California Office of Administrative Law (OAL)

Government Code section 11017.6 requires that state agencies submit to OAL their projections of rulemaking activities for the upcoming year. OAL publishes these projections in its annual Rulemaking Calendar.

Please note that the 2026 Calendars are due to OAL by January 30, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact Melvin Fong at (916) 324-7952 or melvin.fong@oal.ca.gov.

If you wish to receive notice of proposed rulemakings by OAL, send an email to oalproposedrulemakings@oal.ca.gov and request to be put on OAL’s mailing list.

Training Opportunities:

The Office of Administrative Law provides a variety of training opportunities and other resources to assist state agencies and the public in understanding and participating in the rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act. If you are interested in training opportunities offered by OAL, please visit our Rulemaking Training Classes page.  

The training videos created by the Office of Administrative Law cover a range of topics aimed at helping state agencies and the public understand and participate in the rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act.

• Encouraging Participation in Our State Government: How to Comment on Emergency Rulemaking Actions
• How to Incorporate a Document by Reference in the California Code of Regulations
• Tips for Searching the California Code of Regulations Online

The Office of Administrative Law (OAL)

• Ensures that agency regulations are clear, necessary, legally valid, and available to the public. 
• 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)
  • Transmitting these regulations to the Secretary of State
  • Publishing regulations in the California Code of Regulations
• 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. 
• Accepts petitions challenging alleged Underground Regulations | OAL
  • 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 and are not expressly exempt
  • If a state agency issues, utilizes, enforces, or attempts to enforce a rule without following the APA when it is required to, the rule is called an “underground regulation.” State agencies are prohibited from enforcing underground regulations.
• Oversees the publication and distribution, in print and on the Internet, of 
  • The California Code of Regulations
  • The California Regulatory Notice Register
• Is now part of the Government Operations Agency.  as a part of the Governor’s Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 2012, effective July 1, 2013,

Office of Administrative Law’s Strategic Plan

2024-2027 Strategic Plan

If a state agency issues, utilizes, enforces, or attempts to enforce a rule without following the APA when it is required to, the rule is called an “underground regulation.” State agencies are prohibited from enforcing underground regulations.

More News from Los Angeles

• Department of FISCal (FI$Cal) Public records in the possession of the Department of FISCal (FI$Cal) which are not exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act shall be available for inspection
• California Office of Administrative Hearings The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) is a quasi-judicial tribunal that hears administrative disputes.