Title GOV — California Gov. Code

The Legislature finds and declares as follows: (a) There has been an unprecedented growth in the number of administrative regulations in recent years. (b) The language of many regulations is frequently unclear and unnecessarily complex, even when the complicated and technical nat…

(a) The Legislature therefore declares that it is in the public interest to establish an Office of Administrative Law which shall be charged with the orderly review of adopted regulations. It is the intent of the Legislature that the purpose of such review shall be to reduce the …

(a) The Office of Administrative Law is hereby established in state government in the Government Operations Agency. The office shall be under the direction and control of an executive officer who shall be known as the director. There shall also be a deputy director. The director’…

The director may employ and fix the compensation, in accordance with law, of such professional assistants and clerical and other employees as is deemed necessary for the effective conduct of the work of the office.

(a) The office is authorized and directed to do the following: (1) Study the subject of administrative rulemaking in all its aspects. (2) In the interest of fairness, uniformity, and the expedition of business, submit its suggestions to the various agencies. (3) Report its recomm…

(a) No state agency shall issue, utilize, enforce, or attempt to enforce any guideline, criterion, bulletin, manual, instruction, order, standard of general application, or other rule, which is a regulation as defined in Section 11342.600, unless the guideline, criterion, bulleti…

Except where the right to petition for adoption of a regulation is restricted by statute to a designated group or where the form of procedure for such a petition is otherwise prescribed by statute, any interested person may petition a state agency requesting the adoption, amendme…

(a) Upon receipt of a petition requesting the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 11346), a state agency shall notify the petitioner in writing of the receipt and shall within 30 days deny the petition indicating why the a…

(a) As used in this section, “electronic communication” includes electronic transmission of written or graphical material by electronic mail, facsimile, or other means, but does not include voice communication. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter that refers t…

This chapter does not apply to any of the following: (a) An agency in the judicial or legislative branch of the state government. (b) A legal ruling of counsel issued by the Franchise Tax Board, State Board of Equalization, or the California Department of Tax and Fee Administrati…

(a) The office shall establish a system to give a unique identification number to each regulatory action. (b) The office and the state agency taking the regulatory action shall use the identification number given by the office pursuant to subdivision (a) to refer to the regulator…

Except as provided in Section 11342.4, nothing in this chapter confers authority upon or augments the authority of any state agency to adopt, administer, or enforce any regulation. Each regulation adopted, to be effective, shall be within the scope of authority conferred and in a…

Whenever by the express or implied terms of any statute a state agency has authority to adopt regulations to implement, interpret, make specific or otherwise carry out the provisions of the statute, no regulation adopted is valid or effective unless consistent and not in conflict…

The office shall adopt, amend, or repeal regulations for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter.

Unless the provision or context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

“Agency” means state agency.

“Building standard” has the same meaning provided in Section 18909 of the Health and Safety Code.

“Cost impact” means the amount of reasonable range of direct costs, or a description of the type and extent of direct costs, that a representative private person or business necessarily incurs in reasonable compliance with the proposed action.

“Director” means the director of the office.

“Emergency” means a situation that calls for immediate action to avoid serious harm to the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare.

“Major regulation” means any proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation subject to review by the Office of Administrative Law pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 11349) that will have an economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals in…

“Office” means the Office of Administrative Law.

“Order of repeal” means any resolution, order, or other official act of a state agency that expressly repeals a regulation in whole or in part.

“Performance standard” means a regulation that describes an objective with the criteria stated for achieving the objective.

“Plain English” means language that satisfies the standard of clarity provided in Section 11349.

“Prescriptive standard” means a regulation that specifies the sole means of compliance with a performance standard by specific actions, measurements, or other quantifiable means.

“Proposed action” means the regulatory action, notice of which is submitted to the office for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register.

