BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1520 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 26, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER PROTECTION Mary Hayashi, Chair SB 1520 (Calderon) - As Amended: May 30, 2012 SENATE VOTE : 38-0 SUBJECT : State government: administrative efficiency. SUMMARY : Requires the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to provide information to a permit applicant regarding the permit process for a proposed development project, revises an implementation date, and makes other conforming changes. Specifically, this bill : 1)Requires OPR to provide information to an applicant for a permit explaining the permit approval process, as specified. 2)Authorizes OPR to call a conference of parties, at the state level, to resolve questions or mediate disputes arising from a permit application for a development project. 3)Allows OPR to charge a permit applicant for a proposed development project, a fee that does not exceed estimated reasonable costs of providing the service. 4)Requires a statement of reasons for the adoption, amendment or repeal of a regulation to include a standardized impact analysis for each major regulation proposed after November 1, 2013, instead of January 1, 2013, under existing law. 5)Requires agencies proposing to adopt, amend or repeal a regulation prior to November 1, 2013, to prepare an economic assessment. 6)Contains an urgency clause. EXISTING LAW : 1)Establishes the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which is charged with rulemaking procedures and standards for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies charged with the enforcement of state laws and for SB 1520 Page 2 the review of those regulations by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). 2)Requires every agency to submit to OAL, a notice of proposed action and make a copy of the express terms of the regulation available to the public upon request. 3)Requires for every major regulation proposed on or after January 1, 2013, a standardized regulatory impact analysis. 4)Requires state agencies that are proposing to adopt, amend or repeal any administrative regulation to assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals. 5)Establishes the permit streamlining act. 6)Provides that the Legislature finds and declares that there is a statewide need to ensure clear understanding of the specific requirements which must be met in connection with the approval of development projects and to expedite decisions on such projects. 7)Requires any state agency, which is the lead agency for a development project, to inform the permit applicant that the Office of Permit assistance has been created in OPR to assist and inform developers relating to the permit approval process. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill . According to the author, "from a project review standpoint, this bill is an attempt to encourage a quicker review of applications for pending California development and other projects to expedite review and processing under applicable California law. Background . The APA governs the adoption of regulations by state agencies for purposes of ensuring that they are clear, necessary, legally valid, and available to the public. In seeking adoption of a proposed regulation, state agencies must comply with procedural requirements that include publishing the proposed regulation along with supporting statement of reasons; mailing and publishing a notice of the proposed action 45 days SB 1520 Page 3 before a hearing or before the close of the public comment period; and, submitting a final statement to OAL that summarizes and responds to all objections, recommendations and proposed alternatives that were raised during the public comment period. The OAL is then required to approve or reject the proposed regulation within 30 days. OAL is responsible for reviewing administrative regulations proposed by over 200 state agencies for compliance with the standards set forth in the APA, for transmitting these regulations to Secretary of State and for publishing regulations in the California Code of Regulations. Existing law requires OAL to review all regulations for necessity and non-duplication, and requires OAL to print a summary of all regulations filed with SOS in the previous week in the California Regulatory Notice Register. The state previously had a unit for permit assistance. The Office of Permit Assistance was located within OPR and subsequently, the Department of Permit Assistance was located within the Trade and Commerce Agency. In 2003, the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency was abolished, and the state's permit assistance responsibilities were repealed, AB 1757 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 229, statues of 2003. OPR is designated in statute as the state comprehensive planning agency. It is responsible for a number of programs and activities including, formulating long-range goals and policies for land use, population growth and distribution, urban expansion, land development, resource preservation, and other factors affecting statewide development patterns. It further develops and adopts guidelines for the preparation of city and county general plans, provides general planning assistance to local governments, and serves as the state's "single point of contact" for evaluation of federal funding proposals. Previous Legislation . AB 29 (John A. Pérez), Chapter 475, Statutes of 2011, created the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development within the Governor's office, with various responsibilities. SB 617 (Calderon and Pavley), Chapter 496, Statutes of 2011, revised various provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and required each state agency to prepare a standardized regulatory impact analysis, as specified, with respect to the SB 1520 Page 4 adoption, amendment, or repeal of a major regulation, proposed on or after November 1, 2013. AB 49 (Gatto) of 2011, reestablished the Office of Permit Assistance (OPA) under the Governor's OPR to help facilitate state and local review of commercial and industrial development projects. This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file. AB 632 (Wagner) of 2011, required state agencies to submit to the Legislature a notice of a proposed action to adopt, amend or repeal a regulation, if the notice identifies an economic impact, cost impact, statement or finding related to the proposed regulation, as specified. This bill was held in the Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee. SB 366 (Calderon) of 2011, among other things, created a Streamlined Permit Review Team charged with improving the efficiency of the state permitting process for development projects. This bill died in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee. AB 2529 (Fuentes) of 2010, established, until January 1, 2016, a process for peer review of economic impacts analyses for a proposed regulation and required OAL to send specified regulations to the fiscal committees in both houses of the Legislature if they meet certain criteria. This bill was held in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee. SB 959 (Ducheny) of 2010, recreated the Office of Permit Assistance under the Governor's OPR in order to help facilitate state and local level review of commercial and industrial development projects. This bill was vetoed by the Governor. AB 2351 (Committee on Ways and Means), Chapter 56, Statutes of 1993, merged or abolished 63 advisory boards to various state agencies, boards and commissions, and crested a department of permit assistance under the Trade and Commerce Agency. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support SB 1520 Page 5 None on File. Opposition None on File. Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916) 319-3301