Bill Text: CA AB2738 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Regulations: agency statement of reasons.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 398, Statutes of 2010. [AB2738 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB2738-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2738 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 398
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 11, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Niello
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend, add, and repeal Section 11346.2 of the Government
Code, relating to regulations, and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2738, Niello. Regulations: agency statement of reasons.
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.
Existing law requires an agency to submit to the office, among
other things, an initial statement of reasons for proposing the
adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation that includes, among
other things, a description of reasonable alternatives to the
regulation. Existing law 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 and that the initial
statement of reasons include a statement of reasons why the agency
believes that mandates or prescriptive standards are required.
This bill would, from January 1, 2012, until January 1, 2014,
recast these provisions and require that the initial statement of
reasons also include a description of any performance standard that
was considered as an alternative to the proposed adoption, amendment,
or repeal of the regulation.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. 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.
(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 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.
(d) This section shall be inoperative from January 1, 2012, until
January 1, 2014.
SEC. 2. Section 11346.2 is added to the Government Code, 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.
(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.
(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) 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.
(4) (A) A description of reasonable alternatives to the regulation
and the agency's reasons for rejecting those alternatives.
(B) A description of any performance standard that was considered
as an alternative. 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.
(C) 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.
(D) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), an agency is
not required to artificially construct alternatives, describe
unreasonable alternatives, or justify why it has not described
alternatives.
(5) 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.
(6) A department, board, or commission within the Environmental
Protection Agency, the 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.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2012.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to provide regulatory agencies with maximum lead time on
the change in law, it is necessary for this act to take effect
immediately. This will result in a codified statute as early as
possible, and the affected agencies will have sufficient time to
adjust their practices.
