(a) Chapter 941 of the Laws of 1984 permits State agencies to file with the Secretary of State codes, rules and regulations that were previously incorporated by reference in the agency's codes, rules and regulations, but not filed with the Secretary of State.

(b) Prior to the amendment of section 102 of the Executive Law by chapter 941, there was a requirement that the Secretary of State must publish every code, rule and regulation in the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (NYCRR).

(c) As amended, section 102 of the Executive Law now exempts certain codes, rules or regulations from publication in the NYCRR, if the code, rule or regulation has been otherwise published by the Federal government or by a private publisher.

(d) Chapter 941 requires that exempt publications must be made available for public use and inspection at the New York State Department of State. Hence, because it will be the duty of the Secretary of State to maintain a master compilation of all codes, rules and regulations including those Federal and private publications that will not be printed in NYCRR and because it will be the duty of the Secretary of State to maintain historical files containing the official text of such documents, it is necessary that all referenced codes, rules and regulations be prepared and submitted for filing in a manner that will ensure that the text of each document is identifiable and available to the public.

(e) It is understood that many of the referenced documents in question have to do with codes, rules and regulations that have been adopted to protect the public health, safety and welfare.

(f) Since the enforceability of those codes, rules or regulations may depend on evidence that the material was available and is actually filed with the Secretary of State, it is essential that the text of such documents be identifiable and retrievable from the files of the Department of State.

(g) To ensure the provisions of chapter 941 of the Laws of 1984 are met, the Department of State has set forth rules in 19 NYCRR 261.2.

(h) This Part, established pursuant to section 2 of chapter 941 of the Laws of 1984, and in accordance with section 261.2 of 19 NYCRR 261 sets forth a comprehensive listing of incorporation by reference codes, rules and regulations, and all other referenced published data, criteria, standards, specifications, techniques, illustrations or information which are contained in this Title and are applicable to facilities certified and/or operated by the OPWDD.