Sen. Dave Wilson

This Act, consistent with longstanding practice throughout the State expressly recognized in the existing statute, clarifies the manner in which criminal justice agencies may inform the public of information related to arrests. In addition, this Act provides the State Bureau of Identification the ability to share information with the Federal government to maintain on-going monitoring of individuals who have already undergone background checks. Finally, it provides that fingerprints and similar information collected will be retained for future comparison purposes.

Under current law, a person may deposit, for a fee, an original will with the Register of Wills in New Castle County for safekeeping. The person is not required to be a resident of New Castle County, but only the New Castle County Register of Wills is authorized to store original wills. This Act expands current law to authorize the Register of Wills in Sussex County to similarly store original wills.

The purpose of this Act is to clarify that registered agents in Delaware are obligated to comply with requirements, standards, guidelines, rules, regulations, and procedures as issued by the Secretary of State on matters involving filings submitted to the Secretary on behalf of corporations, partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies. This Act will enable the Secretary of State to adopt requirements, standards, guidelines, rules, regulations, and procedures for commercial registered agents regarding verification of customer entities. This Act also clarifies that such requirements, standards, guidelines, rules, regulations, and procedures which the Secretary issues are exempt from Chapter 101, Title 29 of the Delaware Code.

Section 1 of this Act transfers from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to the Department of Health and Social Services the responsibility for establishing, administering, adopting rules and regulations, and setting fees for courses of instruction and programs of rehabilitation for those whose licenses have been revoked for driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or any drug, or both. The Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health is better positioned to establish and operate programs aimed at treating substance abuse issues. Section 1 of this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and to update language in this Act that is no longer consistent with language in § 4177 of Title 21. Section 2 of this Act delays the Act’s effective date for 6 months.

This is a housekeeping bill to codify the existing practices with administering the Municipal Street Aid program.

Section 1 through 4 of this Act establish interim standards and criteria in order to permit redevelopment projects to move forward while revised regulations are being drafted. The interim standards set forth in this Act would effectively "sunset" upon the adoption of regulations governing redevelopment. The redevelopment regulations, upon formal adoption, would supersede the provisions of the Bill. Section 4 corrects an oversight in prior legislation, which extended the time frame for Department review of delegated projects from 3 to 5 years, but failed to extend the effective date of delegation from 3 to 5 years. Section 5 codifies current and proposed regulations as they pertain to stormwater management to ensure consistency. Section 6 is intended to clarify the procedural status of supporting materials published by DNREC to facilitate compliance with the Regulations, in light of the Order of the Delaware Supreme Court in Baker v. DNREC, No. 552, 2015 (April 15, 2016), affirming the Memorandum Opinion of the Honorable T. Henley Graves of the Superior Court, dated October 7, 2015. Consistent with the Delaware Administrative Procedures Act, regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy adopted pursuant to this exception must still be published in the Delaware Register of Regulations, in order to provide notice of the changes. The language confirming the exemption is drawn from federal administrative law, 5 U.S.C.A. §553, and equivalent provisions of the New Jersey Code, 52:14B-3a, governing such supporting materials. The regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy may not be used by DNREC to impose new or additional requirements on regulated parties, and may not be used, instead of the Code provisions and the Stormwater Regulations, as a basis for enforcement. Such materials are therefore not regulations, and not are not subject to the notice, hearing, or comment procedures of the Administrative Procedures Act or Title 7, or the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Rather, DNREC is free to publish periodic updates and revisions of its technical manuals, checklists, forms, and policy memos, to assist regulated parties in compliance with the Regulations. Section 7 creates a sunset date for sections 1, 2, and 5 to give the Department additional time to fully enact regulations. It is the intent that sections 1, 2, and 5 will sunset upon having a finalized version of Sediment and Stormwater Regulations.

The Delaware National Guard is a crucial partner in the preparedness, planning and in conducting operations in the event of radiological incidents. This Act’s modification to § 181 corrects an unintended flaw from a previous change to Title 20, affecting the manner in which National Guard members are paid for Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) events. The previous change in Title 20 impedes the National Guard’s efforts to recruit personnel, who have developed a high level of proficiency achieved through consistent monthly training. The change allows the Delaware National Guard to ensure ample participation and encourage returning members to build upon previous training and processes. This request has no impact to the State’s general funds as it is paid through Special Funding provided by Public Service Enterprise Group. This Act’s modifications to § 185 updates the requirements for the employment and administration of state employees working for the Delaware National Guard. The Delaware National Guard has administered their state employees similar to the federal military technician program which includes dual status and non-dual status technicians. In the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the non-dual status federal technician position was eliminated and technicians were converted into Title 5 employees. The change in the federal law impedes the employment and administration of some state employees. The change allows for the proper employment and administration of all Delaware National Guard state employees.

This Act allows the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to lease historic structures on State public lands to individuals or corporate entities. The lessee would be required to renovate and maintain the structure up to the applicable National Park Service Secretary of Interior Standards, would be permitted to insure the property and are eligible for Land and Historic Resource Tax Credits. DNREC is required adopt any necessary rules and regulations to implement the Act and may require the lessee to abide by any other lease conditions or commitments, including specific expenditure requirements, which the DNREC deems advisable for the public good. This Act will ensure that DNREC has the authority to enter into curatorship agreements for historic properties in grave need of restoration. It clarifies that DNREC’s Resident Curatorship program which has operated for over a decade is not in conflict with Delaware Landlord Tenant Code and allows for private investment that will revert to the State of Delaware at the conclusion of the agreement. Currently there are four historic Delaware State Park properties available through the program to potential curators and the program has saved three historic structures through curatorship’s at Lums Pond, Cape Henlopen and Fort DuPont State Parks.

This Act acknowledges that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has been collecting natural resource data for years without the consent of the respective property owners. From the date of this Act forward, the Department must obtain written consent prior to physically entering onto private property for the purpose of collecting Natural Resource Data.

Section 5301(3) of Title 7 provides that it is the Department of State’s (“Department”) duty “to protect and encourage the preservation of archaeological resources located on privately owned lands in this State.” This Act enables the Department to better fulfill this duty by requiring a person required to submit a project for pre-application review under § 9204 of Title 29 to submit the following as part of the review process: (1) Any existing archeological report or survey concerning the property that is in the applicant’s possession. (2) Any proposal to conduct an archeological report or survey of the property prepared for or at the request of the applicant. This Act replaces Senate Bill No. 248.