P.R. Laws tit. 26, § 8087
(a) Regulating authority.— The Commission shall establish through regulations uniform standards and operating procedures in order to achieve the purposes of the present Compact. However, should the Commission, while exercising its authority, exceed the scope of this chapter or the powers conferred by the same, said action shall have neither validity nor force of law.
(b) Regulating procedure.— The regulations and operating procedures shall be promulgated pursuant to the criteria established in the “Model State Administrative Procedures Act”, as suitable for the operations of the Commission. Before the Commission adopts any uniform standard it shall notify the corresponding state legislative committee of each subscribing state in writing of its intention to adopt said standard.
(c) Effective date and option for exclusion.— The uniform standards shall take effect ninety (90) days [after] their being promulgated by the Commission or at a later date as determined by the Commission; Provided, however, That the subscribing state may opt to be excluded from any uniform standard. Said option shall be construed as every action directed to refusing to adopt or to participate from any uniform standard that has been promulgated. The regulations and operating procedures and the amendments thereto shall take effect on the date specified in the same.
(d) Procedure for exclusion.— The subscribing states may opt to be excluded from any uniform standard through legislation or regulations adopted by the Insurance Commissioner, pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act of the subscribing state. Should a subscribing state opt to be excluded from any uniform standard, it shall: (a) notify the Commission in writing at the latest within the next ten (10) days following its promulgation or at the moment the state becomes a subscribing state; and (b) determine that the uniform standard fails to provide reasonable protection to the citizens of said state given the existing conditions of said state.
The Commissioner shall make determinations of fact and conclusions of law based on the preponderance of the evidence in which he/she shall set forth in detail the conditions that exist in the state which justify the deviation from the uniform standard or the determination that the latter fails to reasonably protect the citizens of the state. The Commission shall carefully consider and determine that the conditions that exist in the state and the needs of the citizens of said state are stronger than: (a) the intention of the Legislature of participating in an interstate agreement to establish uniform protection for the consumer at the national level with regard to the products object of the present law and the benefits to be derived from said agreement; and (b) the presumption that the uniform standard adopted by the Commission provides reasonable protection to the consumers of the corresponding product.
However, at the time of approval of the present Compact, the subscribing state may, prospectively, opt to be excluded from all uniform standards related to long term care insurance products by expressly providing said option in the promulgation of the Compact and shall not consider said option as an essential variation in the offer to or acceptance of a state to participate in the present Compact. Said option shall take effect at the time of approval of the present Compact by the subscribing state and shall apply to all uniform standards related to long term care insurance products and those that may be promulgated in the future.
(e) Effect of the option for exclusion.— Should a subscribing state opt to be excluded from a uniform standard, the latter shall remain in force in the state that exercises said option until said option for exclusion is approved as law or until regulations in that respect are adopted.
Once said option for exclusion becomes effective in a subscribing state, the uniform standard shall have no force of law until said law is repealed or the regulations to that effect are invalidated. Should the subscribing state opt to be excluded from a uniform standard after said standard has been in effect in the state, the option for exclusion shall have prospective effect as provided in § 8094 of this title with respect to the exclusion.
(f) Postponement of the execution of the uniform standard.— If the subscribing state has formally initiated the process for exercising the option for exclusion from a uniform standard through regulations and while said process is pending, the subscribing state may request, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the effective date of the uniform standard, that the Commission postpone the effective date. The Commission may grant said postponement if it determines that the option for exclusion is being reasonable transacted through regulations and that said transaction has the probability of being successful. Should the Commission grants the postponement or extend the same, the effective date may be suspended by the postponement or extension of the same for up to ninety (90) days, unless the Commission extends the effective date affirmatively; Provided, That said suspension shall not remain in force for more than one (1) year unless the subscribing state gives evidence of extraordinary circumstances that merit the continuation of the suspension, which shall include but not be limited to: the existence of an objection before the courts that prevents the subscribing state from exercising the option for exclusion. The Commission may declare the suspension without effect if it is notified that the regulating process has concluded.
(g) Judicial review.— Any person may introduce a petition for the judicial review of a rule or procedure not later than the thirty (30) days after the promulgation of the same; Provided, That said petition shall neither delay nor prevent the rule or operating procedure from being effective, except if the court determines that the petitioner has a substantial probability of being successful. The court shall agree to the actions of the Commission pursuant to the applicable laws and shall not decide that the rule or operating procedure is contrary to law if said rule or operating procedure stands for the reasonable exercise of the authority of the Commission.
History —Dec. 22, 2005, No. 161, art. 1.7.