Administrative regulations: reductions.

(1) The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies, and for review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law requires the office to review a proposed regulation for necessity, authority, clarity, consistency, reference, and nonduplication, as defined. This bill would also require the office to review a proposed regulation for burden, as defined. This bill would, until December 31, 2021, enact the California Smart Regulation Act. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2012, that a state agency determine how many regulations it imposes and, on or before December 31, 2013, to reduce the total number of regulations it has identified by 33%. The bill would require an agency to give priority to eliminating regulations that increase the regulatory burden on businesses and the business climate. The bill would also require, until December 31, 2021, that any new regulation proposed by an agency also eliminate another regulation. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2022, as specified. (2) Existing law establishes the Bureau of State Audits, which is headed by the State Auditor and has specified statutory duties. This bill would require an agency to submit a report of the regulations eliminated or identified for elimination to the State Auditor. The bill would require the State Auditor to perform an evaluation of the identified regulations and determine, in a report submitted to the Legislature, whether the removal of the regulations will result in a positive impact on the regulatory burden on businesses and the business climate. This bill would require the Legislature to appropriate funds to the State Auditor sufficient to fulfill these duties. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2022, as specified.