[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3547 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3547

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for the publication, 
  by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information 
           relating to rule makings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 9, 2016

   Mr. Hatch 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 provide for the publication, 
  by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information 
           relating to rule makings, 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 ``All Economic Regulations are 
Transparent Act of 2016'' or the ``ALERT Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICATION OF 
              INFORMATION RELATING TO RULES.

    (a) In General.--Part I of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after chapter 6 the following:

``CHAPTER 6A--OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICATION 
                    OF INFORMATION RELATING TO RULES

``Sec.
``651. Agency monthly submission to Office of Information and 
                            Regulatory Affairs.
``652. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs publications.
``653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly 
                            publication.
``654. Definitions.
``Sec. 651. Agency monthly submission to Office of Information and 
              Regulatory Affairs
    ``On a monthly basis, the head of each agency shall submit to the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
(referred to in this chapter as the `Administrator'), in such a manner 
as the Administrator may reasonably require, the following information:
            ``(1) For each rule that the agency expects to propose or 
        finalize during the following year:
                    ``(A) A summary of the nature of the rule, 
                including the regulation identifier number and the 
                docket number for the rule.
                    ``(B) The objectives of, and legal basis for, the 
                issuance of the rule, including--
                            ``(i) any statutory or judicial deadline; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) whether--
                                    ``(I) the legal basis restricts or 
                                precludes the agency from conducting an 
                                analysis of the costs or benefits of 
                                the rule during the rule making; and
                                    ``(II) if the legal basis does not 
                                restrict or preclude the agency from 
                                conducting an analysis of the costs or 
                                benefits of the rule during the rule 
                                making, the agency plans to conduct an 
                                analysis of the costs or benefits of 
                                the rule during the rule making.
                    ``(C) Whether the agency plans to claim an 
                exemption from the requirements of section 553 under 
                section 553(b)(B).
                    ``(D) The stage of the rule making as of the date 
                of submission.
                    ``(E) Whether the rule is subject to review under 
                section 610.
            ``(2) For any rule that the agency expects to finalize 
        during the following year and for which the agency has issued a 
        general notice of proposed rule making:
                    ``(A) An approximate schedule for completing action 
                on the rule.
                    ``(B) An estimate of whether the rule will cost--
                            ``(i) less than $50,000,000;
                            ``(ii) not less than $50,000,000 and less 
                        than $100,000,000;
                            ``(iii) not less than $100,000,000 and less 
                        than $500,000,000;
                            ``(iv) not less than $500,000,000 and less 
                        than $1,000,000,000;
                            ``(v) not less than $1,000,000,000 and less 
                        than $5,000,000,000;
                            ``(vi) not less than $5,000,000,000 and 
                        less than $10,000,000,000; or
                            ``(vii) not less than $10,000,000,000.
                    ``(C) Subject to subparagraph (D), any estimate of 
                the economic effects of the rule, including any 
                estimate of the net effect that the rule will have on 
                the number of jobs in the United States, that was 
                considered in drafting the rule.
                    ``(D) If an estimate under subparagraph (C) is not 
                available, a statement affirming that no information on 
                the economic effects, including the effect on the 
                number of jobs, of the rule has been considered.
``Sec. 652. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs publications
    ``(a) Agency-Specific Information Published Monthly.--Not later 
than 30 days after the submission of information under section 651, the 
Administrator shall make such information publicly available on the 
Internet.
    ``(b) Cumulative Assessment of Agency Rule Making Published 
Annually.--
            ``(1) Publication in the federal register.--Not later than 
        October 1 of each year, the Administrator shall publish in the 
        Federal Register, for the previous year, the following:
                    ``(A) The information that the Administrator 
                received from the head of each agency under section 
                651.
                    ``(B) The number of rules and a list of each such 
                rule--
                            ``(i) that was proposed by each agency, 
                        including, for each such rule, an indication of 
                        whether the issuing agency conducted an 
                        analysis of the costs or benefits of the rule; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) that was finalized by each agency, 
                        including, for each such rule, an indication of 
                        whether--
