the effective date of this section, shall continue to serve as members of their respective boards until their present terms of office expire.

Cross References. Section 704 is referred to in section 703 of this title.