[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1184 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1184

 To provide for the designation of distressed areas within qualifying 
   cities as regulatory relief zones and for the selective waiver of 
     Federal regulations within such zones, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 11 (legislative day July 10), 1995

 Mr. Ashcroft introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
           referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the designation of distressed areas within qualifying 
   cities as regulatory relief zones and for the selective waiver of 
     Federal regulations within such zones, and for other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Urban Regulatory Relief Zone Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the likelihood that a proposed business site will 
        comply with many government regulations is inversely related to 
        the length of time over which a site has been utilized for 
        commercial or industrial purposes, thus rendering older sites 
        in urban areas most unlikely to be chosen for new development 
        and forcing new development away from the areas most in need of 
        economic growth and job creation; and
            (2) broad Federal regulations often have unintended 
        consequences in urban areas where such regulations--
                    (A) offend basic notions of common sense, 
                particularly when applied to individual sites;
                    (B) adversely impact economic stability;
                    (C) result in the unnecessary loss of existing 
                businesses;
                    (D) undermine new economic development, especially 
                in previously used sites;
                    (E) create undue economic hardships while failing 
                significantly to protect human health, particularly in 
                areas where economic development is urgently needed to 
                improve the health and welfare of residents over a long 
                period of time; and
                    (F) contribute to social deterioration to such a 
                degree that high unemployment, crime, and other 
                economic and social problems create the greatest risk 
                to the health and well-being of urban residents.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) enable qualifying cities to provide for the general 
        well-being, health, safety and security for their residents 
        living in distressed areas by empowering such cities to obtain 
        selective relief from Federal regulations that undermine 
        economic stability and development in distressed areas within 
        the city; and
            (2) authorize Federal agencies to waive the application of 
        specific Federal regulations in distressed urban areas 
        designated as urban regulatory relief zones by an economic 
        development commission--
                    (A) upon application through the Office of 
                Management and Budget by an economic development 
                commission established by a qualifying city under 
                section 5; and
                    (B) upon a determination by the appropriate Federal 
                agency that granting such a waiver will not 
                substantially endanger health or safety.

SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR WAIVERS.

    (a) Eligible Cities.--The mayor or chief executive officer of a 
city may establish an economic development commission to carry out the 
purposes of section 5 if the city population is greater than 200,000 
according to--
            (1) the United States Census Bureau's 1992 estimate for 
        city populations; or
            (2) beginning 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, the United States Census Bureau's latest estimate for 
        city populations.
    (b) Distressed Area.--Any census tract within a city shall qualify 
as a distressed area if--
            (1) 33 percent or more of the resident population in the 
        census tract is below the poverty line;
            (2) 45 percent or more of out-of-school males aged 16 and 
        over in the census tract worked less than 26 weeks in the 
        preceding year;
            (3) 36 percent or more families with children under age 18 
        in the census tract have an unmarried parent as head of the 
        household; or
            (4) 17 percent or more of the resident families in the 
        census tract received public assistance income in the preceding 
        year.

SEC. 5. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONS.

    (a) Purpose.--The mayor or chief executive officer of a qualifying 
city under section 4 may appoint an economic development commission for 
the purpose of--
            (1) designating urban regulatory relief zones in a city 
        composed of--
                    (A) a distressed area;
                    (B) a combination of distressed areas; or
                    (C) one or more distressed areas with adjacent 
                industrial or commercial areas; and
            (2) making application through the Office of Management and 
        Budget to waive the application of specific Federal regulations 
        within such urban regulatory relief zones.
    (b) Composition.--To the greatest extent practicable, an economic 
development commission shall include--
            (1) residents representing a demographic cross section of 
        the city population; and
            (2) members of the business community, private civic 
        organizations, employers, employees, elected officials, and 
        State and local regulatory authorities.
    (c) Limitation.--No more than one economic development commission 
shall be established or designated within a qualifying city.
SEC. 6. LOCAL PARTICIPATION.

    (a) Public Hearings.--Before designating an area as an urban 
regulatory relief zone, an economic development commission established 
under section 5 shall hold a public hearing, after giving adequate 
public notice, for the purpose of soliciting the opinions and 
suggestions of those persons who will be affected by such designation.
    (b) Individual Requests.--The economic development commission shall 
establish a process by which individuals may submit requests to the 
commission to include specific Federal regulations in the commission's 
application to the Office of Management and Budget seeking waivers of 
Federal regulations.
    (c) Availability of Commission Decisions.--After holding a hearing 
under subsection (a) and before submitting any waiver applications to 
the Office of Management and Budget under section 7, the economic 
development commission shall make publicly available--
            (1) a list of all areas within the city to be designated as 
        urban regulatory relief zones, if any;
            (2) a list of all regulations for which the economic 
        development commission will request a waiver from a Federal 
        agency; and
            (3) the basis for the city's findings that the waiver of a 
        regulation would improve the health and safety and economic 
        well-being of the city's residents and the data supporting such 
        a determination.

SEC. 7. WAIVER OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.

