“To improve agency rulemaking, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends definitions applicable to agency rulemaking and adjudication under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 551) by (1) changing "rule making" to "rulemaking" in paragraphs (5) and (6); (2) striking "and" at the end of paragraph (13), replacing the period at the end of paragraph (14) with a semicolon; and (3) adding paragraphs (15) through (19) defining "guidance" (i.e., an agency statement of general applicability without force of law that sets a policy or interpretation on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue); "major guidance" (i.e., guidance the Administrator finds likely to have specified economic effects or to depart from prior statutory interpretation or agency policy); "major rule" (i.e., any rule the Administrator determines is likely to cause an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more, major cost increases, significant adverse effects on specified factors, or novel legal or policy issues); "Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs" (i.e., the office established under 44 U.S.C. 3503 and any successor); and "Administrator" (i.e., the Administrator of that office).
This section revises Section 553 of title 5, United States Code—which governs notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act—as follows: (1) updates the section heading from "Rule making" to "Rulemaking" and reformats subsection (a) for clarity; and (2) strikes existing subsections (b) through (e) and inserts new subsections (b) and (c). New subsection (b) requires agencies to consider, among other factors, (A) the legal authority for a rule; (B) the problem addressed and any contributing existing laws; (C) a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives (with consideration of three presumed reasonable), including performance standards, incentives, disclosures, or other non-prescriptive means; and (D) for major rules, direct, indirect, and cumulative costs and benefits of alternatives. New subsection (c) requires agencies to submit a notice of proposed rulemaking to the Administrator for review before Federal Register publication. The published notice must reference the specific statutory authority, summarize subsection (b) considerations, and—for major rules—include a reasoned preliminary analysis showing benefits justify costs, discussion of alternatives, and solicitation of comment on them; agencies must also place in the docket and make publicly accessible all supporting studies, models, data, and information used (with exceptions for FOIA-exempt material and procedures for third-party data).
This section revises the scope of judicial review of agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 5 U.S.C. 706 by— (1) designating the existing introductory provisions and paragraphs (1)-(2) as subsection (a) and authorizing courts, in paragraph (2), to hold agency action unlawful and either set it aside or, when appropriate, remand the matter to the agency without setting aside; (2) redesignating the existing provision on review of the whole record and prejudicial error as subsection (b); (3) adding subsection (c) to preclude judicial review of any action or inaction by the Administrator under APA subchapter II (i.e., rulemaking procedures, 5 U.S.C. §§551-559), except under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) or Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a), and providing that such preclusion does not affect other causes of action except as explicitly authorized by law; (4) adding subsection (d) to limit review of agency guidance that does not interpret a statute or rule to only APA procedural requirements under subsection (a)(2)(D); and (5) adding subsection (e) to require courts to review questions of law de novo (unless otherwise specified by statute), with due regard for the administering agency's views and any other involved agencies, and to give weight to an agency's interpretation of its own rule based on the agency's thoroughness, reasoning validity, and consistency with prior and subsequent pronouncements.
This section amends the definitions in 5 U.S.C. §701(b)—applicable to judicial review of agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)—(1) to include “guidance” in the list of defined terms in paragraph (2); and (2) to add paragraph (3) defining “substantial evidence” as such relevant evidence, including the quality, as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion in light of the record considered as a whole.
This section exempts any rulemaking—as defined in the amended section 551 of title 5, United States Code—that is pending or completed as of the date of enactment from the Act's amendments to APA provisions governing notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures (sec. 553), the applicability of judicial review (sec. 701(b)), and standards for judicial review (sec. 706).
This section makes technical and conforming amendments to 20 statutes—including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984, Clean Air Act, Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, Consumer Product Safety Act, Endangered Species Act of 1973, and others—by updating cross-references to subsections of 5 U.S.C. § 553 (rulemaking procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act) and § 706 (scope of judicial review). Specific changes include replacing references to § 553(b) with § 553(c) (in 7 statutes); § 553(e) with § 553(h) (in 6 statutes); § 706(2)(E) with § 706(a)(2)(E) (in 5 statutes); and others such as § 553(d)(3) to § 553(g)(2) and § 706(2)(B) to § 706(a)(2)(B).