ARTICLE 6. Review of Proposed Regulations [11349. - 11349.6.]

Cal. Government Code - GOV 6.

in effect

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349. Section 11349.

The following definitions govern the interpretation of this chapter: (a) “Necessity” means the record of the rulemaking proceeding demonstrates by substantial evidence the need for a regulation to effectuate the purpose of the statute, court decision, or other provision of law that the regulation implements, interprets, or makes specific, taking into account the totality of the record. For purposes of this standard, evidence includes, but is not limited to, facts, studies, and expert opinion. (b) “Authority” means the provision of law which permits or obligates the agency to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation. (c) “Clarity” means written or displayed so that the meaning of regulations will be easily understood by those persons directly affected by them. (d) “Consistency” means being in harmony with, and not in conflict with or contradictory to, existing statutes, court decisions, or other provisions of law. (e) “Reference” means the statute, court decision, or other provision of law which the agency implements, interprets, or makes specific by adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation. (f) “Nonduplication” means that a regulation does not serve the same purpose as a state or federal statute or another regulation. This standard requires that an agency proposing to amend or adopt a regulation must identify any state or federal statute or regulation which is overlapped or duplicated by the proposed regulation and justify any overlap or duplication. This standard is not intended to prohibit state agencies from printing relevant portions of enabling legislation in regulations when the duplication is necessary to satisfy the clarity standard in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 11349.1. This standard is intended to prevent the indiscriminate incorporation of statutory language in a regulation.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.1. Section 11349.1.

(a) The office shall review all regulations adopted, amended, or repealed pursuant to the procedure specified in Article 5 (commencing with Section 11346) and submitted to it for publication in the California Code of Regulations Supplement and for transmittal to the Secretary of State and make determinations using all of the following standards: (1) Necessity. (2) Authority. (3) Clarity. (4) Consistency. (5) Reference. (6) Nonduplication. In reviewing regulations pursuant to this section, the office shall restrict its review to the regulation and the record of the rulemaking proceeding. The office shall approve the regulation or order of repeal if it complies with the standards set forth in this section and with this chapter. (b) In reviewing proposed regulations for the criteria in subdivision (a), the office may consider the clarity of the proposed regulation in the context of related regulations already in existence. (c) The office shall adopt regulations governing the procedures it uses in reviewing regulations submitted to it. The regulations shall provide for an orderly review and shall specify the methods, standards, presumptions, and principles the office uses, and the limitations it observes, in reviewing regulations to establish compliance with the standards specified in subdivision (a). The regulations adopted by the office shall ensure that it does not substitute its judgment for that of the rulemaking agency as expressed in the substantive content of adopted regulations. (d) The office shall return any regulation subject to this chapter to the adopting agency if any of the following occur: (1) The adopting agency has not prepared the estimate required by paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5 and has not included the data used and calculations made and the summary report of the estimate in the file of the rulemaking. (2) The agency has not complied with Section 11346.3. “Noncompliance” means that the agency failed to complete the economic impact assessment or standardized regulatory impact analysis required by Section 11346.3 or failed to include the assessment or analysis in the file of the rulemaking proceeding as required by Section 11347.3. (3) The adopting agency has prepared the estimate required by paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5, the estimate indicates that the regulation will result in a cost to local agencies or school districts that is required to be reimbursed under Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4, and the adopting agency fails to do any of the following: (A) Cite an item in the Budget Act for the fiscal year in which the regulation will go into effect as the source from which the Controller may pay the claims of local agencies or school districts. (B) Cite an accompanying bill appropriating funds as the source from which the Controller may pay the claims of local agencies or school districts. (C) Attach a letter or other documentation from the Department of Finance which states that the Department of Finance has approved a request by the agency that funds be included in the Budget Bill for the next following fiscal year to reimburse local agencies or school districts for the costs mandated by the regulation. (D) Attach a letter or other documentation from the Department of Finance which states that the Department of Finance has authorized the augmentation of the amount available for expenditure under the agency’s appropriation in the Budget Act which is for reimbursement pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 to local agencies or school districts from the unencumbered balances of other appropriations in the Budget Act and that this augmentation is sufficient to reimburse local agencies or school districts for their costs mandated by the regulation. (4) The proposed regulation conflicts with an existing state regulation and the agency has not identified the manner in which the conflict may be resolved. (5) The agency did not make the alternatives determination as required by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.9. (e) The office shall notify the Department of Finance of all regulations returned pursuant to subdivision (d). (f) The office shall return a rulemaking file to the submitting agency if the file does not comply with subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 11347.3. Within three state working days of the receipt of a rulemaking file, the office shall notify the submitting agency of any deficiency identified. If no notice of deficiency is mailed to the adopting agency within that time, a rulemaking file shall be deemed submitted as of the date of its original receipt by the office. A rulemaking file shall not be deemed submitted until each deficiency identified under this subdivision has been corrected. (g) Notwithstanding any other law, return of the regulation to the adopting agency by the office pursuant to this section is the exclusive remedy for a failure to comply with subdivision (c) of Section 11346.3 or paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.1.5. Section 11349.1.5.

