(a) The board of governors shall establish procedures for the adoption of rules and regulations governing the California Community Colleges. Among other matters, the procedures shall implement the following requirements:

(1) Written notice of a proposed action shall be provided to each community college district and to all other interested parties and individuals, including the educational policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the Department of Finance, at least 45 days in advance of adoption. The regulations shall become effective no earlier than 30 days after adoption.

(2) The proposed regulations shall be accompanied by an estimate, prepared in accordance with instructions adopted by the Department of Finance, of the effect of the proposed regulations with regard to the costs or savings to any state agency, the cost of any state-mandated local program as governed by Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, any other costs or savings of local agencies, and the costs or savings in federal funding provided to state agencies.

(3) The board of governors shall ensure that all proposed regulations of the board meet the standards of “necessity,” “authority,” “clarity,” “consistency,” “reference,” and “nonduplication,” as those terms are defined in Section 11349 of the Government Code. A district governing board or any other interested party may challenge any proposed regulatory action regarding the application of these standards.

(4) Prior to the adoption of regulations, the board of governors shall consider and respond to all written and oral comments received during the comment period.

(5) The effective date for a regulation shall be suspended if, within 30 days after adoption by the board of governors, at least two-thirds of all governing boards vote, in open session, to disapprove the regulation. With respect to any regulation so disapproved, the board of governors shall provide at least 45 additional days for review, comment, and hearing, including at least one hearing before the board itself. After the additional period of review, comment, and hearing, the board may do any of the following:

(A) Reject or withdraw the regulation.

(B) Substantially amend the regulation to address the concerns raised during the additional review period, and then adopt the revised regulation. The regulation shall be treated as a newly adopted regulation, and shall go into effect in accordance with those procedures.

(C) Readopt the regulation as originally adopted, or with those nonsubstantive, technical amendments deemed necessary to clarify the intent of the original regulation. If the board of governors decides to readopt a regulation, with or without technical amendments, it shall also adopt a written declaration and determination regarding the specific state interests it has found necessary to protect by means of the specific language or requirements of the regulation. A readopted regulation may then be challenged pursuant to existing law in a court of competent jurisdiction, and shall not be subject to any further appeal within the California Community Colleges.

(6) As to any regulation which the Department of Finance determines would create a state-mandated local program cost, the board of governors shall not adopt the regulation until the Department of Finance has certified to the board of governors and to the Legislature that a source of funds is available to reimburse that cost.

(7) Any district or other interested party may propose a new regulation or challenge any existing regulation.

(b) Except as expressly provided by this section, and except as provided by resolution of the board of governors, the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code shall not apply to regulations adopted by the board of governors.

(Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 973, Sec. 8. Operative January 1, 1990, by Sec. 71 of Ch. 973.)