Q: Is it legal for a state to require a business to follow a set of regulations but then make the company pay for the regs
Recently the Maryland COMAR went behind a paywall. My company is required to follow the regulations in the COMAR but there is no public access to the information. The "free search" function provided only the section numbers and does not show the regulations. Is this even legal?
A:
It remains free:
www.dsd.state.md.us
(1) Click "Search COMAR Now" on the left-hand side of the page
(2) On the next page, scroll down the left-hand list of titles and click on the appropriate title for your area of industry. For example, if you are a home improvement contractor, you would select Department of Labor.
(3) On the third page, do the same thing to scroll down the left side to click on the agency/department/board/commission heading (e.g., "Home Improvement Commission")
(4) On the fourth page, you will see the list of subtitles on the left-hand side of the screen containing the subtitled regulations of the agency or department selected. As you click on those, the regs appear on the main area in the center of the screen.
If you are uncertain about what agency or department to look under on the first screen, try going first to the website of the board, commission or office you are regulated under, and look for the links on their page for the regulations applicable to them. They should either provide a link or at least provide the Maryland department or executive agency under which they are organized, so you can then follow the instructions I have provided above.
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