Rule Waiver Register
How To File a Petition for Rule Variance or Waiver
Petition for Rule Variance or Waiver
O.C.G.A. § 50-13-9.1 Allows for applicants, licensees, or entities to petition a Professional Licensing Board to vary (modify) or waive (not apply) all or part of a rule requirement for the petitioner. In order for a rule or portion thereof to be varied or waived, the petitioner must be able to demonstrate strict application of rule can lead to unreasonable, uneconomical, and unintended results in the petitioner’s particular instance.
The statute also allows for the Professional Licensing Board to grant a variance or waiver when the petitioner is able to demonstrates that the purpose of the underlying statute upon which the rule is based can be or has been achieved by other specific means which are agreeable to the person seeking the variance or waiver and that strict application of the rule would create a substantial hardship to such person.
The following sections describe the steps you must take to file this petition.
How to File the Petition
The following steps must be taken in order for the petition to be considered by the Board:
The following steps must be taken in order for the petition to be considered by the Board:
1. Visit GOALS to fill out and submit a Petition For Rule Variance or Waiver.
2. The complete form will include:
- The specific rule number, title and paragraphs from which the variance or waiver is requested;
- The type of action requested (waiver or variance);
- The specific facts of substantial hardship which would justify a variance or waiver for the petitioner, including the alternative standards which the person seeking the variance or waiver agrees to meet and a showing that such alternative standards will afford adequate protection for the public health, safety, and welfare; and,
- The reason why the variance or waiver requested would serve the purpose of the underlying statute.
3. It is the petitioner’s responsibility to submit the petition along with any and all documentation that the petitioner desires to be considered at the time the Board renders a decision on the petition. Staff will not pull documents from an application to support the petition as such petitions and the consideration there of is open to the public and any documentation submitted with an application is not. They are two separate processes. The petition should come with a separate set of documents that is independent of an application.
PLEASE NOTE: Failure to follow the above instructions may result in the denial of the petition due to insufficient evidence to substantiate a hardship.
The petition will be posted for a minimum of fifteen (15 days) on the GeorgiaNet Public Registry and petitioners may conduct a search for their petition on the Rules Waiver Register.
Please note that any member of the public, including interested parties, shall have the opportunity to submit written comments in support of or against proposed variances or waivers prior to the Board decision. The Board has up to sixty (60) days from receipt of the petition to render a decision to either grant or deny the petition. The petitioner will be notified in writing of the Board’s decision and the written statement will include relevant facts and the reasons for the Board’s action.
The Board’s decision to deny a petition for variance or waiver is subject to judicial review in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 50-13-19. Please review that statute if you desire to dispute the Board’s decision. The validity of any variance or waiver which is granted by an agency may be determined in an action for declaratory judgment in accordance with Code Section 50-13-10.
Search Rules Waiver Petitions
Search for a petition on the Rules Waiver Register.