(a) If the office is notified of, or on its own becomes aware of, an existing regulation in the California Code of Regulations for which the statutory authority has been repealed or becomes ineffective or inoperative by its own terms, the office shall order the adopting agency to show cause why the regulation should not be repealed for lack of statutory authority and shall notify the Legislature in writing of this order. In issuing the order, the office shall specify in writing the reasons for issuance of the order. “Agency,” for purposes of this section and Section 11349.9, refers to the agency that adopted the regulation and, if applicable, the agency that is responsible for administering the regulation in issue.
(b) The agency may, within 30 days after receipt of the written notification, submit in writing to the office any citations, legal arguments, or other information opposing the repeal, including public comments during this period. This section shall not apply where the agency demonstrates in its response that any of the following conditions exists:
(1) The statute or section thereof is simultaneously repealed and substantially reenacted through a single piece of legislation, or where subsequent legislation evinces a specific legislative intent to reenact the substance of the statute or section. When a regulation cites more than one specific statute or section as reference or authority for the adoption of a regulation, and one or more of the statutes or sections are repealed or become ineffective or inoperative, then the only provisions of the regulation which remain in effect shall be those for which the remaining statutes or sections provide specific or general authority.
(2) The statute is temporarily repealed, or rendered ineffective or inoperative by a provision of law which is effective only for a limited period, in which case any regulation described in subdivision (a) is thereby also temporarily repealed, rendered ineffective, or inoperative during that limited period. Any regulation so affected shall have the same force and effect upon the expiration of the limited period during which the provision of law was effective as if that temporary provision had not been enacted.
(3) The statute or section of a statute being repealed, or becoming ineffective or inoperative by its own terms, is to remain in full force and effect as regards events occurring prior to the date of repeal or ineffectiveness, in which case any regulation adopted to implement or interpret that statute shall likewise be deemed to remain in full force and effect in regards to those same events.
(c) This section shall not be construed to deprive any person or public agency of any substantial right which would have existed prior to, or hereafter exists subsequent to, the effective date of this section.
(d) Thirty days after receipt of the agency’s opposition material, or the close of the 30-day agency and public response period if no response is submitted, the office shall do one of the following:
(1) Inform the agency and the Legislature in writing that the office has withdrawn its order to show cause.
(2) Issue a written notice to the agency specifying the reasons for the repeal and its intent to file a Notice of Repeal of the invalid regulation with the Secretary of State. Within seven calendar days of the filing of the Notice of Repeal, the office shall provide the agency, the Governor, and the Legislature with a written decision detailing the reasons for the repeal and a copy of the Notice of Repeal, and publish the office’s written decision in the California Regulatory Notice Register.
(e) The office shall order the removal of the repealed regulation from the California Code of Regulations within 30 days after filing the Notice of Repeal, if the agency has not appealed the office’s decision, or upon receipt of notification of the Governor’s decision upholding the office’s decision, if an appeal has been filed pursuant to Section 11349.9.
(Added by renumbering Section 11349.10 by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1039, Sec. 44. Effective January 1, 1995.)