(a) The Department of Finance and the office shall, from time to time, review the standardized regulatory impact analyses required by subdivision (c) of Section 11346.3 and submitted to the office pursuant to Section 11347.3, for adherence to the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to Section 11346.36. (b) On or before November 1, 2015, the office shall submit to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Governmental Organization a report describing the extent to which submitted standardized regulatory impact analyses for proposed major regulations adhere to the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 11346.36. The report shall include a discussion of agency adherence to the regulations as well as a comparison between various state agencies on the question of adherence. The report may also include any recommendations from the office for actions the Legislature might consider for improving state agency performance. (c) In addition to the report required by subdivision (b), the office may notify the Legislature of noncompliance by a state agency with the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 11346.36, in any manner or form determined by the office.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.2. Section 11349.2.

An agency may add material to a rulemaking file that has been submitted to the office for review pursuant to this article if addition of the material does not violate other requirements of this chapter.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.3. Section 11349.3.

(a) The office shall either approve a regulation submitted to it for review and transmit it to the Secretary of State for filing or disapprove it within 30 working days after the regulation has been submitted to the office for review. If the office fails to act within 30 days, the regulation shall be deemed to have been approved and the office shall transmit it to the Secretary of State for filing. (b) If the office disapproves a regulation, it shall return it to the adopting agency within the 30-day period specified in subdivision (a) accompanied by a notice specifying the reasons for disapproval. Within seven calendar days of the issuance of the notice, the office shall provide the adopting agency with a written decision detailing the reasons for disapproval. No regulation shall be disapproved except for failure to comply with the standards set forth in Section 11349.1 or for failure to comply with this chapter. (c) If an agency determines, on its own initiative, that a regulation submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) should be returned by the office prior to completion of the office’s review, it may request the return of the regulation. All requests for the return of a regulation shall be memorialized in writing by the submitting agency no later than one week following the request. Any regulation returned pursuant to this subdivision shall be resubmitted to the office for review within the one-year period specified in subdivision (b) of Section 11346.4 or shall comply with Article 5 (commencing with Section 11346) prior to resubmission. (d) The office shall not initiate the return of a regulation pursuant to subdivision (c) as an alternative to disapproval pursuant to subdivision (b).

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.4. Section 11349.4.

