California Administrative Law

In California, the term administrative law (also known as regulatory law) refers to the body of law created by the California executive and administrative agencies. Executive departments are established or authorized by the California Constitution. Administrative agencies may be established directly by the Constitution (Public Utilities Commission) or be created by or have authority delegated to them from the legislature.

Agencies may sometimes be called Commissions or Boards.

Agencies have quasi-legislative power. Quasi-legislative enactments are generally referred to as regulations or rules. Agencies also have quasi-judicial power and may issue advisory opinions. The terminology for the adjudicatory functions (decisions in disputes) and advisory functions varies from agency to agency; they are typically referred to as decisions or opinions but may also be called orders.

The California Administrative Procedure Act (Cal. Gov’t. Code § 11340 et seq.) outlines the powers and boundaries of the administrative functions, as well as setting up an Office of Administrative Law to oversee the “orderly review of adopted regulations.” The Office of Administrative Law has the power to reject proposed regulations that they feel do not meet the standards set out in the Administrative Procedure Act, usually on grounds that they do not meet the requirements of notice, necessity, consistency, or clarity.

LOOSELEAF SERVICES

Looseleafs can pull together in one place relevant statutes, implementing
agency regulations, court decisions and administrative adjudications on a narrow topic. In contrast to the federal regulatory field, there are only a handful of topical loose-leaf services devoted to California regulatory fields, primarily in the areas of taxation and labor. Loose-leaf services devoted to California regulatory topics are updated at varying frequencies; generally, they are not updated as often as the federal administrative looseleaf services.

FINDING CALIFORNIA REGULATIONS:

The basic working tool of regulatory law is the California Code of Regulations (CCR). Final
regulations are arranged topically and grouped by subject.

Current regulations

Barclays Official California Code of Regulations (1990- ).

The administrative rules and regulations of California administrative agencies are grouped
into 28 different titles. Cite by title number and section number. Example: Title 3,
California Code of Regulations, Section 432. (Short form: 3 CCR 432)
Internet: http://ccr.oal.ca.gov (Excludes Titles 6 and 24)

Older regulations

The CCR was formerly called the California Administrative Code and you may encounter
references under this name.

1. California Administrative Code 1945-1979.
2. California Administrative Code 1982-1987.
3. California Code of Regulations 1988-1990.
4. Barclays California Code of Regulations 1990-.

Indexes to regulations

1. Master Index. Barclays Official California Code of Regulations (1990- ) includes
a separate Master Index that has both a subject index and a Statutes to Regulations
Table. In addition, Volume 1 of the CCR includes a Master Table of Contents, which
reproduces the detailed table of contents for each title of the Code.
2. Comprehensive Index, California Code of Regulations. Ann Arbor, MI:
University Microfilms, 1988-1999. Includes a subject index and conversion
tables from California codes to Code of Regulations and vice versa.

3. Comprehensive Index, California Administrative Code. Ann Arbor, MI:
University Microfilms, 1980-1987.

Other regulations

Not all agency regulations appear in CCR. For example, Title 24, the Building Code, is
published separately. See California Building Standards Code (bsc.ca.gov/title_24.html). A list of other regs not published in CCR can be found
in Chapter 8 of Daniel Martin, Henke’s California Law Guide, 7th ed.,(LexisNexis, 2004).

UPDATING CALIFORNIA REGULATIONS

The text of final regulations are first published in a supplement to the California Code of Regulations
called the California Regulatory Code Supplement. This is sometimes referred to as the Register.

A. California Regulatory Code Supplement (“Register”)

Published weekly. “History” notes in the CCR that refer to Register No. xx-xxx are referring
to this supplement. The current year’s register is interfiled into the current CCR. Prior
years’ registers are available on microfiche. Since 1992, volume 1 of the CCR includes a
Digest of New Regulations, which summarizes new regulations.

TRACKING PENDING REGULATIONS:

There is no exact parallel to the Federal Register on the California level, but the California Regulatory
Notice Register does publish proposed regulations. This is popularly known as the Z Register to
distinguish it from the Register (see description of California Regulatory Code Supplement
above). The numbering follows the format of the California Regulatory Notice Register, but tacks
on a “Z” at the end of the number. Substantial discussion of the reason for a proposed regulation
is often included, which can provide a form of “regulatory intent.” Unfortunately, the Z Registers
are not indexed, so tracing back to find this intent may mean thumbing through issues of the Z
Register that cover the time period during which a regulation may have been considered.

California Regulatory Notice Register (“Z Register”)

First published in April of 1974, this weekly publication supplements the California Code
of Regulations by reporting all proposed regulatory changes within state agencies, including
regulation summaries and summaries of disapproval decisions. Internet: oal.ca.gov/reg_notice.htm (OAL posts notices for a minimum of 18 months)

AGENCY DECISIONS & RULINGS

The Office of Administrative Law may reject regulations that do not meet appropriate
standards. These decisions are known as “disapproval decisions.”

A. California Code of Regulations Decisions, 1988-2002.
B. California Regulatory Notice Register (1988-)
C. The full text of current disapproval decisions (2000-) is available on the OAL website
at: oal.ca.gov/decision.htm.

Agency Decisions

The publication of California agency rulings and decisions is not systematic or comprehensive.
The Law Library attempts to acquire the decisions of any California agency that publishes
them. Check on the Library Catalog using California [name of agency] for the library’s
holdings. Some agency decisions are online in LexisNexis and Westlaw. Consult the database
catalogs under either the California databases or the specialized area of law being researched.
For a list of agency decisions published in print, please consult Chapter 8 of Henke’s
California Law Guide, 7th ed., (LexisNexis, 2004).

SHEPARDIZING CALIFORNIA ADMINISTRATIVE LAW MATERIALS

See Shepard’s California Citations: Cases and Statutes. The Statutes volumes include references to the California Code of Regulations. The Cases volumes include references to Decisions of the Industrial Accident Commission of
California, California Compensation Cases, Opinions and Orders of the Railroad Commission of California, Orders and Opinions of the Public Utilities Commission of California, and Opinions of the Attorney General of California.