BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2738
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2738 (Niello)
As Amended August 17, 2010
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |72-0 |(May 13, 2010) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 25, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: B.,P. & C.P.
SUMMARY : Establishes new requirements for state agency adoption
of regulations that require the use of specific technology,
equipment, or procedures.
The Senate amendments :
1)Provide that the provisions of this bill become operative on
January 1, 2012, and inoperative on January 1, 2014, at which
time the current provisions of law governing the required
information state agencies submit to the Office of
Administrative Law (OAL) with their notice of proposed action
to adopt, amend or repeal a regulation would resume.
2)Delete the requirement that agencies:
a) Identify and describe the elements of a regulation, that
require, or may require through at least one alternative
method of compliance, the use of specific technologies,
equipment, actions, or procedures, or other potentially
proprietary compliance scheme, methodology, or process;
and,
b) Provide a justification for departing from the
acknowledged preference of imposing performance standards
and a detailed specification as to why certain
technologies, equipment actions, or procedures are required
to meet the goals of the regulation, instead of imposing a
performance standard.
3)Recast current law by requiring every agency to submit to the
OAL with the notice of the proposed action, and to make
available to the public, the following:
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a) A copy of the express terms of the proposed regulation,
as specified.
b) An initial statement of reasons for proposing the
adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation, including,
but not limited to:
i) A statement of the specific purpose of each
adoption, amendment, or repeal and the rationale for the
determination by the agency that each adoption,
amendment, or repeal is reasonably necessary to carry out
the purpose for which it is proposed;
ii) An identification of each technical, theoretical,
and empirical study, report, or similar document, upon
which the agency relies in proposing the adoption,
amendment, or repeal of a regulation;
iii) Where the adoption or amendment of a regulation
would mandate the use of specific technologies or
equipment, a statement of the reasons why the agency
believes these mandates or prescriptive standards are
required; and,
iv) A description of reasonable alternatives to the
regulation and the agency's reasons for rejecting those
alternatives, as specified.
c) Facts, evidence, documents, testimony, or other evidence
on which the agency relies to support an initial
determination that he action will not have a significant
adverse economic impact on business.
4)Require departments, boards and commissions within the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Resources Agency, and the
Office of the State Fire Marshal to describe of their efforts,
in connection with a proposed rulemaking action, to avoid
unnecessary duplication or conflicts with federal regulations
addressing the same issues. Authorizes these agencies to
adopt regulations different from federal regulation addressing
the same issues upon a finding of one or more of the following
justifications:
a) The differing state regulations are authorized by law;
and,
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b) The cost of differing state regulations is justified by
the benefit to human health, public safety, public welfare,
or the environment.
5)Specify that a state agency that adopts or amends a regulation
mandated by federal law or regulations, the provisions of
which are identical to a previously adopted or amended federal
regulation, shall be deemed to have complied with the above
requirements if a statement to the effect that a federally
mandated regulation or amendment to a regulation is being
proposed, together with a citation to where an explanation of
the provisions of the regulation can be found, is included in
the notice of proposed adoption or amendment. However the
agency shall comply fully with this bill with respect to any
provisions in the regulation that the agency proposed to adopt
or amend that are different from the corresponding provisions
of the federal regulation.
6)Commence the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2012, and
sunset these provisions on January 1, 2014.
7)Add an urgency clause.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes requirements for the adoption, publication,
review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies,
under the Administrative Procedure Act.
2)Requires a state agency to submit to the OAL an initial
statement of reasons for proposing the adoption, amendment,
repeal of a regulation that includes a description of
reasonable alternatives to the regulation.
3)Requires, for a regulation that would mandate the use of
specific technologies or equipment or prescribe specific
actions or procedures, that the imposition of performance
standards be considered as an alternative.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
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Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0006258