OVS-28-11-00003-P Submission of Claim Applications and Changes of Contact Information to the Office of Victim Services

7/13/11 N.Y. St. Reg. OVS-28-11-00003-P

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXXIII, ISSUE 28

July 13, 2011

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

OFFICE OF VICTIM SERVICES

PROPOSED RULE MAKING

NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. OVS-28-11-00003-P

Submission of Claim Applications and Changes of Contact Information to the Office of Victim Services

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

Proposed Action:

This is a consensus rule making to add section 525.4(a)(1) and (2); and amend section 525.15(b) of Title 9 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Executive Law, sections 623(3), 625(3), 633(1); and Public Officers Law, art. 6, sections 94(1)(c), (d), 94(2), (3), (6), 95 and 96(1)

Subject:

Submission of claim applications and changes of contact information to the Office of Victim Services.

Purpose:

To specify where and how claim applications and changes in contact information may be delivered to the Office.

Text of proposed rule:

New paragraphs (1) and (2) are added to subdivision (a) of section 525.4 of Title 9 of the New York Codes Rules and Regulations to read as follows:

525.4 Filing of claims. In addition to the provisions contained in section 625 of the Executive Law: (a) Claim applications shall be filed with the office in person, by mail, or electronically via facsimile, electronic mail or any other manner the office may make available for the filing of claims pursuant to subdivision one of section 305 of the New York State Technology Law. (1) If mailed, such application shall be directed to:

Office of Victim Services

One Columbia Circle, Suite 200

Albany, New York 12203

(2) Emergency award claim applications may be sent via facsimile, to a number the office may make available.

Subdivision (b) of section 525.15 of Title 9 of the New York Codes Rules and Regulations is amended to read as follows:

(b) A claimant shall notify the office of any change of contact information [by letter. Such notification shall include the new contact information, the claim number and an original signature of the claimant] in person, by mail, or electronically via facsimile, electronic mail or any other manner the office may make available for the change of contact information pursuant to subdivision one of section 305 of the New York State Technology Law. [Such] (1) If mailed, such notification shall be directed to:

Office of Victim Services

One Columbia Circle, Suite 200

Albany, New York 12203

(2) Change of contact information may be sent via facsimile, to a number the office may make available.

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

John Watson, General Counsel, Office of Victim Services, One Columbia Circle, Suite 200, Albany, New York 12203-8727, [phone], email: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Same as above.

Public comment will be received until:

45 days after publication of this notice.

Consensus Rule Making Determination

This rule is being proposed as a consensus rule because, in accordance with State Administrative Procedure Act § 102 (11)(c), it makes technical changes and is otherwise non-controversial.

Subdivision 3 of section 625 of the Executive Law permits a claim to be filed by a person eligible to receive an award in person, by mail or electronically, in such manner as the Office may prescribe. Current statutory language is silent on how a claimant may go about notifying the Office of any change in contact information.

Subdivision (a) of section 525.4 of the current OVS regulations mirror the statutory language of subdivision 3 of section 625 of the Executive Law, with no further information about the address to where claim applications may be mailed or how and to where claim applications may be sent to the Office electronically. Subdivision (b) of section 525.15 of the current OVS regulations requires that a claimant notify the Office of any change of contact information by letter, which is to include an original signature of the claimant.

The proposed rule simply adds information in subdivision (a) of section 525.4 of the OVS regulations for the benefit of potential claimants. This new information will specify where claim applications may be mailed and how and to where claim applications may be sent to the Office electronically. In addition, the proposed rule changes the manner in which an existing claimant may convey to the Office a change of contact information, in a similar fashion as the proposed changes to filing a claim. These provisions are implemented for the benefit of potential claimants and existing claimants, so the use of current technology is available under certain circumstances. No person is likely to object to the rule as written.

Job Impact Statement

The Office of Victim Services (the Office) projects there will be no adverse impact on jobs or employment opportunities in the State of New York as a result of this proposed rule change. This proposed rule change simply codifies how claim applications and changes to claimant contact information may be delivered to the Office. Since nothing in this proposed rule change will create any adverse impacts on jobs or employment opportunities in the state, no further steps were needed to ascertain these facts and none were taken. As apparent from the nature and purpose of this proposed rule change, a full Job Impact Statement is not required and therefore one has not been prepared.