[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3521 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3521

  To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for a 
     report by the General Accounting Office to Congress on agency 
              regulatory actions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 24, 2000

 Mr. McIntosh introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for a 
     report by the General Accounting Office to Congress on agency 
              regulatory actions, 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 ``Congressional Accountability for 
Regulatory Information Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) many Federal regulations have improved the quality of 
        life of the American public, however, uncontrolled increases in 
        regulatory costs and lost opportunities for better regulation 
        should not be continued;
            (2) the legislative branch has a responsibility to ensure 
        that laws passed by Congress are properly implemented by the 
        executive branch;
            (3) in order for the legislative branch to fulfill its 
        responsibilities to ensure that laws passed by Congress are 
        implemented in an efficient, effective, and fair manner, the 
        Congress requires accurate and reliable information on which to 
        base decisions; and
            (4) the legal effect of many Federal agency guidance 
        documents and other Federal agency statements that are not 
        published in the Code of Federal Regulations is often not clear 
        to the affected public.

SEC. 3. REPORTS ON REGULATORY ACTIONS BY THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

    (a) In General.--Section 801(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:
    ``(B)(i) After an agency publishes a regulatory action, a committee 
of either House of Congress with legislative or oversight jurisdiction 
relating to the action may request the Comptroller General to review 
the action under clause (ii).
    ``(ii) Of requests made under clause (i), the Comptroller General 
shall provide a report on each regulatory action selected under clause 
(iv) to the committee which requested the report (and the committee of 
jurisdiction in the other House of Congress)--
            ``(I) except as provided in subclause (II), by not later 
        than 180 calendar days after the committee request is received; 
        or
            ``(II) in the case of a request for review of a notice of 
        proposed rule making or an interim final rule making, by not 
        later than the end of the 60-calendar-day period beginning on 
        the date the committee request is received, or the end of the 
        period for submission of comment regarding the rule making, 
        whichever is later.
The report shall include an independent analysis of the regulatory 
action by the Comptroller General using any relevant data or analyses 
available to or generated by the General Accounting Office.
    ``(iii) The independent analysis of the regulatory action by the 
Comptroller General under clause (ii) shall include--
            ``(I) an analysis by the Comptroller General of the 
        potential benefits of the regulatory action, including any 
        beneficial effects that cannot be quantified in monetary terms 
        and the identification of those likely to receive the benefits;
            ``(II) an analysis by the Comptroller General of the 
        potential costs of the regulatory action, including any adverse 
        effects that cannot be quantified in monetary terms and the 
        identification of those likely to bear the costs;
            ``(III) an analysis by the Comptroller General of any 
        alternative regulatory approaches that could achieve the same 
        goal in a more cost-effective manner or that could provide 
        greater net benefits, and, if applicable, a brief explanation 
        of any statutory reasons why such alternatives could not be 
        adopted;
            ``(IV) an analysis of the extent to which the regulatory 
        action would affect State or local governments; and
            ``(V) a summary of how the results of the Comptroller 
        General's analysis differ, if at all, from the results of the 
        analyses of the agency in promulgating the regulatory action.
    ``(iv) In consultation with the Majority and Minority Leaders of 
the Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of 
Representatives, the Comptroller General shall develop procedures for 
determining the priority and number of those requests for review under 
clause (i) that will be reported under clause (ii). The procedures 
shall give the highest priority to requests regarding a notice of 
proposed rule making for a major rule, and to requests regarding an 
interim final rule making for a major rule.
    ``(C) Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Comptroller General 
by promptly providing the Comptroller General with such records and 
information as the Comptroller General determines necessary to carry 
out this section.''.
    (b) Definitions.--Section 804 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 
        (3) and (5), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) The term `independent analysis' means a substantive 
        review of the agency's underlying assessments and assumptions 
        used in developing the regulatory action and any additional 
        analysis the Comptroller General determines to be necessary.''; 
        and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) (as redesignated by 
        paragraph (1) of this subsection) the following:
            ``(4) The term `regulatory action' means--
                    ``(A) notice of proposed rule making;
                    ``(B) final rule making, including interim final 
                rule making; or
                    ``(C) a rule.''.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF NONBINDING EFFECT OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 803 the following:
``Sec. 803a. Notice of nonbinding effect of agency guidance
    ``The head of an agency shall include on the first page of each 
statement published by the agency that is not a rule a notice that the 
statement has no general applicability or future effect (or both), as 
applicable, and is not binding on the public.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to section 803 the following:

``803a. Notice of nonbinding effect of agency guidance.''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the General Accounting 
Office to carry out chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, 
$5,200,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2003.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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