A. For the purposes of this section, “regulation” means any statement of general application, having the force of law and affecting the rights or conduct of any person, adopted by an agency in accordance with the authority conferred on it by the Constitution and applicable statutes of the Commonwealth.
B. When any legislative bill requiring the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to increase or begin regulation of an occupation is filed during any session of the General Assembly, the chairman of the committee having jurisdiction over the proposal shall request that the Board for Professional and Occupational Regulation (the Board) prepare an evaluation of the legislation using the criteria outlined in § 54.1-311.
C. Upon receipt of such a request, the Board shall prepare the evaluation and shall forward copies of such evaluation to the Clerk of the House of Delegates for House bills and to the Clerk of the Senate for Senate bills no later than November 1 of the same year for requests received during a regular session of the General Assembly or as soon as practicable for requests received during a special session of the General Assembly for transmittal to each patron of the legislation and to the chairman of each committee of the General Assembly to consider the same. All departments, agencies of government, and the Division of Legislative Services are directed to make available such information and assistance as the Board may request in preparing the evaluations required by this section.