SGC-49-13-00010-P Per Se Regulatory Standardbred Threshold Limited to 24 Drugs, Special Corticosteroid Rules

12/4/13 N.Y. St. Reg. SGC-49-13-00010-P

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXXV, ISSUE 49

December 04, 2013

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

NEW YORK STATE GAMING COMMISSION

PROPOSED RULE MAKING

HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. SGC-49-13-00010-P

Per Se Regulatory Standardbred Threshold Limited to 24 Drugs, Special Corticosteroid Rules

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

Proposed Action:

Addition of sections 4120.2(n) and 4120.3(c) to Title 9 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Racing Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law, sections 103(2), 104(1), (19) and 122

Subject:

Per Se regulatory standardbred threshold limited to 24 drugs, special corticosteroid rules.

Purpose:

To enhance the integrity and safety of standardbred horse racing by limiting standardbred equine drugs.

Public hearing(s) will be held at:

10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Jan. 21, 2014 at State Gaming Commission, One Broadway Center, 6th Fl. Board Rm. (overflow, 5th Fl. Multimedia Rm.), Schenectady, NY.

Interpreter Service:

Interpreter services will be made available to hearing impaired persons, at no charge, upon written request submitted within reasonable time prior to the scheduled public hearing. The written request must be addressed to the agency representative designated in the paragraph below.

Accessibility:

All public hearings have been scheduled at places reasonably accessible to persons with a mobility impairment.

Text of proposed rule:

Subdivision (c) would be added to proposed new section 4120.3 as follows:

4120.3. Equine drug thresholds; per se

* * *

(c) A horse shall have raced in violation of this section if the laboratory conducting tests by or for the commission is able to determine from such horse’s race-day urine or blood sample that a drug or other substance for which no permissible threshold is established in this Part had been administered to such horse before its race, unless such drug or other substance by its nature could not affect a horse’s organ systems.

A new subdivision (n) would be added to Section 4120.2 as follows:

(n) A horse may race following the administration of a corticosteroid that is not specifically identified in other subdivisions of this section only if:

(1) the trainer of the horse discloses, in writing, such administration to the judges before race day; and

(2) the administration of such corticosteroid cannot be detected by laboratory tests, conducted by or for the commission, in a race-day urine or blood sample.

Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Kristen M. Buckley, New York State Gaming Commission, One Broadway Center, Suite 600, Schenectady, NY 12305, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Same as above.

Public comment will be received until:

January 26, 2014.

Regulatory Impact Statement

1. Statutory authority and legislative objectives of such authority: The New York State Gaming Commission (“Commission”) is authorized to promulgate these rules pursuant to Racing Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law Sections 103(2), 104 (1, 19), and 122. Under Section 103(2), the Commission is responsible to supervise, regulate, and administer all horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering activities in the State. Subdivision (1) of Section 104 confers upon the Commission general jurisdiction over all such gaming activities within the State and over the corporations, associations, and persons engaged in such activities. Subdivision (19) of Section 104 authorizes the Commission to promulgate any rules and regulations that it deems necessary to carry out its responsibilities. Section 122 continues previous rules and regulations of the legacy New York State Racing and Wagering Board, subject to the authority of the Commission to modify or abrogate such rules and regulations.

2. Legislative objectives: To enable the Commission to protect the integrity of pari-mutuel horse races and the health and safety of standardbred horses and human participants in pari-mutuel racing, while generating reasonable revenue for the support of government.

3. Needs and benefits: This rulemaking is necessary to limit the administration to race horses of drugs and other substances that can be administered close to race day, and to simplify compliance by horsepersons and enforcement of the equine drug rules in New York, by adopting a set of national permissible regulatory laboratory thresholds for drugs that are necessary and sufficient to provide good veterinary care close to race day.

The proposed rule would complement the regulatory laboratory thresholds that were developed by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (“RMTC”) and adopted as a model rule by the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Inc. (“ARCI”). These thresholds are intended by RMTC and ARCI to apply in all horse racing jurisdictions. The drugs for which RMTC and ARCI have established thresholds are intended to encompass all of the medications that would be needed for routine veterinary care close to race day of any racing horses and that can be effectively regulated by means of laboratory testing. Such drugs were identified after lengthy consultation by the RMTC with the American Association of Equine Practitioners and many of the horse racing industry’s leading chemists and pharmacologists. These thresholds are separately proposed by the Commission in contemporaneous rulemaking.

