REGULATION INFORMATION SYSTEM (RIS)

Fill in the RIS User ID/Password Request Form and fax to (804) 692-0625. RIS access level must be designated on the form and approved by the agency's Regulatory Coordinator. If the agency Regulatory Coordinator is requesting access, the form will be approved by the Registrar's Office.

If you do not receive an email with your login information within a day or so, please call Karen Perrine at 786-3591.

Log in to RIS:

1. Go to http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?000+men+SRR.

§ Bookmark this address as a favorite for easy access.

2. At the top right corner, click on "Login."

3. Enter User ID and Password, hit return or click on "Log In." (Do not bookmark this page.) If you do not have a User ID and password, print out the form on the RIS web page and fax it as shown on the form. You will receive an email within a couple of days.

4. On next screen, click "Continue."

5. The list of agencies you are authorized to work on is shown under "Regulation Information System" at the bottom of the VAC searchable database home page. (Click on refresh (F5) if your agency name does not immediately appear at the bottom of the screen.)

6. Click on an agency name.

SETTING UP COMPUTER(S) FOR THE FIRST TIME

Download macro:

Click on "Tools" in the RIS header. The macro must be run on each computer you use for RIS, i.e., work, home, laptop, etc. Users with "read-only access" do not need to download the macro.
Select "Click here" to download the self-extracting executable. It is safe to download the macro. Select Run, Run, follow the instruction to make sure all Word documents are closed, then select OK, OK.
To see if the RIS toolbar is visible in Word, open any Word document. If you do not see the toolbar when you open a Word document, contact Karen Perrine or Lilli Hausenfluck in the Registrar's Office at 786-3591.
The toolbar for RIS can be moved in relation to other toolbars by dragging the left side of the toolbar.
If you have technical issues with the download, contact the Legislative Automated Systems helpdesk at 786-9631 for additional information or assistance.
The Registrar's Office will notify users when updates are available.

Make the change to Control Panel settings:

Follow directions for making the change to your control panel settings as described below. This change must be made to each computer you use for RIS, i.e., work, home, laptop, etc.

Adjustments to Internet Explorer when installing the RIS macro

LINKING AND SENDING INFORMATION TO TOWN HALL

Link to Town Hall:

If you start a project on Town Hall, TH will create a linked project in RIS. If you do not see the action title as a project description in RIS, check the dropdown list in RIS next to "Create Project From Town Hall." Choose the appropriate action title and click "Create Project From Town Hall."

If you start your project in RIS (see next section -- Preparing Regulation Text in RIS) and create a TH action later, you can link the two by choosing the title from the dropdown menu in TH when you create the action/stage.

Send RIS Project Text to Town Hall (first prepare text as explained in next section-- Preparing Regulation Text in RIS):

You must have full regulatory coordinator access in RIS or Town Hall to sync regulation text between the two systems.
Text is only created in RIS and needs to be pulled into Town Hall in order to submit a TH Action for executive branch review or to the Registrar's Office for publication in the Virginia Register.
To retrieve regulatory text from an RIS Project into a linked Town Hall Action, go to the Documents tab for the TH Action for the relevant stage and click on "Sync text with RIS."
This creates a link to an html document that rolls together all sections of the project on Town Hall. The date of each version is in the Documents tab area for the Action in a dropdown list. The text will be automatically updated and will display to the public approximately 10 days prior to publication in the Virginia Register of Regulations.
To send regulatory text from an RIS Project to a linked Town Hall Action, click on the "Re-sync" button for the particular project on the agency Projects List page. If the word "Post" appears instead of "Re-sync," this means the project is not currently linked with an action on Town Hall.

PREPARING REGULATION TEXT IN RIS

Create a new project (for a project that does not have a corresponding project in Town Hall yet):

Click on "Project Description Goes Here" and enter the name of the new project. Keep the name short but with enough information to differentiate it from other projects (e.g., regional EMS councils, 2009 fee reduction, continuing education requirements, or Rev. C09).
Click on "Create New Project." The project is given a project number and put at the bottom of the list of projects.
To open the project, click on the manila folder icon next to the project name. Note that on the next screen, the project title can be changed. Once a project has been linked to Town Hall, keep the names in the two systems identical.
To return to the agency's Projects List page, click on "Projects" in the header.
To return to your list of agencies, click on the Regulation Information Systems header.

Create the structure of the project (selecting those sections that are being amended, added or repealed):

