(a)The Review Subcommittee of the State Interagency Oil Spill Committee is hereby established. As used in this chapter, "review subcommittee" means the Review Subcommittee of the State Interagency Oil Spill Committee. The Director of Fish and Game, who shall serve as chair of the review subcommittee, the Executive Officer of the State Lands Commission, the Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission, the State Fire Marshal, the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, the Executive Director of the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or their designees, shall constitute the members of the review subcommittee. The representative of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission only shall have voting and decisionmaking authority regarding matters under the jurisdiction of the commission. The administrator may serve as the designee of the Director of Fish and Game.
(b)All regulations and guidelines adopted pursuant to Chapter 7.4 (commencing with Section 8670.1) and Division 7.8 (commencing with Section 8750) of the Public Resources Code, and amendments to the California oil spill contingency plan, shall, prior to adoption, be submitted to the review subcommittee for review and comment.
(c)Within 60 days from the date of receipt of regulations, guidelines, or amendments pursuant to subdivision (a), the review subcommittee shall review and submit comments to the submitting agency. Any recommendation of the review subcommittee shall be based on the standards of the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, consisting of the provisions specified in Section 8670.1. This comment period may overlap any other comment periods required by law or allowed by the administrator.
(d)The comments and recommendations of the review subcommittee shall not be binding on the submitting agency. Prior to adoption, and within 30 days from the date of receipt of a response from the review subcommittee, the submitting agency shall respond in writing to the review subcommittee concerning all of the findings and recommendations of the review subcommittee. The submitting agency may reject the recommendations of the review subcommittee only if the submitting agency determines that the action it chooses more effectively furthers the purposes of, and more effectively complies with, the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act. Whenever the submitting agency departs from a finding or recommendation of the review subcommittee, the written response of the submitting agency shall state its rationale for concluding that its action more effectively furthers the purposes of, and more effectively complies with, that act. Any public hearing that is required by this chapter or any other statute shall be held after the submitting agency has filed a response to the review subcommittee.