BILL NUMBER: AB 1213	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nielsen

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to add Section 11340.15 to the Government Code, relating to
regulations.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1213, as introduced, Nielsen. Regulations: philosophy and
principles of regulation.
   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.
   This bill would adopt the regulatory philosophy and the principles
of regulation, as outlined in Presidential Executive Order 12866 and
Presidential Executive Order 13563, in order to achieve the same
regulatory benefits within the state by directing agencies, among
other things, to improve public participation in the rulemaking
process, to reduce redundant, inconsistent, or overlapping
regulations through increased agency coordination to improve
flexibility, and to develop and submit to the office a preliminary
plan under which the agency will periodically review its existing
significant regulations to determine whether any regulations should
be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed.
   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.  Section 11340.15 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
   11340.15.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) An efficient regulatory planning and review process is vital
to ensure that the state's regulatory system best serves the people
of this state.
   (2) In 1993, President Clinton reviewed and revised the federal
government's program for regulatory review and issued Executive Order
12866, titled "Regulatory Planning and Review," establishing the
general principle that the benefits of intended regulations should
justify the costs.
   (3) In 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, titled
"Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review," to reaffirm and expand
upon the principles and structures of regulatory review established
in Executive Order 12866.
   (b) In order to achieve the benefits associated with Executive
Order 12866 and the anticipated benefits associated with Executive
Order 13563, this state adopts the following regulatory philosophy,
as outlined in Section 1 of Executive Order 13563:
   (1) Our regulatory system must protect public health, welfare,
safety, and our environment while promoting economic growth,
innovation, competitiveness, and job creation. It must be based on
the best available science. It must allow for public participation
and an open exchange of ideas. It must promote predictability and
reduce uncertainty. It must identify and use the best, most
innovative, and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory ends.
It must take into account benefits and costs, both quantitative and
qualitative. It must ensure that regulations are accessible,
consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand. It
must measure, and seek to improve, the actual results of regulatory
requirements.
   (c) (1) In order to achieve the benefits associated with Executive
Order 12866 and the anticipated benefits of Executive Order 13563,
this state adopts the expanded principles of regulation contained in
this subdivision, as reaffirmed in Section 1 of Executive Order
13563. Specifically, each agency shall, to the extent not
inconsistent with the existing provisions of this chapter, do each of
the following:
   (A) Propose or adopt a regulation only upon a reasoned
determination that its benefits justify its costs, recognizing that
some benefits and costs are difficult to quantify.
   (B) Tailor its regulations to impose the least burden on society,
consistent with obtaining regulatory objectives, taking into account,
among other things, and to the extent practicable, the costs of
cumulative regulations.
   (C) Select, in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches,
those approaches that maximize net benefits, including but not
limited to, potential economic, environmental, public health and
safety, and other advantages.
   (D) To the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather
than specifying the behavior or manner of compliance that regulated
entities must adopt.
   (E) Identify and assess available alternatives to direct
regulation, including providing economic incentives to encourage the
desired behavior, such as user fees or marketable permits, or
providing information upon which choices can be made by the public.
   (2) In applying the principles of this subdivision, each agency
should use the best available techniques to quantify anticipated
present and future benefits and costs as accurately as possible.
Where appropriate and permitted by law, each agency may consider
values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, including
equity, human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts.
   (d) (1) In order to achieve the benefits associated with Executive
Order 12866 and the anticipated benefits associated with Executive
Order 13563, this state adopts the expanded principles of regulation
contained in this subdivision, as outlined in Sections 2 to 6,
inclusive, of Executive Order 13563.
   (2) (A) Regulations shall be adopted through a process that
involves public participation. To that end, regulations shall be
based, to the extent feasible and consistent with law, on the open
exchange of information and perspectives among state, local, and
tribal officials, experts in relevant disciplines, affected
stakeholders in the private sector, and the public as a whole.
   (B) To promote an open exchange, each agency, consistent with
other applicable legal requirements, shall endeavor to provide the
public with an opportunity to participate in the regulatory process.
To the extent feasible and permitted by law, each agency shall afford
the public a meaningful opportunity to comment through the Internet
on any proposed regulation, with a comment period that should
generally be at least 60 days. To the extent feasible and permitted
by law, each agency shall also provide, for both proposed and final
rules, timely Internet access to the rulemaking record on the
Internet Web site of the agency, including relevant scientific and
technical findings, in an open format that can be easily searched and
downloaded. For proposed rules, access shall include, to the extent
feasible and permitted by law, an opportunity for public comment on
all pertinent parts of the rulemaking record, including relevant
scientific and technical findings.
   (C) Before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking, each agency,
where feasible and appropriate, shall seek the views of those who are
likely to be affected, including those who are likely to benefit
from and those who are potentially subject to the rulemaking.
   (3) Some sectors and industries face a significant number of
regulatory requirements, some of which may be redundant,
inconsistent, or overlapping. Greater coordination across agencies
could reduce these requirements, thus reducing costs and simplifying
and harmonizing rules. In developing regulatory actions and
identifying appropriate approaches, each agency shall attempt to
promote such coordination, simplification, and harmonization. Each
agency shall also seek to identify, as appropriate, means to achieve
regulatory goals that are designed to promote innovation.
   (4) Where relevant, feasible, and consistent with regulatory
objectives, and to the extent permitted by law, each agency shall
identify and consider regulatory approaches that reduce burdens and
maintain flexibility and freedom of choice for the public. These
approaches include warnings, appropriate default rules, and
disclosure requirements as well as provision of information to the
public in a form that is clear and intelligible.
   (5) Each agency shall ensure the objectivity of any scientific and
technological information and processes used to support the agency's
regulatory actions.
   (6) (A) To facilitate the periodic review of existing significant
regulations, agencies shall consider how best to promote
retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective,
insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline,
expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been learned. Such
retrospective analyses, including supporting data, should be
released online whenever possible.
   (B) Prior to July 1, 2012, each agency shall develop and submit to
the office a preliminary plan, consistent with law and its resources
and regulatory priorities, under which the agency will periodically
review its existing significant regulations to determine whether any
regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so
as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective or less
burdensome in achieving the regulatory objectives.