Bill Text: CA AB1787 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Administrative procedure: regulations: narrative
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-28 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [AB1787 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB1787-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1787 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Swanson
FEBRUARY 10, 2010
An act to amend Section 11346.2 of the Government Code, relating
to administrative procedures.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1787, as amended, Swanson. Administrative procedure:
regulations: narrative description.
The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the
requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and
implementation of regulations by state agencies. The act requires
every state agency subject to the act to submit to the Office of
Administrative Law, and make available to the public, a copy of the
express terms of the proposed regulations using underline or italics
to indicate additions to, and strikeout to indicate deletions from,
the California Code of Regulations.
This bill would additionally require the agency to include a
narrative description of the additions to, and deletions from, the
California Code of Regulations , as specified, and would state
the intent of the Legislature to require state agencies to provide
regulatory amendments in a narrative format that can be accurately
translated by software used by the visually impaired
.
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. (a) This act shall be known and may be
cited as the Narrative Descriptions for the Visually Impaired Act.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in this act to require
state agencies to provide regulatory amendments in a narrative format
that can be accurately translated by reading software used by the
visually impaired.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 11346.2
of the Government Code is amended to read:
11346.2. Every agency subject to this chapter shall prepare,
submit to the office with the notice of the proposed action as
described in Section 11346.5, and make available to the public upon
request, all of the following:
(a) A copy of the express terms of the proposed regulation.
(1) The agency shall draft the regulation in plain,
straightforward language, avoiding technical terms as much as
possible, and using a coherent and easily readable style. The agency
shall draft the regulation in plain English.
(2) The agency shall include a notation following the express
terms of each California Code of Regulations section, listing the
specific statutes or other provisions of law authorizing the adoption
of the regulation and listing the specific statutes or other
provisions of law being implemented, interpreted, or made specific by
that section in the California Code of Regulations.
(3) The agency shall use underline or italics to indicate
additions to, and strikeout to indicate deletions from, the
California Code of Regulations.
(4) The agency shall also include a narrative
description of the additions to, and deletions from, the California
Code of Regulations. The description shall identify each
addition to or deletion from the California Code of Regulations by
reference to the subdivision, paragraph, subparagraph,
clause, or subclause within the proposed regulation containing the
addition or deletion. The description shall provide the express
language proposed to be added to or deleted from the California Code
of Regulations and any portion of the surrounding language necessary
to understand the change in a manner that allows for accurate
translation by reading software used by the visually impaired. The
agency shall include the description following the express terms of
the regulation and the notation described in paragraph (2).
(b) An initial statement of reasons for proposing the adoption,
amendment, or repeal of a regulation. This statement of reasons shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) 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. 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.
(2) An identification of each technical, theoretical, and
empirical study, report, or similar document, if any, upon which the
agency relies in proposing the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a
regulation.
(3) (A) A description of reasonable alternatives to the regulation
and the agency's reasons for rejecting those alternatives. In the
case of a regulation that would mandate the use of specific
technologies or equipment or prescribe specific actions or
procedures, the imposition of performance standards shall be
considered as an alternative.
(B) A description of reasonable alternatives to the regulation
that would lessen any adverse impact on small business and the agency'
s reasons for rejecting those alternatives.
(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) or (B), an agency is not
required to artificially construct alternatives, describe
unreasonable alternatives, or justify why it has not described
alternatives.
(4) Facts, evidence, documents, testimony, or other evidence on
which the agency relies to support an initial determination that the
action will not have a significant adverse economic impact on
business.
(5) A department, board, or commission within the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Agency, or the Office of the
State Fire Marshal shall describe its efforts, in connection with a
proposed rulemaking action, to avoid unnecessary duplication or
conflicts with federal regulations contained in the Code of Federal
Regulations addressing the same issues. These agencies may adopt
regulations different from federal regulations contained in the Code
of Federal Regulations addressing the same issues upon a finding of
one or more of the following justifications:
(A) The differing state regulations are authorized by law.
(B) The cost of differing state regulations is justified by the
benefit to human health, public safety, public welfare, or the
environment.
(c) 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 subdivision (b) 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 prepared pursuant to Section
11346.5. However, the agency shall comply fully with this chapter
with respect to any provisions in the regulation that the agency
proposes to adopt or amend that are different from the corresponding
provisions of the federal regulation.