                                    ``(I) the issuing agency conducted 
                                an analysis of the costs or benefits of 
                                the rule;
                                    ``(II) the agency claimed an 
                                exemption from the procedures under 
                                section 553 under section 553(b)(B); 
                                and
                                    ``(III)(aa) the rule was issued 
                                pursuant to a statutory mandate; or
                                    ``(bb) the rule making is committed 
                                to agency discretion by law.
                    ``(C) The number of agency actions, and a list of 
                each such action taken by each agency, that--
                            ``(i) repealed a rule;
                            ``(ii) reduced the scope of a rule;
                            ``(iii) reduced the cost of a rule; or
                            ``(iv) accelerated the expiration date of a 
                        rule.
                    ``(D) The total cost (without reducing the cost by 
                any offsetting benefits) of all rules proposed or 
                finalized and the number of rules for which an estimate 
                of the cost of the rule was not available.
            ``(2) Publication on the internet.--Not later than October 
        1 of each year, the Administrator shall make publicly available 
        on the Internet the following:
                    ``(A) The analysis of the costs or benefits, if 
                conducted, for each proposed or final rule issued by an 
                agency for the previous year.
                    ``(B) The docket number and regulation identifier 
                number for each proposed or final rule issued by an 
                agency for the previous year.
                    ``(C) The number of rules and a list of each such 
                rule reviewed by the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget for the previous year and the 
                authority under which each such review was conducted.
                    ``(D) The number of rules and a list of each such 
                rule for which the head of an agency completed a review 
                under section 610 for the previous year.
                    ``(E) The number of rules and a list of each such 
                rule submitted to the Comptroller General of the United 
                States under section 801.
                    ``(F) The number of rules and a list of each such 
                rule for which a resolution of disapproval was 
                introduced in the House of Representatives or the 
                Senate under section 802.
``Sec. 653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly 
              publication
    ``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), a rule may not take 
effect until the information required to be made publicly available on 
the Internet regarding that rule under section 652(a) has been so 
available for not less than 180 days.
    ``(b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply in the case of a 
rule--
            ``(1) for which the agency issuing the rule claims an 
        exception under section 553(b)(B); or
            ``(2) that the President determines by Executive order 
        should take effect because the rule is--
                    ``(A) necessary because of--
                            ``(i) an imminent threat to health or 
                        safety; or
                            ``(ii) another emergency;
                    ``(B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 
                laws;
                    ``(C) necessary for national security; or
                    ``(D) issued under any statute implementing an 
                international trade agreement.
``Sec. 654. Definitions
    ``In this chapter, the terms `agency', `agency action', `rule', and 
`rule making' have the meanings given those terms in section 551.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of chapters for 
part I of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to chapter 5 the following:

``6. The Analysis of Regulatory Functions...................       601 
``6A. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs               651''.
                            Publication of Information 
                            Relating to Rules.
    (c) Effective Dates.--
            (1) Agency monthly submission to the office of information 
        and regulatory affairs.--The first submission required under 
        section 651 of title 5, United States Code, as added by 
        subsection (a), shall be submitted not later than 30 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Cumulative assessment of agency rule making.--
                    (A) In general.--Subsection (b) of section 652 of 
                title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection 
                (a), shall take effect on the date that is 60 days 
                after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                    (B) Deadline.--The first requirement to publish or 
                make available, as applicable, under subsection (b) of 
                section 652 of title 5, United States Code, as added by 
                subsection (a), shall be the first October 1 after the 
                effective date of that subsection.
                    (C) First publication.--The requirement under 
                section 652(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, as 
                added by subsection (a), shall include, for the first 
                publication under that section, any analysis of the 
                costs or benefits conducted for a proposed or final 
                rule for the 10-year period preceding the date of the 
                enactment of this Act.
            (3) Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific 
        monthly publication.--Section 653 of title 5, United States 
        Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date 
        that is 240 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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