“A bill to require the review of promulgated agency regulations and prohibit rulemaking by agencies, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines, for purposes of the Act, the term "agency" as having the meaning given that term in 5 U.S.C. §551(1) (i.e., each authority of the U.S. government, excluding Congress, the courts, territorial governments, the District of Columbia government, and certain other entities) and the terms "rule" and "regulation" as having the meaning given "rule" in 5 U.S.C. §551(4) (i.e., an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy).
This section establishes an ongoing review process for all existing agency rules in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), requiring the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to annually develop and publish by January 1 a review schedule covering approximately 20% of each agency's total regulations to enable public input. Agencies must repeal each scheduled CFR part prior to its review date; perform a retrospective analysis to assess goal achievement per legislative intent, cost justification, and less restrictive alternatives using OIRA's standardized process (to be published within 180 days of enactment); and, to reinstate a rule, promulgate a new rule under the Administrative Procedure Act that (1) follows a notice of proposed rulemaking with at least two public hearings, (2) includes a published retrospective analysis of the original rule beforehand, and (3) imposes no more than 70% of the original rule's estimated cost. (Thus, all existing regulations face periodic repeal unless justified through analysis and cost reduction.)
This section establishes a temporary process, effective from the date of enactment through the end of the fiscal year of enactment, prohibiting agencies from conducting new rulemaking actions except as provided in subsection (c) and subject to subsection (d), unless the following conditions are met: (1) the rulemaking is narrowly tailored to reduce or remove a regulatory burden, remove obsolete regulations, comply with a new statutory requirement or court order, or prevent a substantiated threat to public health, peace, or safety; (2) at least one existing rule is repealed or significantly simplified to decrease net regulatory burden (waivable by OMB Director if mandated by law or court order); (3) at least one public hearing is conducted; and (4) the agency completes and publishes online a cost-benefit analysis using a standardized form developed by the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The section further directs OIRA to develop the standardized form for prospective regulatory analysis; provides exceptions for good cause under 5 U.S.C. §553(b)(B) or presidential waiver; and imposes additional requirements, including (1) consolidating proposed amendments to a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part into a single docket on regulations.gov, (2) retrospective analysis of new CFR parts under section 3(d) within five years of finalization and every five years thereafter with review dates published on CFR cover sheets and ecfr.gov, and (3) limiting amendments, to the extent practicable, to those done in conjunction with reinstatements under section 3(e).