    (a) Selection of Regulations.--An economic development commission 
may select for waiver, within an urban regulatory relief zone, Federal 
regulations that--
            (1)(A) are unduly burdensome to business concerns located 
        within an area designated as an urban regulatory relief zone;
            (B) discourages economic development within the zone;
            (C) creates undue economic hardships in the zone; or
            (D) contributes to the social deterioration of the zone; 
        and
            (2) if waived, will not substantially endanger health or 
        safety.
    (b) Request for Waiver.--(1) An economic development commission 
shall submit a request for the waiver of Federal regulations to the 
Office of Management and Budget.
    (2) Such request shall--
            (A) identify the area designated as an urban regulatory 
        relief zone by the economic development commission;
            (B) identify all regulations for which the economic 
        development commission seeks a waiver; and
            (C) explain the reasons that waiver of the regulations 
        would economically benefit the urban regulatory relief zone and 
        the data supporting such determination.
    (c) Review of Waiver Request.--No later than 60 days after 
receiving the request for waiver, the Office of Management and Budget 
shall--
            (1) review the request for waiver;
            (2) determine whether the request for waiver is complete 
        and in compliance with this Act, using the most recent census 
        data available at the time each application is submitted; and
            (3) after making a determination under paragraph (2)--
                    (A) submit the request for waiver to the Federal 
                agency that promulgated the regulation and notify the 
                requesting economic development commission of the date 
                on which the request was submitted to such agency; or
                    (B) notify the requesting economic development 
                commission that the request is not in compliance with 
                this Act with an explanation of the basis for such 
                determination.
    (d) Modification of Waiver Requests.--An economic development 
commission may submit modifications to a waiver request. The provisions 
of subsection (c) shall apply to a modified waiver as of the date such 
modification is received by the Office of Management and Budget.
    (e) Waiver Determination.--(1) No later than 120 days after 
receiving a request for waiver under subsection (c) from the Office of 
Management and Budget, a Federal agency shall--
            (A) make a determination of whether to waive a regulation 
        in whole or in part; and
            (B) provide written notice to the requesting economic 
        development commission of such determination.
    (2) Subject to subsection (g), a Federal agency shall deny a 
request for a waiver only if the waiver substantially endangers health 
or safety.
    (3) If a Federal agency grants a waiver under this subsection, the 
agency shall provide a written statement to the requesting economic 
development commission that--
            (A) describes the extent of the waiver in whole or in part; 
        and
            (B) explains the application of the waiver, including 
        guidance for business concerns, within the urban regulatory 
        relief zone.
    (4) If a Federal agency denies a waiver under this subsection, the 
agency shall provide a written statement to the requesting economic 
development commission that--
            (A) explains the reasons that the waiver substantially 
        endangers health or safety; and
            (B) provides a scientific basis for such determination.
    (f) Automatic Waiver.--If a Federal agency does not provide the 
written notice required under subsection (e) within the 120-day period 
as required under such subsection, the waiver shall be deemed to be 
granted by the Federal agency.
    (g) Limitation.--No provision of this Act shall be construed to 
authorize any Federal agency to waive any regulation or Executive order 
that prohibits, or the purpose of which is to protect persons against, 
discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or 
national origin.
    (h) Applicable Procedures.--A waiver of a regulation under 
subsection (e) shall not be considered to be a rule, rulemaking, or 
regulation under chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. The Federal 
agency shall publish a notice in the Federal Register stating any 
waiver of a regulation under this section.
    (i) Effect of Subsequent Amendment of Regulations.--If a Federal 
agency amends a regulation for which a waiver under this section is in 
effect, the agency shall not change the waiver to impose additional 
requirements.
    (j) Expiration of Waivers.--No waiver of a regulation under this 
section shall expire unless the Federal agency determines that a 
continuation of the waiver substantially endangers health or safety.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the term--
            (1) ``industrial or commercial area'' means any part of a 
        census tract zoned for industrial or commercial use which is 
        adjacent to a census tract which is a distressed area under 
        section 5(b);
            (2) ``poverty line'' has the same meaning as such term is 
        defined under section 673(2) of the Community Services Block 
        Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2));
            (3) ``qualifying city'' means a city which is eligible to 
        establish an economic development commission under section 4;
            (4) ``regulation''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) any rule as defined under section 
                        551(4) of title 5, United States Code; or
                            (ii) any rulemaking conducted on the record 
                        after opportunity for an agency hearing under 
                        sections 556 and 557 of such title; and
                    (B) shall not include--
                            (i) a rule that involves the internal 
                        revenue laws of the United States, or the 
                        assessment and collection of taxes, duties, or 
                        other revenues or receipts;
                            (ii) a rule relating to monetary policy or 
                        to the safety or soundness of federally insured 
                        depository institutions or any affiliate of 
                        such an institution (as defined in section 2(k) 
                        of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 
                        U.S.C. 1841(k))), credit unions, Federal Home 
                        Loan Banks, government sponsored housing 
                        enterprises, farm credit institutions, foreign 
                        banks that operate in the United States and 
                        their affiliates, branches, agencies, 
                        commercial lending companies, or representative 
                        offices, (as those terms are defined in section 
                        1 of the International Banking Act of 1978 (12 
                        U.S.C. 3101)); or
                            (iii) a rule promulgated under the 
                        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 101 et 
                        seq.); and
            (5) ``urban regulatory relief zone'' means an area 
        designated under section 5.
                                 <all>