BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1982
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Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1982 (Gorrell) - As Amended: April 18, 2012
SUBJECT : Regulations: effective date: legislative review.
SUMMARY : Increases from 30 to 90 days the time period that a
regulation or an order of repeal becomes effective after being
filed with the Secretary of State (SOS). Specifically, this
bill :
1)Increases from 30 to 90 days the time period that a regulation
or an order of repeal becomes effective after being filed with
the SOS.
2)Authorizes the Legislature to override a regulation's
effective date via statute.
3)Requires the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to submit a
copy of each major regulation submitted to the SOS to each
house of the Legislature for review.
EXISTING LAW :
1)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 (OAL)
under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
2)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.
3)Defines a major regulation as a regulation that the adopting
agency determines has an expected economic impact on
California business enterprises and individuals in an amount
exceeding $50 million.
4)Requires OAL to transmit a copy of a regulation to the SOS for
filing if OAL approves the regulation or fails to act on it
within 30 days.
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5)Provides that a regulation or an order of repeal of a
regulation becomes effective on the 30th day after it is filed
with the SOS, unless prescribed conditions occur.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, "While the
intent of government regulations is to ensure fairness in our
society, provide protections for residents, and to promote
economic efficiency, government regulations can unintentionally
cause greater losses to societal welfare than benefits. In
other words, some major regulations can be too costly,
ineffective, time consuming, and disproportionate to their
perceived benefit. With most recent data indicating that the
economy is slowly moving on the path of recovery, some
regulations can contribute to the delay or stifling of economic
growth.
"The Little Hoover Commission issued a report on October 25,
2011 on the issue of state regulations ('Better Regulation:
Improving California's Rulemaking Process'). According to the
report, the 'state's economy will benefit from better, more
effective regulation and reduced uncertainty.' One of the major
concerns is the lack of 'transparency and accountability.' By
requiring that major regulations (fiscal impact of $50 million
or more) be sent to the Legislature for review, provides the
oversight and transparency necessary for more effective
regulation and a better economic climate.
"The United States Congress is currently considering HR 10, the
REINS Act, which passed the House of Representatives and is
currently being reviewed by the Senate. HR 10 requires that any
major regulations with a fiscal impact of $500 million or more
shall be sent to Congress for approval.
"Similar to the REINS Act, AB 1982 provides more accountability
and responsibility for the regulations that are enacted by state
agencies and departments by requiring all major regulations to
be sent to the Legislature for review. The Legislature is given
90 days to act on proposed regulations once they are received.
Unless action is taken by the Legislature to prevent
implementation, the proposed regulation will go into effect."
AB 1982
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Background . The APA governs the adoption of regulations by
state agencies for purposes of ensuring that they are clear,
necessary, legally valid, and available to the public. In
seeking adoption of a proposed regulation, state agencies must
comply with procedural requirements that include publishing the
proposed regulation along with supporting statement of reasons;
mailing and publishing a notice of the proposed action 45 days
before a hearing or before the close of the public comment
period; and, submitting a final statement to OAL that summarizes
and responds to all objections, recommendations and proposed
alternatives that were raised during the public comment period.
The OAL is then required to approve or reject the proposed
regulation within 30 days. A regulation or repeal of a
regulation becomes effective 30 days after the OAL files it with
the SOS.
OAL is responsible for reviewing administrative regulations
proposed by over 200 state agencies for compliance with the
standards set forth in the APA, for transmitting these
regulations to SOS and for publishing regulations in the
California Code of Regulations. Existing law requires OAL to
review all regulations for necessity and non-duplication, and
requires OAL to print a summary of all regulations filed with
SOS in the previous week in the California Regulatory Notice
Register.
This bill increases the effective date for a regulation or an
order of repeal of a regulation to 90 days after the date of
filing with the SOS. Additionally, this bill requires OAL to
forward a copy of each major regulation to the Legislature for
review. State agencies are tasked with adopting appropriate
regulations based on the statutory decisions of the Legislature.
Requiring the Legislature to revisit previously adopted
statutes is both repetitive and unnecessary.
Support . The California Chamber of Commerce writes in support,
"Each year, state agencies draft and implement numerous
regulations that go into effect 30 days after being filed with
the SOS. While these regulations are intended to ensure fair
practices and increase efficiency, they sometimes cause great
economic burden disproportionate to their perceived benefit or
prove ineffective. AB 1982 addresses this issue by requiring
that those regulations expected to have a fiscal impact of $50
million or more, be sent to the Legislature for review. The
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Legislature will then have 90 days to act before they become
law, effectively extending the existing timeframe from 30 to 90
days."
Opposition . The Sierra Club California writes in opposition,
"Currently, the Legislature is free to introduce and adopt at
any time legislation that changes or even overrides regulations.
This bill would additionally require the OAL to submit to the
Legislature any major regulation that it submits to the SOS.
Moreover, it triples the amount of time after which a regulation
is submitted that it becomes effective.
"In short, the bill just adds more delay to efforts to clean up
polluted air, clean up dirty water, cut public exposure to
toxics, advance clean energy, and create green jobs. It
needlessly increases bureaucracy and reduces efficiency."
Previous legislation . AB 338 (Wagner) of 2011, increases the
effective date for a regulation or an order of repeal of a
regulation from 30 days to 60 days and requires the OAL to
submit a copy of disapproved regulations to the Legislature when
certain criteria are met, as specified. This bill is pending
the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Council of Engineering Companies
California Chamber of Commerce
Opposition
California Board of Accountancy
Sierra Club California
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301