§ 33-2-9. Rules and Regulations

1. The Commissioner shall have full power and authority to make rules and regulations for the following purposes:
   1. To organize the department and to assign duties to members of the staff;
   2. To promulgate any rules and regulations as are reasonably necessary to implement this title;
   3. To promulgate any rules and regulations as are reasonably necessary to conform with the requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191, as said federal Act existed on January 1, 1997;
   4. To issue interpretative rulings or to prescribe forms required to carry out the responsibilities of his or her office; or
   5. To govern the procedure to be followed in the proceedings before the department.
2. Before any rule or regulation shall become effective or before any amendment or repeal of any rule shall become effective, the proposed rule or regulation or amendment or repeal shall have been on file as a public record in the office of the Commissioner for at least ten days.
3. Prior to the adoption of any rule or regulation or the amendment or repeal thereof, the Commissioner shall publish or otherwise circulate notice of his intended action and afford interested persons opportunity to submit data or views either orally or in writing.
4. The Commissioner shall compile and keep on file in his office as a public record a set of such rules and regulations which are in effect and shall prepare copies of such rules and regulations which shall be available upon request. The Commissioner shall fix a price covering such compilation which shall cover costs of preparation and mailing.
5. Neither the Commissioner, whether acting as Commissioner of Insurance or Safety Fire Commissioner, nor the department, nor the Safety Fire Division of the office of the Commissioner shall propose or adopt rules or regulations relating to the sale or dispensing of gasoline or diesel fuel to the general public by any business entity unless such rules or regulations require such sale or dispensing to be under the direct control and visual supervision of an on-site employee of such business entity.

History. Code 1933, § 56-216, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1462, § 2; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1064, § 2; Ga. L. 2019, p. 474, § 2/SB 156.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, deleted “shall be approved as to legality by the Attorney General and” preceding “shall have been on file” in subsection (b).

Cross references.

Rules and regulations of Safety Fire Commissioner, § 25-2-4 .

Filing requirements for regulations, standards, and plans of Commissioner, § 50-13-21 .

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 1997, p. 1462, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the Act, which amended this Code section, is intended to comply with the requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191, as well as to provide an acceptable alternative mechanism for the availability of individual health insurance coverage as contemplated by that federal Act. Section 1 further provides that the Georgia Act shall be narrowly construed to achieve such purpose without otherwise limiting the state’s legislative or regulatory powers with respect to insurance.

Administrative rules and regulations.

Regulations regarding agents, subagents, counselors, adjusters, surplus lines brokers, and agencies, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Commissioner of Insurance, Chapter 120-2-3.

Life and annuity tables, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Commissioner of Insurance, Chapter 120-2-39.

Readability standards for personal lines policies, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Commissioner of Insurance, Chapter 120-2-42.

Administrative supervision, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rules of Comptroller General, Commissioner of Insurance, Chapter 120-2-55.

Law reviews.

For review of 1998 legislation relating to insurance, see 15 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 153 (1998).