[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6177 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6177

     To require the Administrator of the Office of Information and 
  Regulatory Affairs and the head of each Federal agency to increase 
 transparency in the regulatory review process, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2016

 Mr. DeFazio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Oversight and 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 require the Administrator of the Office of Information and 
  Regulatory Affairs and the head of each Federal agency to increase 
 transparency in the regulatory review process, 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 ``Accountability in Rulemaking Act''.

SEC. 2. REGULATORY REVIEW TRANSPARENCY.

    (a) Unified Regulatory Agenda.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than December 31, March 31, 
        June 30, and September 30, of each year, the head of each 
        agency shall submit to the Administrator of the Office of 
        Information and Regulatory Affairs a unified regulatory agenda. 
        The Administrator shall make each unified regulatory agenda 
        available on a public website in an accessible format.
            (2) Contents.--The unified regulatory agenda shall contain 
        a list of each regulation under development or review by the 
        agency. Each entry for a regulation shall include, at a 
        minimum, the following:
                    (A) A regulation identifier number.
                    (B) A brief summary of the regulation.
                    (C) The legal authority for the regulation.
                    (D) A statement of whether the Administrator has 
                declared the regulation a significant regulatory 
                action.
                    (E) The stage in the process of issuing the 
                regulation.
                    (F) A statement of whether the regulation has been 
                submitted to the Administrator for review.
                    (G) Any legal deadline for the regulation, 
                including the Public Law number of the statute that 
                mandates such a deadline.
                    (H) Any written communication between an employee 
                or officer of the agency and an employee or officer of 
                the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
                regarding the regulation.
                    (I) Any communication received from the 
                Administrator regarding the regulation describing why 
                further consideration of the regulation is necessary.
            (3) Guidance.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall review 
        agency compliance with the provisions of this subsection and 
        provide recommendations to bring any noncompliant agency into 
        compliance.
    (b) Significant Regulatory Action Review.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date on 
        which the unified regulatory agenda is submitted under 
        subsection (a)(1), the Administrator shall review each 
        significant regulatory action listed in the agenda to ensure 
        each action is consistent with applicable law.
            (2) Extension of review period.--The deadline for review 
        described in paragraph (1) may be extended--
                    (A) once by not more than 30 days upon written 
                approval of the Director of the Office of Management 
                and Budget; and
                    (B) at the request of the head of the issuing 
                agency.
            (3) Documentation of extension.--The Administrator shall 
        provide written documentation of the reasoning for any 
        extension of review of a regulation made under paragraph (3) 
        and include such documentation in the unified regulatory agenda 
        listing for the regulation.
            (4) Third-party communication.--During any review process 
        of a significant regulatory action described in this 
        subsection--
                    (A) an employee or officer of the Office of 
                Information and Regulatory Affairs may not meet with an 
                individual who is not a Federal employee or officer 
                regarding the substance of such action unless a 
                representative from the issuing agency has been 
                invited;
                    (B) within 10 working days of receipt of any 
                written communication regarding the substance of such 
                action from an individual who is not a Federal employee 
                or officer, the Administrator shall provide such 
                communication to the issuing agency; and
                    (C) within 10 working days of any oral 
                communication regarding the substance of such action 
                with an individual who is not a Federal employee or 
                officer, the Administrator shall provide the date and 
                the name or names of individuals involved in such 
                communication to the issuing agency.
            (5) Documentation of changes.--
                    (A) Office of information and regulatory affairs 
                changes.--The Administrator shall document any change 
                made by the Office of Information and Regulatory 
                Affairs to a significant regulatory action during the 
                review process under this subsection and make such 
                change available on a public website in a redline or 
                other easily understood format.
                    (B) Agency changes.--After the Administrator has 
                reviewed a significant regulatory action under this 
                subsection, the head of an agency shall document any 
                change made by the agency to the regulation and make 
                such change available on a public website in a redline 
                or other easily understood format.
            (6) Return letter.--For each significant regulatory action 
        that the Administrator returns to an agency for further 
        consideration of any provision, the Administrator shall provide 
        the issuing agency with a written explanation of why further 
        consideration is necessary.
    (c) Agency Removal of a Regulation.--With regard to any proposed 
regulation that was listed and subsequently removed from a unified 
regulatory agenda, the head of the agency shall publish a written 
explanation for such removal on a publicly available website.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 
        Affairs.
            (2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code, but does 
        not include an independent regulatory agency as that term is 
        defined in such section.
            (3) Regulation.--The term ``regulation''--
                    (A) means an agency statement of general 
                applicability and future effect, which the agency 
                intends to have the force and effect of law, that is 
                designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or 
                policy or to describe the procedure or practice 
                requirements of an agency; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) regulations issued in accordance with 
                        the formal rulemaking provisions of sections 
                        556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code;
                            (ii) regulations that pertain to a military 
                        or foreign affairs function of the United 
                        States, other than procurement regulations and 
                        regulations involving the import or export of 
                        non-defense articles and services; and
                            (iii) regulations that are limited to an 
                        agency organization, management, or personnel 
                        matters.
            (4) Regulatory action.--The term ``regulatory action'' 
        means any substantive action by an agency normally published in 
        the Federal Register that promulgates or is expected to lead to 
        the promulgation of a final regulation, including notices of 
        inquiry, advance notices of proposed rulemaking, and notices of 
        proposed rulemaking.
            (5) Significant regulatory action.--The term ``significant 
        regulatory action'' means any regulatory action that is likely 
        to result in a regulation that may--
                    (A) have an annual effect on the economy of 
                $167,000,000 or more, adjusted annually for inflation 
                to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for 
                All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor 
                Statistics, rounding to the nearest $1,000,000;
                    (B) adversely affect in a material way the economy, 
                a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, 
                jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or 
                State, local, or tribal governments or communities;
                    (C) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise 
                interfere with an action taken or planned by another 
                agency;
                    (D) materially alter the budgetary impact of 
                entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or 
                the rights and obligations of recipients therein; or
                    (E) raise novel legal or policy issues arising out 
                of legal mandates.
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