The Executive branch is tasked with implementing legislation. In states, the Governor heads the Executive Branch and holds the power to direct the activities of state agencies within the bounds of the state and federal Constitution, the laws created by Congress and the state legislature, and the interpretations of the courts.
Regulations are the rules developed by government agencies to interpret and implement laws passed by the legislature. Regulations are introduced in the California Regulatory Notice Register, which is published weekly, and the public is given a set period of time to comment on the proposed regulations. The final version of the regulation is codified (arranged by subject) in the California Code of Regulations. The final published regulation holds the force and effect of law.
State agencies are also typically charged with enforcing the rules they promulgate and may issue a variety of formal and informal materials, including administrative decisions and guidance such as handbooks, manuals, bulletins, notices, opinion, or advice letters. In California, regulations are generally preferred over guidance and the public may petition rulings on these "underground regulations."
Because these standards are mainly for lawyers who are citing a particular point of law, for statutes and regulations, the best practice is to cite the codified (code) version of the law (e.g., xx C.C.R. § xxx, etc.) unless the law is too new to have been codified, distributed across so many codes, no longer valid, being discussed in the context of its passage, or is otherwise impractical to cite this way. For policy research, you are often citing bills or regulations that have been introduced but not passed/finalized/enacted/enrolled, or else you are citing the final version of the legislation or regulation but not the code.
Executive Orders are issued by the Governor and are used to direct the Executive Branch. Like regulations, Executive Orders are issued in relation to laws passed by legislature or based on powers granted to the Governor. They also have the effect of law. Executive Proclamations are ceremonial in nature.
California's legislature delegates authority to over 200 agencies to create regulations implementing state statutes. Regulations carry the same force of law as court decisions and legislation. But before an agency enforces any regulation, it must first be approved by the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Approved regulations are then filed with the Secretary of State's Office.
The California Regulatory Notice Register ("Notice Register") contains notices of proposed regulatory actions by state regulatory agencies to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations contained in the California Code of Regulations. A state agency must complete its rulemaking and submit the rulemaking file to OAL within one year of the date of publication of a Notice of Proposed Action (“Notice”) in the Notice Register. (Government Code Section 11346.4(b))
The Official California Code of Regulations (CCR) incorporates all approved regulations. Since 1990, Barclays has been the CCR's official publisher. Over 26,000 pages long, the CCR is organized into twenty-eight separate Titles. For accuracy, the CCR is amended weekly, so all approved changes are incorporated into the regulations.
What is a Regulation?
A "regulation" means every rule, regulation, order, or standard of general application or the amendment, supplement, or revision of any rule, regulation, order or standard adopted by any state agency to implement, interpret, or make specific the law enforced or administered by it, or to govern its procedure. [Government Code, section 11342.600]
No state agency shall issue, utilize, enforced, or attempt to enforce any guideline, criterion, bulletin, manual, instruction, order, standard of general application, or other rule, which is a "regulation" under the Administrative Procedures Act unless it has been adopted as a regulation and filed with the secretary of state pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. [Government Code, section 11340.5(a)]