(a) A regulation returned to an agency because of failure to meet the standards of Section 11349.1, because of an agency’s failure to comply with this chapter may be rewritten and resubmitted within 120 days of the agency’s receipt of the written opinion required by subdivision (b) of Section 11349.3 without complying with the notice and public hearing requirements of Sections 11346.4, 11346.5, and 11346.8 unless the substantive provisions of the regulation have been significantly changed. If the regulation has been significantly changed or was not submitted within 120 days of receipt of the written opinion, the agency shall comply with Article 5 (commencing with Section 11346) and readopt the regulation. The director of the office may, upon a showing of good cause, grant an extension to the 120-day time period specified in this subdivision. (b) Upon resubmission of a disapproved regulation to the office pursuant to subdivision (a), the office shall only review the resubmitted regulation for those reasons expressly identified in the written opinion required by subdivision (b) of Section 11349.3, or for those issues arising as a result of a substantial change to a provision of the resubmitted regulation or as a result of intervening statutory changes or intervening court orders or decisions. (c) When an agency resubmits a withdrawn or disapproved regulation to the office it shall identify the prior withdrawn or disapproved regulation by date of submission to the office, shall specify the portion of the prior rulemaking record that should be included in the resubmission, and shall submit to the office a copy of the prior rulemaking record if that record has been returned to the agency by the office. (d) The office shall expedite the review of a regulation submitted without significant substantive change.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.5. Section 11349.5.

(a) To initiate a review of a decision by the office, the agency shall file a written Request for Review with the Governor’s Legal Affairs Secretary within 10 days of receipt of the written opinion provided by the office pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11349.3. The Request for Review shall include a complete statement as to why the agency believes the decision is incorrect and should be overruled. Along with the Request for Review, the agency shall submit all of the following: (1) The office’s written decision detailing the reasons for disapproval required by subdivision (b) of Section 11349.3. (2) Copies of all regulations, notices, statements, and other documents which were submitted to the office. (b) A copy of the agency’s Request for Review shall be delivered to the office on the same day it is delivered to the Governor’s office. The office shall file its written response to the agency’s request with the Governor’s Legal Affairs Secretary within 10 days and deliver a copy of its response to the agency on the same day it is delivered to the Governor’s office. (c) The Governor’s office shall provide the requesting agency and the office with a written decision within 15 days of receipt of the response by the office to the agency’s Request for Review. Upon receipt of the decision, the office shall publish in the California Regulatory Notice Register the agency’s Request for Review, the office’s response thereto, and the decision of the Governor’s office. (d) The time requirements set by subdivisions (a) and (b) may be shortened by the Governor’s office for good cause. (e) The Governor may overrule the decision of the office disapproving a proposed regulation, an order repealing an emergency regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1, or a decision refusing to allow the readoption of an emergency regulation pursuant to Section 11346.1. In that event, the office shall immediately transmit the regulation to the Secretary of State for filing. (f) Upon overruling the decision of the office, the Governor shall immediately transmit to the Committees on Rules of both houses of the Legislature a statement of his or her reasons for overruling the decision of the office, along with copies of the adopting agency’s initial statement of reasons issued pursuant to Section 11346.2 and the office’s statement regarding the disapproval of a regulation issued pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11349.3. The Governor’s action and the reasons therefor shall be published in the California Regulatory Notice Register.

Cal. Government Code - GOV § 11349.6. Section 11349.6.

(a) If the adopting agency has complied with Sections 11346.2 to 11347.3, inclusive, prior to the adoption of the regulation as an emergency, the office shall approve or disapprove the regulation in accordance with this article. (b) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1 shall be reviewed by the office within 10 calendar days after their submittal to the office. After posting a notice of the filing of a proposed emergency regulation on its Internet Web site, the office shall allow interested persons five calendar days to submit comments on the proposed emergency regulations unless the emergency situation clearly poses such an immediate serious harm that delaying action to allow public comment would be inconsistent with the public interest. The office shall disapprove the emergency regulations if it determines that the situation addressed by the regulations is not an emergency, or if it determines that the regulation fails to meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1, or if it determines the agency failed to comply with Section 11346.1. (c) If the office considers any information not submitted to it by the rulemaking agency when determining whether to file emergency regulations, the office shall provide the rulemaking agency with an opportunity to rebut or comment upon that information. (d) Within 30 working days of the filing of a certificate of compliance, the office shall review the regulation and hearing record and approve or order the repeal of an emergency regulation if it determines that the regulation fails to meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1, or if it determines that the agency failed to comply with this chapter.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026