3.0.0 378 2023-01-11T13:28:23Z 2023-01-11T13:28:23Z Senate S 2015-02-04 114 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2015-02-04T23:16:05Z Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2016 114 712 HR 2016-01-11 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Identical bill CRS 2015-02-04 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S777-778; text of measure as introduced: CR S778-779) IntroReferral 2015-02-04 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress G000386 Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] Charles Grassley R IA E. N B000575 Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO] Roy Blunt R MO 2015-02-04 True C001098 Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] Ted Cruz R TX 2015-02-04 True H000338 Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT] ORRIN HATCH R UT GRANT 2015-02-04 True P000603 Sen. Paul, Rand [R-KY] Rand Paul R KY 2015-02-04 True C001056 Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] John Cornyn R TX 2015-02-04 True R000595 Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL] Marco Rubio R FL 2015-02-04 True I000024 Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK] Jim Inhofe R OK 2015-02-04 True F000463 Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] Deb Fischer R NE 2015-02-04 True F000444 Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ] JEFF FLAKE R AZ 2015-02-04 True L000577 Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] Mike Lee R UT 2015-02-04 True C001047 Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] Shelley Capito R WV Moore 2015-02-04 True G000562 Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] Cory Gardner R CO 2015-02-04 True Government Operations and Politics Administrative law and regulatory procedures Administrative remedies Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration Civil actions and liability Government information and archives Government liability Judicial procedure and administration Judicial review and appeals Legal fees and court costs Government Operations and Politics 00 2015-02-04 Introduced in Senate 2015-03-06T22:54:25Z Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015 

Defines a "covered civil action" as a civil action seeking to compel agency action and alleging that an agency is unlawfully withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action relating to a regulatory action that would affect: (1) the rights of private persons other than the person bringing the action; or (2) a state, local, or tribal government. Defines a "covered consent decree" or a "covered settlement agreement" as: (1) a consent decree or settlement agreement entered into a covered civil action, and (2) any other consent decree or settlement agreement that requires agency action relating to such a regulatory action that affects the rights of such persons or governments.

Requires an agency against which a covered civil action is brought to publish the notice of intent to sue and the complaint in a readily accessible manner, including by making such notice and complaint available online not later than 15 days after receiving service of such notice or complaint

Requires an agency seeking to enter a covered consent decree or settlement agreement to publish such decree or agreement in the Federal Register and online not later than 60 days before it is filed with the court. Provides for public comment and public hearings on such decree or agreement.

Requires the Attorney General or an agency head, if an agency is litigating a matter independently, to certify to the court that the Attorney General or the agency head approves of: (1) any proposed covered consent decree that includes terms that convert into a nondiscretionary duty a discretionary authority of an agency to propose, promulgate, revise, or amend regulations, commit an agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted or to seek a particular appropriation or budget authorization, divest an agency of discretion committed to it by statute or the Constitution, or otherwise afford any relief that the court could not enter under its own authority; or (2) any proposed covered settlement agreement that includes terms that provide a remedy for a failure by the agency to comply with the terms of the agreement other than the revival of the civil action resolved by the agreement, interfere with the authority of an agency to revise, amend, or issue rules, or commit the agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted or to exercise in a particular way discretion which was committed to the agency by statute or the Constitution.

Requires a court to grant de novo review of a covered consent decree or settlement agreement if an agency files a motion to modify such decree or agreement on the basis that its terms are no longer fully in the public interest due to the agency's obligations to fulfill other duties or due to changed facts and circumstances.

]]> Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015 Display Title Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015 Official Title as Introduced A bill to impose certain limitations on consent decrees and settlement agreements by agencies that require the agencies to take regulatory action in accordance with the terms thereof, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015 Introduced in Senate 2015-02-04T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s378is/xml/BILLS-114s378is.xml 2015-02-04 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S777-778; text of measure as introduced: CR S778-779) text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.