[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1818 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1818

To amend title 5, United States Code, to reform the rule making process 
                              of agencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 21, 2015

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 5, United States Code, to reform the rule making process 
                              of agencies.

    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 ``Principled Rulemaking Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``agency'', ``rule'', and ``rule making'' 
        have the meanings given those terms in section 551 of title 5, 
        United States Code; and
            (2) 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 rule making, and notices 
        of proposed rule making.

SEC. 3. RULE MAKING CONSIDERATIONS.

    Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(f) Rule Making Considerations.--
            ``(1) In general.--An agency shall only promulgate a rule 
        under this section that is--
                    ``(A) required by law;
                    ``(B) necessary to interpret a law; or
                    ``(C) made necessary by compelling public need, 
                such as a material failure of the private markets to 
                protect or improve the health and safety of the public, 
                the environment, or the wellbeing of the people of the 
                United States.
            ``(2) Considerations.--Before promulgating a rule under 
        this section, an agency shall--
                    ``(A) identify and assess the significance of the 
                problem that the agency intends to address with the 
                rule, including, where applicable, the failures of 
                private markets or public institutions that warrant new 
                agency action;
                    ``(B) consider the legal authority under which the 
                rule may be proposed, including whether a rule making 
                is required by statute, and if so, whether by a 
                specific date, or whether the agency has discretion to 
                commence a rule making;
                    ``(C) examine whether existing rules or other 
                laws--
                            ``(i) have created or contributed to the 
                        problem identified under subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) should be modified to achieve the 
                        intended regulatory objective more effectively;
                    ``(D) identify and assess available alternatives to 
                direct regulation, including by providing--
                            ``(i) economic incentives to encourage the 
                        desired behavior, such as user fees or 
                        marketable permits; or
                            ``(ii) information upon which choices may 
                        be made by the public;
                    ``(E) consider, to the extent reasonable, the 
                degree and nature of the risks posed by various 
                substances or activities within the jurisdiction of the 
                agency;
                    ``(F) if after determining that a rule is the best 
                available method of achieving the regulatory objective, 
                design the rule in the most cost-effective manner to 
                achieve the regulatory objective;
                    ``(G) in carrying out subparagraph (F), consider--
                            ``(i) incentives for innovation, 
                        consistency, predictability, flexibility, 
                        distributive impacts, and equity; and
                            ``(ii) the costs of enforcement and 
                        compliance to the Federal Government, regulated 
                        entities, and the public;
                    ``(H) assess the costs and the benefits of the 
                intended rule and, recognizing that some costs and 
                benefits (including quantifable and qualitative 
                measures) are difficult to quantify--
                            ``(i) propose or adopt a rule only upon a 
                        reasoned determination that the benefits of the 
                        intended rule justify the costs of the rule; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) select approaches that maximize net 
                        benefits, unless a statute requires another 
                        regulatory approach;
                    ``(I) base decisions on the best reasonably 
                obtainable scientific, technical, economic, and other 
                information concerning the need for, and consequences 
                of, the intended rule;
                    ``(J) identify and assess alternative forms of 
                regulation and, to the extent feasible, specify 
                performance objectives, and not the behavior or manner 
                of compliance that regulated entities are required to 
                adopt;
                    ``(K) seek views of appropriate State, local, and 
                tribal officials before imposing regulatory 
                requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect 
                those governmental entities;
                    ``(L) assess the effects of rules on State, local, 
                and tribal governments, including specifically the 
                availability of resources to carry out those mandates, 
                and seek to minimize those burdens that uniquely or 
                significantly affect those governmental entities, 
                consistent with achieving the regulatory objective of 
                the agency;
                    ``(M) as appropriate, seek to harmonize agency 
                action with related State, local, and tribal regulatory 
                and other governmental functions;
                    ``(N) avoid the promulgation of a rule that is 
                inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative with other 
                rules of the agency or those of other agencies;
                    ``(O) tailor the rule--
                            ``(i) to impose the least burden on 
                        society, including individuals, businesses of 
                        differing sizes, and other entities, including 
                        small communities and governmental entities; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) in a manner that is consistent with 
                        obtaining the regulatory objective, taking into 
                        account, and to the extent practicable, the 
                        costs of cumulative rules; and
                    ``(P) in order to minimize the potential for 
                uncertainty and litigation arising from such 
                uncertainty, draft the rule in a manner that is simple 
                and easy to understand.''.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

    (a) In General.--To promote an open exchange with the public, each 
agency shall, consistent with section 553 of title 5, United States 
Code, and other applicable requirements, issue rules through a process 
that involves public participation, including--
            (1) providing the public with an opportunity to participate 
        in the regulatory process; and
            (2) to the extent feasible--
                    (A) affording the public a meaningful opportunity 
                to submit comments through the Internet on any proposed 
                rule for a period of not less than 60 days;
                    (B) providing, for both proposed and final rules, 
                timely online access to the rule making docket of the 
                agency on an easily accessible Federal website, 
                including relevant scientific and technical findings, 
                in an open, searchable, and downloadable format; and
                    (C) providing an opportunity for public comment on 
                all pertinent parts of the proposed rule making docket 
                of the agency, including relevant scientific and 
                technical findings.
    (b) Comments From Affected Parties.--Before issuing a notice of 
proposed rule making, each agency shall, when feasible and appropriate, 
seek the views of those who are likely to be affected by the rule, 
including those who are likely to benefit from and those who are 
potentially subject to the rule.

SEC. 5. INTEGRATION AND INNOVATION.

    In developing regulatory actions and identifying appropriate 
approaches, each agency shall--
            (1) attempt to promote coordination, simplification, and 
        harmonization; and
            (2) seek to identify, as appropriate, means to achieve 
        regulatory goals that are designed to promote innovation.

SEC. 6. FLEXIBLE APPROACHES.

    Where relevant, feasible, and consistent with regulatory 
objectives, and to the extent permitted by law, each agency shall 
identify and consider regulatory approaches that--
            (1) reduce burdens and maintain flexibility and freedom of 
        choice for the public;
            (2) include warnings, appropriate default rules, and 
        disclosure requirements; and
            (3) provide information to the public in a form that is 
        clear and intelligible.

SEC. 7. SCIENCE.

    Each agency shall ensure the objectivity of any scientific and 
technological information and processes used to support each regulatory 
action of the agency.
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