BILL ANALYSIS AB 2738 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 2738 (Niello) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010 Policy Committee: Business and Professions Vote: 10 - 1 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires a state agency, when submitting proposed regulations to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to: 1)Identify and describe specific elements of the regulation that may require the use of specific technologies, equipment, actions or procedures that may require a proprietary compliance scheme, methodology, or process. 2)Provide justification for departing from the acknowledged preference of imposing performance standards and provide an explanation as to why certain technologies, equipment, actions, or procedures are required, in lieu of a performance standard. FISCAL EFFECT 1)The workload for the OAL would be minor and absorbable within existing resources. 2)State agencies are currently required to justify their proposed regulations using a detailed and deliberative process. To the extent this legislation requires agencies to be more descriptive in their regulations, it would increase the workload for those departments. That workload should be absorbable within existing resources. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . AB 2738 is intended to require greater justification, transparency, and specificity when an agency promulgates AB 2738 Page 2 regulations that mandate the use of a specific technology. 2)Background . During the rulemaking process, a state agency is required to prepare an Initial Statement of Reasons (ISOR) whenever it proposes to create, repeal or amend a regulation. An ISOR describes the basis of the regulation, the purpose of the rule, how it is intended to be implemented and the data on which the public agency relied to develop the proposed regulatory change. An ISOR must provide a description of reasonable alternatives to the rule being proposed. Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081