The office, at the request of any standing, select, or joint committee of the Legislature, shall initiate a priority review of any regulation, group of regulations, or series of regulations that the committee believes does not meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1.

The office shall notify interested persons and shall publish notice in the California Regulatory Notice Register that a priority review has been requested, shall consider the written comments submitted by interested persons, the information contained in the rulemaking record, if any, and shall complete each priority review made pursuant to this section within 90 calendar days of the receipt of the committee’s written request. During the period of any priority review made pursuant to this section, all information available to the office relating to the priority review shall be made available to the public. In the event that the office determines that a regulation does not meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1, it shall order the adopting agency to show cause why the regulation should not be repealed and shall proceed to seek repeal of the regulation as provided by this section in accordance with the following:

(a) In the event it determines that any of the regulations subject to the review do not meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1, the office shall within 15 days of the determination order the adopting agency to show cause why the regulation should not be repealed. In issuing the order, the office shall specify in writing the reasons for its determination that the regulation does not meet the standards set forth in Section 11349.1. The reasons for its determination shall be made available to the public. The office shall also publish its order and the reasons therefor in the California Regulatory Notice Register. In the case of a regulation for which no, or inadequate, information relating to its necessity can be furnished by the adopting agency, the order shall specify the information which the office requires to make its determination.

(b) No later than 60 days following receipt of an order to show cause why a regulation should not be repealed, the agency shall respond in writing to the office. Upon written application by the agency, the office may extend the time for an additional 30 days.

(c) The office shall review and consider all information submitted by the agency in a timely response to the order to show cause why the regulation should not be repealed, and determine whether the regulation meets the standards set forth in Section 11349.1. The office shall make this determination within 60 days of receipt of an agency’s response to the order to show cause. If the office does not make a determination within 60 days of receipt of an agency’s response to the order to show cause, the regulation shall be deemed to meet the standards set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 11349.1. In making this determination, the office shall also review any written comments submitted to it by the public within 30 days of the publication of the order to show cause in the California Regulatory Notice Register. During the period of review and consideration, the information available to the office relating to each regulation for which the office has issued an order to show cause shall be made available to the public. The office shall notify the adopting agency within two working days of the receipt of information submitted by the public regarding a regulation for which an order to show cause has been issued. If the office determines that a regulation fails to meet the standards, it shall prepare a statement specifying the reasons for its determination. The statement shall be delivered to the adopting agency, the Legislature, and the Governor and shall be made available to the public and the courts. Thirty days after delivery of the statement required by this subdivision the office shall prepare an order of repeal of the regulation and shall transmit it to the Secretary of State for filing.

(d) The Governor, within 30 days after the office has delivered the statement specifying the reasons for its decision to repeal, as required by subdivision (c), may overrule the decision of the office ordering the repeal of a regulation. The regulation shall then remain in full force and effect. Notice of the Governor’s action and the reasons therefor shall be published in the California Regulatory Notice Register.

The Governor shall transmit to the rules committee of each house of the Legislature a statement of reasons for overruling the decision of the office, plus any other information that may be requested by either of the rules committees.

(e) In the event that the office orders the repeal of a regulation, it shall publish the order and the reasons therefor in the California Regulatory Notice Register.

(Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1039, Sec. 43. Effective January 1, 1995.)