BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       


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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1857|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1857
          Author:   Wayne (D)
          Amended:  6/12/02 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/18/02
          AYES:  Johnson, Brulte, Chesbro, Johannessen, Karnette,  
            Knight, Morrow, Perata, Soto

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  67-0, 5/2/02 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Administrative procedures

           SOURCE  :     California Law Revision Commission


           DIGEST  :    This bill clarifies and refines the  
          administrative rulemaking procedures based on  
          recommendations of the California Law Revision Commission.

           ANALYSIS  :    Under the Administrative Procedure Act,  
          existing law details the requirements that regulations must  
          adhere prior to their adoption.  These requirements include  
          public comment periods on proposed regulations, review  
          periods, publication requirements, and implementation  
          procedures.  The Office of Administrative Law is the state  
          government entity that oversees the adoption of proposed  
          regulations.

          This bill:
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                                                               AB 1857
                                                                Page  
          2


          1.Expands the requirement that an agency publish certain  
            rulemaking documents on its website to include the text  
            of a proposed emergency rulemaking action and the date  
            the proposed action is submitted to the Office of  
            Administrative Law.

          2.Provides that rulemaking documents shall be posted on  
            issuance and remain posted until at least 15 days after  
            the end of the rulemaking process.

          3.Clarifies requirements that an agency must describe  
            reasonable alternatives to a proposed regulation and  
            reasonable alternatives that would lessen any adverse  
            impact on small business.  It does this by stating that  
            both requirements are subject to the existing rule that  
            an agency need not "artificially construct alternatives  
            or justify why it has not identified alternatives" and  
            revises these provisions to make them more uniform.

          4.Replaces ambiguous provisions with a requirement that an  
            agency representative either responds to the substantive  
            questions regarding inquiries on proposed regulations or  
            directs them to another person in the agency for a prompt  
            response.

          5.Adjusts the scope of the exemption that the Fish and Game  
            Commission has from certain time periods specified in the  
            rulemaking procedure by including a recently added time  
            period that should have been covered in previous  
            legislation but was not.

          6.Makes several other clarifying and correcting amendments.

           Comments

           According to the California Law Review Commission, this  
          bill is the product of the Commission's recommendation on  
          Administrative Rulemaking Refinements (February 2002).   
          This recommendation addresses rulemaking issues not  
          previously considered by the Commission in prior  
          legislation, AB 1822 (Wayne), Chapter 1060, Statutes of  
          2000.  The most recent amendments make additional technical  
          correcting amendments to the Act.







                                                               AB 1857
                                                                Page  
          3


           Prior/Related Legislation

          AB 1822 (Wayne), Chapter 1060, Statutes of 2000  .  Similar  
          to this bill, making considerable more technical clarifying  
          updating and correcting amendments to the Administrative  
          Procedures Act.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/5/02)

          California Law Revision Commission (source)
          State Department of Fish and Game
          State Franchise Tax Board


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  
          AYES:  Aanestad, Alquist, Aroner, Bates, Bogh, Calderon,  
            Bill Campbell, John Campbell, Canciamilla, Cardenas,  
            Cardoza, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Corbett, Correa,  
            Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dickerson, Dutra, Firebaugh, Frommer,  
            Goldberg, Harman, Havice, Hollingsworth, Horton, Jackson,  
            Kehoe, Kelley, Koretz, La Suer, Leach, Leonard, Leslie,  
            Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews,  
            Migden, Mountjoy, Nakano, Nation, Negrete McLeod,  
            Oropeza, Papan, Pescetti, Richman, Salinas, Shelley,  
            Simitian, Steinberg, Strom-Martin, Thomson, Vargas,  
            Washington, Wayne, Wiggins, Wright, Wyland, Wyman,  
            Zettel, Wesson


          TSM:cm  8/5/02   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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