AB 77: Regulations: effective dates and legislative review.

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. That act 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. The act defines a major regulation as a regulation that the agency determines has an expected economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals estimated to exceed $50,000,000. The act requires the office to transmit a copy of a regulation to the Secretary of State for filing if the office approves the regulation or fails to act on it within 30 days. The act provides that a regulation or an order of repeal of a regulation becomes effective on a quarterly basis, as prescribed, except in specified instances, including if a regulation adopted by the Fish and Game Commission requires a different effective date to conform with federal law.

This bill would require the office to submit to each house of the Legislature for review a copy of each major regulation that it submits to the Secretary of State. The bill would eliminate the quarterly schedule pursuant to which regulations and orders of repeal become effective, as well as the provisions specifically addressing the effective dates of regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission. The bill would, instead, provide that a regulation or order of repeal required to be filed with the Secretary of State generally becomes effective the 90th day after the date of filing, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would add another exception to those currently provided that specifies that a regulation does not become effective if the Legislature passes enacts a statute to override the regulation.