[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 511 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 511

  To require the periodic review and automatic termination of Federal 
                              regulations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                March 7 (legislative day, March 6), 1995

  Mr. Domenici (for himself and Mr. Abraham) introduced the following 
      bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                          Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the periodic review and automatic termination of Federal 
                              regulations.

    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 ``Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are the following:
            (1) To require agencies to regularly review their 
        regulations and make recommendations to terminate, continue in 
        effect, modify, or consolidate those regulations.
            (2) To require agencies to submit those recommendations to 
        the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 
        Affairs and to the Congress.
            (3) To provide for the automatic termination of regulations 
        that are not continued in effect after such review.
            (4) To designate a Regulatory Review Officer within each 
        agency, who is responsible for the implementation of this Act 
        by the agency.

SEC. 3. REVIEW AND TERMINATION OF REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (c), the 
effectiveness of a regulation issued by an agency shall terminate on 
the applicable termination date under subsection (b), and the 
regulation shall have no force or effect after that termination date, 
unless the head of the agency--
            (1) reviews the regulation in accordance with section 4;
            (2) after the review, and at least 120 days before that 
        termination date, submits in accordance with section 5(a) a 
        preliminary report on the findings and proposed recommendations 
        of that review in accordance with section 5(a)(2);
            (3) reviews and considers comments regarding the 
        preliminary report that are transmitted to the agency by the 
        Administrator and appropriate committees of the Congress during 
        the 60-day period beginning on the date of submission of the 
        preliminary report; and
            (4) after the 60-day period beginning on the date of 
        submission of the preliminary report to the Congress, but not 
        later than 60 days before that termination date, submits to the 
        President, the Administrator, and the Congress, and publishes 
        in the Federal Register--
                    (A) a final report on the review under section 4 in 
                accordance with section 5(a)(3), and
                    (B) a notice extending the effectiveness of the 
                regulation, with or without modifications, as of the 
                end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of that 
                publication.
    (b) Termination Dates.--For purposes of subsection (a), the 
termination date of a regulation is as follows:
            (1) Existing regulations.--For a regulation in effect on 
        the date of the enactment of the Act, the termination date is 
        the last day of the 7-year period beginning on the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) New regulations.--For a regulation that first takes 
        effect after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        termination date is the last day of the 5-year period beginning 
        on the date the regulation takes effect.
            (3) Regulations continued in effect.--For a regulation the 
        effectiveness of which is extended under subsection (a), the 
        termination date is the last day of the 7-year period beginning 
        on the date of publication of a notice under subsection (a)(4) 
        for that extension.
    (c) Temporary Extension.--The termination date under subsection (b) 
for a regulation may be delayed by not more than 6 months by the head 
of the agency that issued the regulation if the agency head submits to 
the Congress and publishes in the Federal Register a preliminary report 
that describes modifications that should be made to the regulation.
    (d) Relationship to Other Law.--Section 553 of title 5, United 
States Code, shall not apply to the extension or modification of a 
regulation in accordance with this Act.

SEC. 4. REVIEW OF REGULATIONS BY AGENCY.

    (a) In General.--The head of each agency shall, under the criteria 
set forth in subsection (b)--
            (1) conduct thorough and systematic reviews of all 
        regulations issued by the agency to determine if those 
        regulations are obsolete, inconsistent, or duplicative or 
        impede competition; and
            (2) issue reports on the findings of those reviews, which 
        contain recommendations for--
                    (A) terminating or extending the effectiveness of 
                those regulations;
                    (B) any appropriate modifications to a regulation 
                recommended to be extended; or
                    (C) any appropriate consolidations of regulations.
    (b) Criteria for Review.--The head of an agency shall review, make 
recommendations, and terminate or extend the effectiveness of a 
regulation under this section under the following criteria:
            (1) The extent to which the regulation is outdated, 
        obsolete, or unnecessary.
            (2) The extent to which the regulation or information 
        required to comply with the regulation duplicates, conflicts 
        with, or overlaps requirements under regulations of other 
        agencies.
            (3) The extent to which the regulation impedes competition.
            (4) Whether the benefits to society from the regulation 
        exceed the costs to society from the regulation.
            (5) Whether the regulation is based on adequate and correct 
        information.
            (6) Whether the regulation is worded as simply and clearly 
        as possible.
            (7) Whether the most cost-efficient alternative was chosen 
        in the regulation to achieve the objective of the regulation.
            (8) The extent to which information requirements under the 
        regulation can be reduced, particularly for small businesses.
            (9) Whether the regulation is fashioned to maximize net 
        benefits to society.
            (10) Whether the regulation is clear and certain regarding 
        who is required to comply with the regulation.
            (11) Whether the regulation maximizes the utility of market 
        mechanisms to the extent feasible.
            (12) Whether the condition of the economy and of regulated 
        industries is considered.
            (13) Whether the regulation imposes on the private sector 
        the minimum economic burdens necessary to achieve the purposes 
        of the regulation.
            (14) Whether the total effect of the regulation across 
        agencies has been examined.
            (15) Whether the regulation is crafted to minimize needless 
        litigation.
            (16) Whether the regulation is necessary to protect the 
        health and safety of the public.
            (17) Whether the regulation has resulted in unintended 
        consequences.
            (18) Whether performance standards or other alternatives 
        were utilized to provide adequate flexibility to the regulated 
        industries.
    (c) Requirement to Solicit Comments From the Public and Private 
Sector.--In reviewing regulations under this section, the head of an 
agency shall publish in the Federal Register a solicitation of comments 
from the public (including the private sector) regarding the 
application of the criteria set forth in subsection (b) to the 
regulation, and shall consider such comments, before making 
determinations under this section and sending a report under section 
5(a) regarding a regulation.

