11370. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340), Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 11370), Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 11400), and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) constitute, and may be cited as, the Administrative Procedure Act.

11370.1. As used in the Administrative Procedure Act “director” means the executive officer of the Office of Administrative Hearings.

11370.2. (a) There is in the Department of General Services the Office of Administrative Hearings which is under the direction and control of an executive officer who shall be known as the director.
(b) The director shall have the same qualifications as administrative law judges, and shall be appointed by the Governor subject to the confirmation of the Senate.

(c) Any and all references in any law to the Office of Administrative Procedure shall be deemed to be the Office of Administrative Hearings.

11370.3. The director shall appoint and maintain a staff of full-time, and may appoint pro tempore part-time, administrative law judges qualified ufnder Section 11502 which is sufficient to fill the needs of the various state agencies. The director shall also appoint any other technical and clerical personnel as may be required to perform the duties of the office. The director shall assign an administrative law judge for any proceeding arising under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) and, upon request from any agency, may assign an administrative law judge to conduct other administrative proceedings not arising under that chapter and shall assign hearing reporters as required. Any administrative law judge or other employee so assigned shall be deemed an employee of the office and not of the agency to which he or she is assigned. When not engaged in hearing cases, administrative law judges may be assigned by the director to perform other duties vested in or required of the office, including those provided for in Section 11370.5.

11370.4. The total cost to the state of maintaining and operating the Office of Administrative Hearings shall be determined by, and collected by the Department of General Services in advance or upon such other basis as it may determine from the state or other public agencies for which services are provided by the office.

11370.5. (a) The office is authorized and directed to study the subject of administrative adjudication in all its aspects; to submit its suggestions to the various agencies in the interests of fairness, uniformity and the expedition of business; and to report its recommendations to the Governor and Legislature. All departments, agencies, officers, and employees of the state shall give the office ready access to their records and full information and reasonable assistance in any matter of research requiring recourse to them or to data within their knowledge or control. Nothing in this section authorizes an agency to provide access to records required by statute to be kept confidential.
(b) The office may adopt rules and regulations to carry out the functions and duties of the office under the Administrative Procedure Act. The regulations are subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340).

11371. (a) There is within the Office of Administrative Hearings a Medical Quality Hearing Panel, consisting of no fewer than five full-time administrative law judges. The administrative law judges shall have medical training as recommended by the Division of Medical Quality of the Medical Board of California and approved by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings.
(b) The director shall determine the qualifications of panel members, supervise their training, and coordinate the publication of a reporter of decisions pursuant to this section. The panel shall include only those persons specifically qualified and shall at no time constitute more than 25 percent of the total number of administrative law judges within the Office of Administrative Hearings. If the members of the panel do not have a full workload, they may be assigned work by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings. When the medically related case workload exceeds the capacity of the members of the panel, additional judges shall be requested to be added to the panels as appropriate. When this workload overflow occurs on a temporary basis, the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings shall supply judges from the Office of Administrative Hearings to adjudicate the cases.

(c) The administrative law judges of the panel shall have panels of experts available. The panels of experts shall be appointed by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, with the advice of the Medical Board of California. These panels of experts may be called as witnesses by the administrative law judges of the panel to testify on the record about any matter relevant to a proceeding and subject to cross-examination by all parties, and Section 11430.30 does not apply in a proceeding under this section. The administrative law judge may award reasonable expert witness fees to any person or persons serving on a panel of experts, which shall be paid from the Contingent Fund of the Medical Board of California upon appropriation by the Legislature.

11372. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), all adjudicative hearings and proceedings relating to the discipline or reinstatement of licensees of the Medical Board of California, including licensees of affiliated health agencies within the jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California, that are heard pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, shall be conducted by an administrative law judge as designated in Section 11371, sitting alone if the case is so assigned by the agency filing the charging pleading.
(b) Proceedings relating to interim orders shall be heard in accordance with Section 11529.

11373. 3. The Office of Administrative Hearings shall provide facilities and support personnel for the review committee panel and shall assess the Medical Board of California for facilities and personnel, where used to adjudicate cases involving the Medical Board of California.

11380. (a) (1) The office shall hear and render a decision on any appeal filed by a business, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14775, in the event the business contests the certification by a state agency head that reporting requirements meet established criteria and shall not be eliminated.
(2) Before a business may file an appeal with the office pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 14775, the business shall file a challenge to a form or report required by a state agency with that state agency. Within 60 days of filing the challenge with a state agency, the state agency shall either eliminate the form or report or provide written justification for its continued use.

(3) A business may appeal a state agency’s written justification for the continued use of a form or report with the office.

(4) If a state agency fails to respond within 60 days of the filing of a challenge pursuant to paragraph (2), the business shall have an immediate right to file an appeal with the office.

(b) No later than January 1, 1996, the office shall adopt procedures governing the filing, hearing, and disposition of appeals. The procedures shall include, but shall not be limited to, provisions that assure that appeals are heard and decisions rendered by the office in a fair, impartial, and timely fashion.

(c) The office may charge appellants a reasonable fee to pay for costs it incurs in complying with this section.