Welcome to the Office of Administrative Law Website

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) ensures that agency regulations are clear, necessary, legally valid, and available to the public. OAL is responsible for reviewing administrative regulations proposed by over 200 state agencies for compliance with the standards set forth in California's Administrative Procedure Act (APA), for transmitting these regulations to the Secretary of State and for publishing regulations in the California Code of Regulations.

OAL assists state regulatory agencies through a formal training program, as well as through other less formal methods, to understand and comply with the Administrative Procedure Act.

OAL also accepts petitions challenging alleged underground regulations--those rules issued by state agencies which meet the Administrative Procedure Act's definition of a "regulation" but were not adopted pursuant to the APA process.

OAL oversees the publication and distribution, in print and on the Internet, of the California Code of Regulations and the California Regulatory Notice Register.

News/Information

MATERIALS FROM THE SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY OAL ON THE EFFECTS OF SB 617.   Materials from OAL's recent presentation for state agencies concerning the passage of SB 617 (Stats. 2011, c. 496) and its effects on the rulemaking process -- "Regulation Development and Analysis Under the California APA -- effects of SB 617" are still available:  Regulation Development and Analysis Under the California APA - February 2012 and SB 617 (Stats. 2011, c. 496) in underline/strikeout format    

URGENT RULEMAKING ALERT FOR NOTICES AND RULEMAKINGS IN 2012! -- THE APA REQUIRES NEW PRE-NOTICE ACTIVITIES AND NEW CONTENT REQUIREMENTS FOR NOTICES OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING PUBLISHED AFTER JANUARY 1, 2012 AND ACCOMPANYING INITIAL STATEMENT OF REASONS.  OAL will not publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking submitted for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register after January 1, 2012, if the notice and its accompanying initial statement of reasons do not demonstrate that the rulemaking agency has complied with all applicable new and existing pre-notice APA requirements.   Please see 2011 Amendments to the Administrative Procedure Act for more information, including SB 617 (Stats. 2011, ch. 496) which amended the APA.

RULEMAKING TRAINING CLASSES -- OAL offers a comprehensive 3-day course on the rulemaking process for state agencies.   Please visit the Training Page for more information.   

The 2011 California Rulemaking Law Handbook is available.   A handy resource, this booklet contains the statutes and regulations governing the rulemaking process in California.  To order copies, please visit our APA Booklet Page. 

The 2012 California Regulatory Notice Register Publication Schedule is available.   Please visit our Notice Register page. 

CCR PUBLICATION CONTRACT -- In April 2010, OAL issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) concerning the future publication of the California Code of Regulations (CCR). On September 10, 2010, OAL awarded the CCR publication contract to West, a Thomson Reuters business.   The new CCR publication contract will take effect January 1, 2011. Please read our Notice of Intent to Award the CCR Contract for details.

CHANGES TO OAL WEBSITE LINKS -- On October 21, 2009, the folder structure of the OAL website changed when OAL switched to a new website management program. If you bookmarked a web page on the OAL website prior to October 21, you may need to create a new bookmark. We may make additional folder changes as part of this transition and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact OAL at staff@oal.ca.gov if you have difficulty finding a specific page to bookmark.