American Samoa Administrative Code gets update, after 40 years

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — ASG has published and released the Official 2023 Edition of the American Samoa Administrative Code — the ASG regulations, according to Lt. Gov. Talauega E. V. Ale — in his capacity as the Secretary of American Samoa.

And ASG has an obligation to update the American Samoa Code Annotated, the official reporter of laws; and the American Samoa Reporter, the official reporter of American Samoa Court cases.

Local law requires that the Secretary of American Samoa publish and make available for public inspection the revised or supplemented Administrative Code every two years. A statement from the Secretary’s Office said that the last known update of the Administrative Code was published in 1982 some 40-years ago,

The Administrative Code is the official reporter of the rules, regulations, and procedures that the departments, agencies, commissions, boards, and other ASG entities adopt to execute and enforce the general laws that have been passed by the Fono and enacted by the Governor.

Upon taking office in 2021, Gov. Lemanu P. S. Mauga took immediate action and directed the Office of the Secretary of American Samoa “to proceed with all expediency and diligence to compile and publish an updated version of the Administrative Code,” according to a statement from the Governor’s Office.

“Our team at the Secretary’s Office and the Comprehensive Administrative Rule Reform (CARR) project worked diligently over two years pouring over public and private records and conducting interviews of key individuals to piece together the current version of agency rules,” Talauega said in a statement included in the new edition.

In January 2022, “we circulated our first attempt at updating the Administrative Code and requested input from our community. Through the CARR Project, we received great input and support from government agencies, the Fono, Court, the American Samoa Bar Association, and other members of the community,” Talauega said.

He pointed out that the 2023 Edition “reflects the hard work and commitment of many individuals” including the staff at the Secretary’s Office, the CARR Project, the Governor’s Office, the Rule Reform Officers, “as well as the great contributions of our government leaders and members of the community.”

“It is my hope that this work will help our people better understand the rules that apply in their dealings with government agencies. It is also my hope that our government agencies will benefit from having updated, concise, and accurate rules at their fingertips to facilitate their services to the people of American Samoa,” he said.

“Our work is not done. We have an obligation to update the Administrative Code every two years, which means our work must start now,” he said. “And we cannot forget the American Samoa Code Annotated, the official reporter of laws and statutes passed by the Fono and approved by the Governor, was last published in 1992.”

“Likewise, the American Samoa Reporter, the official reporter of American Samoa Court cases, was last published in 2006. We have an obligation to update these reporters as well,” he concluded.

The Secretary will update the Administrative Code in real-time as previously promulgated rules are recovered and as departments promulgate new Rules. These updates will be made available via the Secretary of American Samoa website, which will have a downloadable PDF of the 2023 Edition of the Administrative Code.

CARR PROJECT

The CARR project is an ongoing project through the Office of the Secretary that was launched to not only simplify the rule making process but to alleviate the unnecessary public costs and regulatory burdens placed on the People of American Samoa.

To do so, each department was ordered to identify rules that were outdated, unnecessary or ineffective, or quite simply inconsistent with the law and work with the Rule Reform Panel to revise, amend, or repeal those rules. 

The CARR Project consists of two distinct courses of action. First, to evaluate existing rules and then to assist departments to revise and/ or amend their Rules. Secondly, to make these Rules available publicly in a convenient and accessible manner. Talauega, as Secretary, chairs the panel.

For additional information, please visit (www.osas.as.gov) or email ([email protected]. )