3.0.0 1247 2023-01-11T13:49:16Z 2023-01-11T13:49:16Z Senate S 2021-04-20 117 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2021-04-20T21:12:21Z 117 2708 HR 2021-10-19 Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. Identical bill CRS 2021-04-20 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. IntroReferral 2021-04-20 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress G000386 Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] Charles Grassley R IA E. N C001056 Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] John Cornyn R TX 2021-04-20 True C001098 Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] Ted Cruz R TX 2021-04-20 True R000595 Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL] Marco Rubio R FL 2021-04-20 True B001243 Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] Marsha Blackburn R TN 2021-04-20 True H001089 Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] Josh Hawley R MO 2021-04-20 True T000476 Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] Thomas Tillis R NC Roland 2021-04-20 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 2021-04-20 Introduced in Senate 2022-02-23T22:31:55Z Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2021

This bill establishes transparency and public accountability standards for federal agencies with respect to (1) certain civil actions seeking to compel agency action, and (2) related consent decrees and settlement agreements.

For example, an agency must publish a complaint filed against it within 15 days.

Additionally, settlement proceedings must be conducted through mediation or an alternative dispute resolution program of the court, and those proceedings must include intervening parties. The bill also creates a presumption in favor of a motion to intervene in settlement proceedings.

Further, at least 60 days prior to entering a consent decree or settlement agreement, an agency must publish, and accept and respond to public comment on, the proposed agreement or decree. An agency also must provide the court with the administrative record, a summary of the public comments, and access to the record of any public hearings on the proposed decree or agreement.

The Department of Justice, or the agency litigating a matter independently, must certify to the court its approval of certain terms included in an agreement or decree, including terms that convert a discretionary authority into a nondiscretionary duty.

A court may not approve a consent decree or settlement agreement unless the agency has sufficient time and procedures to comply with federal administrative procedures, other rulemaking statutes, and applicable executive orders.

Finally, courts must review a consent decree or settlement if an agency files a motion to modify the decree or agreement on the basis of changed facts or circumstances.

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Display Title Official Title as Introduced Introduced in Senate IS Short Title(s) as Introduced Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2021-04-20T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117s1247is/xml/BILLS-117s1247is.xml 2021-04-20 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. 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.