SEC. 5. AGENCY REPORTS.

    (a) Preliminary and Final Reports on Reviews of Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The head of an agency shall submit to the 
        President, the Administrator, and the Congress and publish in 
        the Federal Register a preliminary report and a final report 
        for each review of a regulation under section 4.
            (2) Preliminary report.--A preliminary report shall 
        contain--
                    (A) specific findings of the agency regarding--
                            (i) application of the criteria set forth 
                        in section 4(b) to the regulation;
                            (ii) the need for the function of the 
                        regulation; and
                            (iii) whether the regulation duplicates 
                        functions of another regulation; and
                    (B) proposed recommendations on whether--
                            (i) the effectiveness of the regulation 
                        should terminate or be extended;
                            (ii) the regulation should be modified; and
                            (iii) the regulation should be consolidated 
                        with another regulation.
            (3) Final report.--A final report on the findings and 
        recommendations of the agency head regarding extension of the 
        effectiveness of the regulation and any appropriate 
        modifications to the regulation shall include--
                    (A) a full justification of the decision to extend 
                and, if applicable, modify the regulation; and
                    (B) the basis for all determinations made with 
                respect to that extension or modification under the 
                criteria set forth in section 4(b).
    (b) Report on Schedule for Reviewing Existing Regulations.--Not 
later than 100 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and on 
or before March 1, annually thereafter, the head of each agency shall 
submit to the Administrator and the Congress and publish in the Federal 
Register a report stating a schedule for the review of regulations in 
accordance with this Act. The schedule shall identify the review 
actions intended to be conducted during the calendar year in which such 
report is submitted.

SEC. 6. FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATOR.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator shall--
            (1) review and evaluate each report submitted by the head 
        of an agency under section 5(a), regarding--
                    (A) the quality of the analysis in the reports;
                    (B) whether the agency has properly applied the 
                criteria set forth in section 4(b); and
                    (C) the consistency of the agency action with 
                actions of other agencies; and
            (2) transmit to the head of the agency the recommendations 
        of the Administrator regarding the report.
    (b) Guidance.--The Administrator shall provide guidance to agencies 
on the conduct of reviews and the preparation of reports under this 
Act.

SEC. 7. DESIGNATION OF AGENCY REGULATORY REVIEW OFFICERS.

    (a) In General.--The head of each agency shall designate an officer 
of the agency as the Regulatory Review Officer of the agency.
    (b) Functions.--The Regulatory Review Officer of an agency shall--
            (1) be responsible for the implementation of this Act by 
        the agency; and
            (2) report directly to the head of the agency with respect 
        to that responsibility.

SEC. 8. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) Limitation of Action.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, an action seeking judicial review of an agency action under this 
Act extending, terminating, modifying, or consolidating a regulation 
shall not be brought after the 30-day period beginning on the date of 
the publication of a notice under section 3(a)(4) for that action.
    (b) Scope of Review.--Agency compliance or noncompliance with the 
provisions of this Act shall be subject to judicial review only 
pursuant to section 706(1) of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Office.
            (2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Appropriate committee of the congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committee of the Congress'' means with respect to 
        a regulation each standing committee of the Congress having 
        authority under the rules of the House of Representatives or 
        the Senate to report a bill to enact or amend the provision of 
        law under which the regulation is issued.
            (4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management 
        and Budget.
            (5) Regulation.--The term ``regulation'' means the whole or 
        a part of an agency statement of general or particular 
        applicability and future effect designed to implement, 
        interpret, or prescribe law or policy, other than such a 
        statement to carry out a routine administrative function of an 
        agency.
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