Amended in Assembly April 6, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 797

Introduced by Assembly Member Steinorth

February 26, 2015

An act to amend Sections 11343.4 and 11349.3 of the Government Code, relating to regulations.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 797, as amended, Steinorth. Regulations: effective dates and legislative review.

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. That act requires an agency, prior to submitting a proposal to adopt, amend, or repeal an administrative regulation, to determine the economic impact of that regulation, in accordance with certain procedures. The act defines a major regulation as a regulation that the agency determines has an expected economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals estimated to exceed $50,000,000. The act requires the office to transmit a copy of a regulation to the Secretary of State for filing if the office approves the regulation or fails to act on it within 30 days. The act provides that a regulation or an order of repeal of a regulation becomes effective on a quarterly basis, as prescribed, except in specified begin delete instances, including if a regulation adopted by the Fish and Game Commission requires a different effective date to conform with federal law. end delete begin insert instances. end insert

This bill would require the office to submit to begin insert the appropriate policy committees of end insert each house of the Legislature for review a copy of each major regulation that it submits to the Secretary of State. begin delete The bill would eliminate the quarterly schedule pursuant to which regulations and orders of repeal become effective, as well as the provisions specifically addressing the effective dates of regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission. The bill would, instead, provide that a regulation or order of repeal required to be filed with the Secretary of State generally becomes effective the 90th day after the date of filing, subject to certain exceptions. end delete The bill would add another exception to those currently provided that specifies that a regulation does not become effective if the Legislature passes a statute to override the regulation.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 11343.4 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

11343.4.  

A regulation or an order of repeal required to be filed
with the Secretary of State shall become effective on the 90th day
after the date of filing unless any of the following occur:

(a) The statute pursuant to which the regulation or order of
repeal was adopted specifically provides otherwise, in which event
it becomes effective on the day prescribed by the statute.

(b) A later date is prescribed by the state agency in a written
instrument filed with, or as part of, the regulation or order of repeal.

(c) The agency makes a written request to the office
demonstrating good cause for an earlier effective date, in which
case the office may prescribe an earlier date.

(d) The Legislature passes a statute to override the regulation.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 11343.4 of the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

11343.4.  

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b),
a regulation or an order of repeal required to be filed with the
Secretary of State shall become effective on a quarterly basis as
follows:

(1) January 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on
September 1 to November 30, inclusive.

(2) April 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on
December 1 to February 29, inclusive.

(3) July 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on March
1 to May 31, inclusive.

(4) October 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on June
1 to August 31, inclusive.

(b) The effective dates in subdivision (a) shall not apply in all
of the following:

(1) The effective date is specifically provided by the statute
pursuant to which the regulation or order of repeal was adopted,
in which event it becomes effective on the day prescribed by the
statute.

(2) A later date is prescribed by the state agency in a written
instrument filed with, or as part of, the regulation or order of repeal.

(3) The agency makes a written request to the office
demonstrating good cause for an earlier effective date, in which
case the office may prescribe an earlier date.

(4) (A) A regulation adopted by the Fish and Game Commission
pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 200) of Chapter
2 of Division 1 of the Fish and Game Code.

(B) A regulation adopted by the Fish and Game Commission
that requires a different effective date in order to conform to a
federal regulation.

begin insert

(5) The Legislature passes a statute to override the regulation.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

Section 11349.3 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

11349.3.  

(a) (1) The office shall either approve a regulation
submitted to it for review and transmit it to the Secretary of State
for filing or disapprove it within 30 working days after the
regulation has been submitted to the office for review. If the office
fails to act within 30 days, the regulation shall be deemed to have
been approved and the office shall transmit it to the Secretary of
State for filing.

(2) The office shall submit a copy of each major regulation
submitted to the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph (1) to
begin insert the appropriate policy committees with responsibility for the
subject matter of the regulation of end insert each house of the Legislature
for review.

(b) If the office disapproves a regulation, it shall return it to the
adopting agency within the 30-day period specified in subdivision
(a) accompanied by a notice specifying the reasons for disapproval.
Within seven calendar days of the issuance of the notice, the office
shall provide the adopting agency with a written decision detailing
the reasons for disapproval. No regulation shall be disapproved
except for failure to comply with the standards set forth in Section
11349.1 or for failure to comply with this chapter.

(c) If an agency determines, on its own initiative, that a
regulation submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) should be returned
by the office prior to completion of the office’s review, it may
request the return of the regulation. All requests for the return of
a regulation shall be memorialized in writing by the submitting
agency no later than one week following the request. Any
regulation returned pursuant to this subdivision shall be resubmitted
to the office for review within the one-year period specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 11346.4 or shall comply with Article 5
(commencing with Section 11346) prior to resubmission.

(d) The office shall not initiate the return of a regulation pursuant
to subdivision (c) as an alternative to disapproval pursuant to
subdivision (b).