As set forth in proposed Section 4120.3, detection in race-day samples of administrations of other drugs or other substances that could affect race performance would be a rule violation. The use of a drug or other substance that cannot affect race performance, a trait that is defined in veterinary terms as having no effect on the body systems of the horse, however, would not be affected by this rulemaking.

In addition, this proposed rulemaking would adjust the Commission’s restricted time period governing the systemic administration of the corticosteroids to standardbred race horses close to race day. The Commission’s separate proposals to adopt a set of national regulatory laboratory thresholds for five corticosteroids that are necessary and sufficient to provide good veterinary care close to race day would create a zero threshold for the administration of any other corticosteroids. Although the corticosteroids for which thresholds are proposed are sufficient to provide good veterinary care to a racing horse, the use of other corticosteroids is not intended to be restricted for a horse not close to race day and so long as the administration of any such corticosteroid cannot be detected on race day.

This new rule will limit the use of such non-threshold corticosteroids by requiring that the trainer disclose their use to the judges before race day and the horse tests below the proposed regulatory threshold (i.e., zero) on race day. This will permit a veterinarian to use such corticosteroids, despite the presence of readily available other corticosteroids for which the Commission has proposed non-zero thresholds, if the veterinarian determines that some veterinary need would be advanced by doing so. For example, the rule would allow a veterinarian to administer a wide range of corticosteroid treatments for a horse that is not currently engaged in racing and is recovering from some illness or injury but would restrict the use close to a horse’s next race of non-threshold corticosteroids that would be detectable on race day.

As a result, the Commission’s restricted time periods will continue to provide assurances to horsepersons who comply with them that their horses will not give rise to an equine drug positive, including under the national regulatory laboratory standards that have been proposed by the Commission.

The new rule will enhance the integrity and safety of horse racing by limiting the drugs and other substances that have a race day threshold greater than zero, and by limiting which corticosteroids can be used close to race day to those that are well-accepted, necessary, and capable of control by means of laboratory testing. The new rule will continue to ensure that corticosteroids that the Commission permits to be so used will not result in a violation of the proposed laboratory thresholds.

4. Costs:

(a) Costs to regulated parties for the implementation of and continuing compliance with the rule: There are no new or additional costs imposed by this rule upon regulated persons because there are readily available alternative corticosteroids. The rule merely revises an existing rule in regard to allowable time of administration of a medication.

(b) Costs to the agency, the state and local governments for the implementation and continuation of the rule: There are no costs imposed upon the Commission, the state, or local government. The rule will be implemented using the Commission’s existing regulatory and medication testing program. There will be no costs to local governments because they do not regulate pari-mutuel racing activities.

(c) The information, including the source(s) of such information and the methodology upon which the cost analysis is based: The Commission has determined that no costs will be imposed because the rule does not create any mandatory new duty or obligation. The rule utilizes an existing regulatory framework and medication testing program and merely modifies a medication rule.

5. Local government mandates: None. The New York State Gaming Commission is the only governmental entity authorized to regulate pari-mutuel harness racing activities.

6. Paperwork: There will be no additional paperwork.

7. Duplication: None.

8. Alternatives: This rule amendment is based upon the finding and recommendations of the RMTC and the ARCI, and no other alternatives were considered.

9. Federal standards: None.

10. Compliance schedule: It is expected that regulated parties will be able to comply as soon as the proposed rule is adopted.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis and Job Impact Statement

This proposal does not require a Regulatory Flexibility Statement, Jobs Impact Statement or Rural Area Flexibility Statement as the amendment merely limits the running of a race horse after administration of the corticosteroids for which there are readily available alternatives and known and widely accepted laboratory thresholds and establishes a zero threshold in race days sample for drugs and other substances that are not governed by the newly proposed national regulatory laboratory thresholds for standardbred horses. The other corticosteroids are sufficient to treat horses close to race day, are well-accepted for their intended purposes, and readily available, including betamethasone, dexamethasone, prednisolone, and triamcinolone acetonide. The drugs with specified thresholds encompass of the medications that are needed and sufficient to provide good veterinary care to a racing horse close to race day. The proposed rules are entirely limited to equine drug standards and testing, and merely modify the restriction on administration of an approved drug for race horses. This rulemaking will not have a positive or negative impact on jobs. These amendments do not impact upon State Administrative Procedure Act § 102(8), nor do they affect employment. The proposal will not impose an adverse economic impact or reporting, recordkeeping or other compliance requirements on small businesses in rural or urban areas nor on employment opportunities. The rule does not impose any significant technological changes on the industry for the reasons set forth above.