BILL NUMBER: AB 1107	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to amend Section 57004 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to environmental protection.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1107, as introduced, Blakeslee. Environmental protection:
California Environmental Protection Agency: rules: scientific peer
review.
   Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection
Agency, or a board, department, or office within the agency, to enter
into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences, the
University of California, the California State University, or any
similar scientific institution of higher learning, or any combination
of those entities, or with a scientist or group of scientists of
comparable stature and qualifications that are recommended by the
President of the University of California, to conduct an external
scientific peer review of the scientific basis for any rule, as
defined to include specified regulations and policies, proposed by
any board, department, or office within the agency, and prescribes
procedures for conducting that scientific peer review.
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that
provision.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 57004 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   57004.  (a)  For purposes of this section, the following terms
have the following meanings:
   (1)  "Rule" means either of the following:
   (A)  A regulation, as defined in Section 11342.600 of the
Government Code.
   (B)  A policy adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board
pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7
(commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code) that has the
effect of a regulation and that is adopted in order to implement or
make effective a statute.
   (2)  "Scientific basis" and "scientific portions" mean those
foundations of a rule that are premised upon, or derived from,
empirical data or other scientific findings, conclusions, or
assumptions establishing a regulatory level, standard, or other
requirement for the protection of public health or the environment.
   (b)  The agency, or a board, department, or office within the
agency, shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of
Sciences, the University of California, the California State
University, or any similar scientific institution of higher learning,
any combination of those entities, or  with  a
scientist or group of scientists of comparable stature and
qualifications  that is  recommended by the
President of the University of California, to conduct an external
scientific peer review of the scientific basis for  any
  a  rule proposed for adoption by  any
  a  board, department, or office within the
agency. The scientific basis or scientific portion of a rule adopted
pursuant to Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 25249.5) of Division
20 or Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 39650) of Division 26
shall be deemed to have complied with this section if it complies
with the peer review processes established pursuant to these
statutes.
   (c)   No   A    person 
may   shall not  serve as an external scientific
peer reviewer for the scientific portion of a rule if that person
participated in the development of the scientific basis or scientific
portion of the rule.
   (d)   No   A  board, department, or
office within the agency shall  not  take any action to
adopt the final version of a rule unless all of the following
conditions are met:
   (1)  The board, department, or office submits the scientific
portions of the proposed rule, along with a statement of the
scientific findings, conclusions, and assumptions on which the
scientific portions of the proposed rule are based and the supporting
scientific data, studies, and other appropriate materials, to the
external scientific peer review entity for its evaluation.
   (2)  The external scientific peer review entity, within the
timeframe agreed upon by the board, department, or office and the
external scientific peer review entity, prepares a written report
that contains an evaluation of the scientific basis of the proposed
rule. If the external scientific peer review entity finds that the
board, department, or office has failed to demonstrate that the
scientific portion of the proposed rule is based upon sound
scientific knowledge, methods, and practices, the report shall state
that finding, and the reasons explaining the finding, within the
agreed-upon timeframe. The board, department, or office may accept
the finding of the external scientific peer review entity, in whole,
or in part, and may revise the scientific portions of the proposed
rule accordingly. If the board, department, or office disagrees with
any aspect of the finding of the external scientific peer review
entity, it shall explain, and include as part of the rulemaking
record, its basis for arriving at  such a   that
 determination in the adoption of the final rule, including the
reasons why it has determined that the scientific portions of the
proposed rule are based on sound scientific knowledge, methods, and
practices.
   (e)  The requirements of this section do not apply to any
emergency regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
11346.1 of the Government Code.
   (f)   Nothing in this   This  section
 shall be interpreted to, in any way,   does not
 limit the authority of a board, department, or office within
the agency to adopt a rule pursuant to the requirements of the
statute that authorizes or requires the adoption of the rule.