In another unexpected twist concerning California Privacy Rights Act regulations, covered entities need not stress about enforcement of the rules this month as anticipated.

A last-minute decision from the Sacramento County Superior Court 30 June on a complaint filed by the California Chamber of Commerce pushed enforcement of CPRA regulations from 1 July to 29 March 2024.

The court-ordered delay pertains only to CPRA rules, not the body of the CPRA statute or regulations previously finalized under rulemaking provided for by the California Consumer Privacy Act. The California Privacy Protection Agency and the California Department of Justice can still bring enforcement actions on CPRA amendments to the CCPA as of 1 July.

While businesses have been preparing for enforcement this month, the delay to March 2024 means more time to properly acclimate to July 2022," Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles wrote in his decision. "The very inclusion of these dates indicates the voters intended there to be a gap between the passing of final regulations and enforcement of those regulations."

In February 2022, the CPPA openly acknowledged it statement. "The court underscored this today, recognizing that it would be unfair for the CPPA to enforce new regulations when the impacted businesses did not even know what was going to be required of them."

The first set of CPRA regulations indicated the agency would perform discretionary enforcement starting 1 July with consideration of good faith compliance efforts and the the fact the transition window between rules finalization and enforcement was less than six months.

"Although we're disappointed the court granted the Chamber’s request to delay enforcement of portions of the regulations enacted earlier this year, the Agency remains committed to advancing the privacy rights of Californians and will take the appropriate next steps to safeguard the protections Californians overwhelmingly supported at the ballot box," CPPA Executive Director Ashkan Soltani said in a statement.

As the court decision was made public, the CPPA Board announced a 14 July open meeting that includes discussion on the agency's enforcement process as well as enforcement updates and priorities. The board's presentations will be the first open discussions on enforcement since Soltani made