To amend, add or repeal a section or to add a new chapter, click on "Create Entry."
Select an existing chapter from the dropdown menu or click on "Create New Chapter." If you select an existing chapter, the corresponding sections appear in a dropdown list. You can select a chapter to be amended or repealed or click on "Create New Section" to create a new section.
You can select multiple sections to amend or repeal by holding down the Shift key for consecutive sections or holding down the Control key for nonconsecutive sections. If you are selecting multiple sections, they must be sections that will all be amended or all be repealed. Additional sections to amend or repeal may be added individually or in groups at any time.
New sections must be added one at a time and given a "description," which is the catchline for the new section. The description must be given at the time a new section is created. You may modify the section description at a later time if needed. The catchline description is the portion that will be used for the Table of Contents feature of the online VAC.
To create a new section, skip the Select Existing Chapter step and go straight to Create New Section. At the next screen, you can Select Existing Chapter from the dropdown list or choose from the list of new chapters created in this project. The next available section of the chapter will appear for the section being added. Verify that it is the section number you want or change it to reflect the section number you want. Notice that four digits must be used (e.g., section 20 will be section 0020). Type the catchline without the ending period and click "Create New Section."
Catchlines of existing sections can also be modified. Existing catchlines should be amended in the content area using strikes and underscores, but the description should be written as the catchline will appear when the section becomes effective. For sections being amended, the section content area catchline and the section description should be identical when the section becomes effective. The catchline description is the portion that will be used for the Table of Contents feature of the online VAC. To amend the description, click on the words of the description. It will open a text box. Make the changes (without using strikethroughs and underscores) and click Update. (Leave the catchline text on the Project Details page as is for sections being repealed. The update system will automatically replace the catchline with [Repealed] in the VAC table of contents.)
To create a new chapter, click on "Create New Chapter" and enter the chapter number and title and the first section number and description/catchline. All additional sections will be added one at a time. You may create all the sections or a group of sections and go back to add the content to each one. To see the Project Details page, click on "Return to Projects Details."
To repeal a chapter and replace it with a new chapter, click on "Create Entry," choose the chapter to be repealed, click on the first section of the chapter in the section list, hold down the shift key and scroll down to the last section in the list and click on it (include the FORMS or DIBR list since they will be repealed with the chapter). Scroll through the list and deselect any sections that have already been repealed by holding down the Control button as you click on each one. Select "Repeal" from the "Select Action" dropdown list and then click on the "Submit" button. All sections of the chapter to be repealed will appear as entries in the project. Be careful with this. If you accidentally leave it as "amend," you'll have to delete (click the red "x" next to each section) and start over.
Next select "Create Entry" and "Create New Chapter." Verify or change the chapter number and first section number (both numbers will be in a four-digit format). Enter the new chapter title (in upper case) and the catchline for the first section (in sentence case), then click "Add Chapter."
Now you will enter each new section individually by entering the catchline without the ending period, and clicking "Create New Section."
To add a FORMS list or Documents Incorporated by Reference (DIBR) list, select "Create Entry," select "Create New Section," select the current or new chapter, choose the FORMS or DIBR designation from the dropdown list and click the box next to the dropdown list. The appropriate catchline and section number will appear in the description box. Click on "Create New Section."

Insert content into the appropriate sections:

After you have created the structure for the regulatory action, you can amend content with strikethroughs and underscores in sections being amended, enter the content of each new section that is being added, and strike through the catchline and section content for sections being repealed. Begin the process in each case by clicking on the red "edit" button. This opens a version of Word with the appropriate macros. Details for each type of action follow.
For an amended section, use strikethroughs and underscores to mark changes. Leave the format of current tables as is and the Register staff will convert them to standard tables for the new look of VAC. (The Register staff will assist with this process as you are working on a project; you do not have to wait until it is submitted to contact the staff.) Amend the content of sections as usual with strikethroughs and underscores. Mark changes in a final regulation with brackets. Use the macro buttons in the RIS template that create the opening and closing brackets without underlining and with "required spaces" so brackets will stay with the stricken and new language being modified. Verify that all paragraphs have correct styles applied. For a listing of styles and examples, see the VAC Quick Style Sheet on the Register website.

Click the RIS Update button to upload the modified text to the RIS application. Click on "back" in the upper right hand corner to go back to the Project Details page. To make additional modifications, click on "edit" again, make additional changes, and use the RIS Update button to finish.

If you decide not to keep the changes you made, you may close the Word window without saving and your text in RIS is not changed.

For each new section, enter the text of the entire section. Fill in the Statutory Authority portion for the new section. Make sure all text is underlined including the section number, catchline, and section text. The Statutory Authority is not underlined. Verify that all paragraphs have correct styles applied. Click the RIS Update button. Click on "back" in the upper right hand corner to go back to the Project Details page or click "next" to go to the next section in the project.
For sections being repealed, use the "(Repealed.)" button in the RIS template to insert (Repealed.) after the catchline. Leave the section number, strike the catchline, and strike the text of the section and the Statutory Authority but do not strike through the Historical Notes. Historical Notes will remain with the section in VAC after it is repealed.
When a part or article is being inserted as new, include them before the section as they appear in the Register. By doing this, they will appear correctly in the Register when published as final.
For current part and article names and numbers that are being amended, make the changes in the section if that section is being amended. If it is not being amended, then a message should be included in the Comments feature of the project so the Registrar's Office can make the appropriate changes for Register publication and in the online VAC when the action becomes final.

PRINTING REGULATION TEXT

Use the "Create Report" feature:

The Create Report feature allows the user to gather all requested documents into an html or Word document for review as follows:

a. Select "Sections" from the dropdown menu and then click on Create Report. This creates a document with all of the sections in the project rolled into one document for review in a single-spaced format.

b. Select "Sections (Double spaced)" and click on Create Report for a document with all of the sections in the project in a double-spaced format and with the Certification Statement appended to the end. Print this document as is for hard copy submission to the Registrar's Office. The statement should be filled out and signed for Final and Fast-Track regulations and left blank for other actions.

c. Select "Sections (Resolved)" and click on Create Report. This creates a document with all of the sections in the project rolled into one document with the text that is stricken removed and text that is underscored changed to plain text. This is how the text will appear when the project becomes final. In essence, this is the equivalent of "Accept all changes" when using the Track Changes feature of Microsoft Word.

d. Select "Sections (With notes)" and click on Create Report. This creates a document with all of the sections in the project rolled into one document with the Statutory Authority and Historical Notes appended to each section.

Choose the "Open in Word" link in the top right corner of the page to open a Word document that can be saved to your hard drive and printed. Format changes like margins, headers, and page numbers can be made as desired for internal review or board approval purposes. Remember that any changes made in the Word document will not be part of the official data fields so desired changes will have to be made in the individual VAC sections of the RIS project.

DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES/VIRGINIA CODE COMMISSION CONTACTS

Telephone: (804) 786-3591