“Regulation” means every rule, regulation, order, or standard of general application or the amendment, supplement, or revision of any rule, regulation, order, or standard adopted by any state agency to implement, interpret, or make specific the law enforced or administered by it,…

(a) “Small business” means a business activity in agriculture, general construction, special trade construction, retail trade, wholesale trade, services, transportation and warehousing, manufacturing, generation and transmission of electric power, or a health care facility, unles…

Every state agency shall: (a) Transmit to the office for filing with the Secretary of State a certified copy of every regulation adopted or amended by it except one that is a building standard. (b) Transmit to the office for filing with the Secretary of State a certified copy of …

(a) All regulations transmitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State shall conform to the style prescribed by the office. (b) Regulations approved by the office shall bear an endorsement by the office affixed to the certified copy which is fi…

The Secretary of State shall endorse on the certified copy of each regulation or order of repeal filed with or delivered to him or her, the time and date of filing and shall maintain a permanent file of the certified copies of regulations and orders of repeal for public inspectio…

Notwithstanding any other law, a state agency that is required to promulgate administrative regulations, including, but not limited to, the State Air Resources Board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commissio…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a regulation or an order of repeal required to be filed with the Secretary of State shall become effective on a quarterly basis as follows: (1) January 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on September 1 to November …

Within 10 days from the receipt of printed copies of the California Code of Regulations or of the California Code of Regulations Supplement from the State Printing Office, the office shall file one copy of the particular issue of the code or supplement in the office of the county…

The filing of a certified copy of a regulation or an order of repeal with the Secretary of State raises the rebuttable presumptions that: (a) It was duly adopted. (b) It was duly filed and made available for public inspection at the day and hour endorsed on it. (c) All requiremen…

Upon the request of a state agency, the office may file with the Secretary of State and the office may publish in such manner as it believes proper, any regulation or order of repeal of a regulation not required by this article to be filed with the Secretary of State.

The office shall do all of the following: (a) Provide for the official compilation, printing, and publication of adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations, which shall be known as the California Code of Regulations. On and after July 1, 1998, the office shall make available o…

The office shall do all of the following: (a) Provide for the publication of the California Regulatory Notice Register, which shall be an official publication of the State of California and which shall contain the following: (1) Notices of proposed action prepared by regulatory a…

The office shall supply a complete set of the California Code of Regulations, and of the California Code of Regulations Supplement to the county clerk of any county or to the delegatee of the county clerk pursuant to Section 26803.5, provided the director makes the following two …

Every document, other than a notice of proposed rulemaking action, required to be published in the California Regulatory Notice Register by this chapter, shall be published in the first edition of the California Regulatory Notice Register following the date of the document.

(a) The California Code of Regulations, the California Code of Regulations Supplement, and the California Regulatory Notice Register shall be sold at prices which will reimburse the state for all costs incurred for printing, publication, and distribution. (b) All money received b…

The publication of a regulation in the California Code of Regulations or California Code of Regulations Supplement raises a rebuttable presumption that the text of the regulation as so published is the text of the regulation adopted. The courts shall take judicial notice of the c…

Nothing in this chapter precludes any person or state agency from purchasing copies of the California Code of Regulations, the California Code of Regulations Supplement, or the California Regulatory Notice Register or of any unit of either, nor from printing special editions of a…

(a) Whenever the term “California Administrative Code” appears in law, official legal paper, or legal publication, it means the “California Code of Regulations.” (b) Whenever the term “California Administrative Notice Register” appears in any law, official legal paper, or legal p…

The office is not required to develop a unique identification number system for each regulatory action pursuant to Section 11341 or to make the California Regulatory Notice Register available on its website pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 11344.1 until January 1, 2002.

(a) It is the purpose of this chapter to establish basic minimum procedural requirements for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of administrative regulations. Except as provided in Section 11346.1, the provisions of this chapter are applicable to the exercise of any quasi-legisla…

(a) (1) The adoption, amendment, or repeal of an emergency regulation is not subject to any provision of this article or Article 6 (commencing with Section 11349), except this section and Sections 11349.5 and 11349.6. (2) At least five working days before submitting an emergency …

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) Th…

(a) A state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal any administrative regulation shall assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals, avoiding the imposition of unnecessary or unreasonable regulations or reporting, record…