BILL NUMBER: AB 1833	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Logue and Garrick

                        FEBRUARY 12, 2010

   An act to add Section 11346.31 to the Government Code, relating to
regulations.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1833, as introduced, Logue. Regulations: economic impact
analysis.
   The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the
requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and
implementation of regulations by state agencies.
   This bill would additionally require the California Environmental
Protection Agency, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health,
and the State Air Resources Board, when proposing to adopt, amend, or
repeal an administrative regulation, to complete an economic impact
analysis of that action prior to the adoption, amendment, or repeal.
The bill would require the economic impact analysis to contain the
projected cost of the action to the General Fund, the projected total
economic impact of the action, including the cost to small business
and the estimated number of jobs to be lost, a description of all
feasible regulatory alternatives and a cost-benefit analysis of each
alternative, and a summary of written criticisms, as specified. The
bill would require the agency to make the economic impact report
available on the agency's Internet Web site.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The residents of the state expect that their state government
will enact laws and promulgate regulations to the general benefit of
the people and that regulations promulgated will tend to maximize
benefits to society while minimizing costs.
   (b) Administrative and regulatory actions can have significant and
far-reaching consequences for individuals, nonprofit organizations,
and businesses throughout the state.
   (c) Administrative and regulatory actions should be based on
adequate information concerning the need for, and consequences of,
the proposed action.
   (d) Administrative and regulatory actions that maximize benefits
to society while minimizing costs are preferable to actions that tend
toward the opposite.
   (e) The agencies, boards, departments, and offices of the state
generally strive to promulgate regulations that benefit the people of
the state.
   (f) The Legislature has in numerous instances required that the
agencies, boards, departments, and offices of the state take cost
considerations into account when promulgating regulations.
   (g) The Legislature has specifically required that the scientific
basis of environmental protection regulations be subject to analysis
and peer review.
   (h) The costs and benefits of other regulations promulgated by
agencies that affect jobs in this state and the overall business
climate should be equally subject to analysis.
  SEC. 2.  Section 11346.31 is added to the Government Code, to read:

   11346.31.  (a) This section is limited in its applicability to the
California Environmental Protection Agency, the Division of
Occupational Safety and Health, and the State Air Resources Board.
   (b) In addition to any other requirements, a state agency included
in subdivision (a) that proposes to adopt, amend, or repeal an
administrative regulation shall complete an economic impact analysis
of that action prior to the adoption, amendment, or repeal. The
economic impact analysis shall include all of the following:
   (1) The projected cost of the action to the General Fund.
   (2) The projected total economic impact of the action, including
the cost to small business and the estimated number of jobs to be
lost as a result of the action.
   (3) A description of all feasible regulatory alternatives and a
cost-benefit analysis of each alternative.
   (4) A summary of the written criticisms of the proposed action
received a reasonable time prior to the publication of the written
analysis, including letters, memoranda, reports, and written
allegations, of which the agency has knowledge, that the action is
discriminatory, unfair, unclear, inconsistent with statute, or beyond
the authority of the agency to enact.
   (c) An agency shall make the economic impact report described in
subdivision (b) available on the agency's Internet Web site.