California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 887

Introduced by Assembly Member Allen

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 11349.7 of the Government Code, relating to state government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 887, as introduced, Allen. State government: regulations: economic analysis.

Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. The act requires the office, at the request of any standing, select, or joint committee of the Legislature, to initiate a priority review of any regulation, group of regulations, or series of regulations that the committee believes does not meet the standards of necessity, authority, clarity, consistency, reference, and nonduplication, as specified.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

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 11349.7 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

11349.7.  

The office, at the request of any standing, select, or
joint committee of the Legislature, shall initiate a priority review
of any regulation, group of regulations, or series of regulations
that the committee believes does not meet the standards set forth
in Section 11349.1.

The office shall notify interested persons and shall publish notice
in the California Regulatory Notice Register that a priority review
has been requested, shall consider the written comments submitted
by interested persons, begin delete the end delete begin insert any end insert information contained in the
rulemaking record, begin delete if any, end delete and shall complete each priority review
made pursuant to this section within 90 calendar days of the receipt
of the committee’s written request. During the period of any
priority review made pursuant to this section, all information
available to the office relating to the priority review shall be made
available to the public. In the event that the office determines that
a regulation does not meet the standards set forth in Section
11349.1, it shall order the adopting agency to show cause why the
regulation should not be repealed and shall proceed to seek repeal
of the regulation as provided by this section in accordance with
the following:

(a) In the event it determines that any of the regulations subject
to the review do not meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1,
the office shall within 15 days of the determination order the
adopting agency to show cause why the regulation should not be
repealed. In issuing the order, the office shall specify in writing
the reasons for its determination that the regulation does not meet
the standards set forth in Section 11349.1. The reasons for its
determination shall be made available to the public. The office
shall also publish its order and the reasons therefor in the California
Regulatory Notice Register. In the case of a regulation for which
no, or inadequate, information relating to its necessity can be
furnished by the adopting agency, the order shall specify the
information which the office requires to make its determination.

(b) No later than 60 days following receipt of an order to show
cause why a regulation should not be repealed, the agency shall
respond in writing to the office. Upon written application by the
agency, the office may extend the time for an additional 30 days.

(c) The office shall review and consider all information
submitted by the agency in a timely response to the order to show
cause why the regulation should not be repealed, and determine
whether the regulation meets the standards set forth in Section
11349.1. The office shall make this determination within 60 days
of receipt of an agency’s response to the order to show cause. If
the office does not make a determination within 60 days of receipt
of an agency’s response to the order to show cause, the regulation
shall be deemed to meet the standards set forth in subdivision (a)
of Section 11349.1. In making this determination, the office shall
also review any written comments submitted to it by the public
within 30 days of the publication of the order to show cause in the
California Regulatory Notice Register. During the period of review
and consideration, the information available to the office relating
to each regulation for which the office has issued an order to show
cause shall be made available to the public. The office shall notify
the adopting agency within two working days of the receipt of
information submitted by the public regarding a regulation for
which an order to show cause has been issued. If the office
determines that a regulation fails to meet the standards, it shall
prepare a statement specifying the reasons for its determination.
The statement shall be delivered to the adopting agency, the
Legislature, and the Governor and shall be made available to the
public and the courts. Thirty days after delivery of the statement
required by this subdivision the office shall prepare an order of
repeal of the regulation and shall transmit it to the Secretary of
State for filing.

(d) The Governor, within 30 days after the office has delivered
the statement specifying the reasons for its decision to repeal, as
required by subdivision (c), may overrule the decision of the office
ordering the repeal of a regulation. The regulation shall then remain
in full force and effect. Notice of the Governor’s action and the
reasons therefor shall be published in the California Regulatory
Notice Register.

The Governor shall transmit to the rules committee of each house
of the Legislature a statement of reasons for overruling the decision
of the office, plus any other information that may be requested by
either of the rules committees.

(e) In the event that the office orders the repeal of a regulation,
it shall publish the order and the reasons therefor in the California
Regulatory Notice Register.