[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 846 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 846

 To require Federal agencies to review certain rules and regulations, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 24, 2015

 Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Daines) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require Federal agencies to review certain rules and regulations, 
                        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 ``Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act 
of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 551 of title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the term ``covered rule'' means any rule or group of 
        rules--
                    (A) for which an agency is required to prepare a 
                regulatory flexibility analysis under section 603 or 
                604 of title 5, United States Code; and
                    (B) that is a major rule;
            (3) the term ``major rule'' has the meaning given the term 
        in section 804 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (4) the terms ``rule'' and ``small entity'' have the 
        meanings given those terms in section 601 of title 5, United 
        States Code.

SEC. 3. PERIODIC REVIEW OF PREEXISTING SMALL BUSINESS REGULATIONS.

    Section 610 of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 610. Periodic review of rules
    ``(a)(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015, each agency shall 
establish a plan for the periodic review of--
            ``(A) each rule issued by the agency that the head of the 
        agency determines has a significant economic impact on a 
        substantial number of small entities, without regard to whether 
        the agency performed an analysis under section 604 with respect 
        to the rule; and
            ``(B) any small entity compliance guide required to be 
        published by the agency under section 212 of the Small Business 
        Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 
        note).
    ``(2) In reviewing rules and small entity compliance guides under 
paragraph (1), the agency shall determine whether the rules and guides 
should--
            ``(A) be amended or rescinded, consistent with the stated 
        objectives of applicable statutes, to minimize any significant 
        adverse economic impacts on a substantial number of small 
        entities (including an estimate of any adverse impacts on job 
        creation and employment by small entities); or
            ``(B) continue in effect without change.
    ``(3) Each agency shall publish the plan established under 
paragraph (1) in the Federal Register and on the Web site of the 
agency.
    ``(4) An agency may amend the plan established under paragraph (1) 
at any time by publishing the amendment in the Federal Register and on 
the Web site of the agency.
    ``(b) Each plan established under subsection (a) shall provide 
for--
            ``(1) the review of each rule and small entity compliance 
        guide described in subsection (a)(1) in effect on the date of 
        enactment of the Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015--
                    ``(A) not later than 9 years after the date of 
                publication of the plan in the Federal Register; and
                    ``(B) every 9 years thereafter; and
            ``(2) the review of each rule adopted and small entity 
        compliance guide described in subsection (a)(1) that is 
        published after the date of enactment of the Small Business 
        Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015--
                    ``(A) not later than 9 years after the date of 
                publication of the final rule in the Federal Register; 
                and
                    ``(B) every 9 years thereafter.
    ``(c) In reviewing rules under the plan required under subsection 
(a), the agency shall consider--
            ``(1) the continued need for the rule;
            ``(2) the nature of complaints received by the agency from 
        small entities concerning the rule;
            ``(3) comments by the Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman and 
        the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
        Administration;
            ``(4) the complexity of the rule;
            ``(5) the extent to which the rule overlaps, duplicates, or 
        conflicts with other Federal rules and, unless the head of the 
        agency determines it to be infeasible, State and local rules;
            ``(6) the contribution of the rule to the cumulative 
        economic impact of all Federal rules on the class of small 
        entities affected by the rule, unless the head of the agency 
        determines that such a calculation cannot be made;
            ``(7) the length of time since the rule has been evaluated, 
        or the degree to which technology, economic conditions, or 
        other factors have changed in the area affected by the rule; 
        and
            ``(8) the economic impact of the rule, including--
                    ``(A) the estimated number of small entities to 
                which the rule will apply;
                    ``(B) the estimated number of small entity jobs 
                that will be lost or created due to the rule; and
                    ``(C) the projected reporting, recordkeeping, and 
                other compliance requirements of the proposed rule, 
                including--
                            ``(i) an estimate of the classes of small 
                        entities that will be subject to the 
                        requirement; and
                            ``(ii) the type of professional skills 
                        necessary for preparation of the report or 
                        record.
    ``(d)(1) Each agency shall submit an annual report regarding the 
results of the review required under subsection (a) to--
            ``(A) Congress; and
            ``(B) in the case of an agency that is not an independent 
        regulatory agency (as defined in section 3502(5) of title 44), 
        the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 
        Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget.
    ``(2) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include a 
description of any rule or small entity compliance guide with respect 
to which the agency made a determination of infeasibility under 
paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (c), together with a detailed 
explanation of the reasons for the determination.
    ``(e) Each agency shall publish in the Federal Register and on the 
Web site of the agency a list of the rules and small entity compliance 
guides to be reviewed under the plan required under subsection (a) that 
includes--
            ``(1) a brief description of each rule or guide;
            ``(2) for each rule, the reason why the head of the agency 
        determined that the rule has a significant economic impact on a 
        substantial number of small entities (without regard to whether 
        the agency had prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis 
        for the rule); and
            ``(3) a request for comments from the public, the Chief 
        Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, and 
        the Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman concerning the enforcement 
        of the rules or publication of the guides.
    ``(f)(1) Not later than 6 months after each date described in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), the Inspector General for 
each agency shall--
            ``(A) determine whether the agency has conducted the review 
        required under subsection (b) appropriately; and
            ``(B) notify the head of the agency of--
                    ``(i) the results of the determination under 
                subparagraph (A); and
                    ``(ii) any issues preventing the Inspector General 
                from determining that the agency has conducted the 
                review required under subsection (b) appropriately.
    ``(2)(A) Not later than 6 months after the date on which the head 
of an agency receives a notice under paragraph (1)(B) that the agency 
has not conducted the review required under subsection (b) 
appropriately, the agency shall address the issues identified in the 
notice.
    ``(B) Not later than 30 days after the last day of the 6-month 
period described in subparagraph (A), the Inspector General for an 
agency that receives a notice described in subparagraph (A) shall--
            ``(i) determine whether the agency has addressed the issues 
        identified in the notice; and
            ``(ii) notify Congress if the Inspector General determines 
        that the agency has not addressed the issues identified in the 
        notice.
    ``(C) Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Inspector 
General for an agency transmits a notice under subparagraph (B)(ii), an 
amount equal to 1 percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal 
year to the appropriations account of the agency that is used to pay 
salaries shall be rescinded.
    ``(D) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to prevent 
Congress from acting to prevent a rescission under subparagraph (C).''.

SEC. 4. SUNSET OF NEW SMALL BUSINESS REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b) and beginning 
on the date of enactment of this Act, each covered rule promulgated by 
an agency shall cease to have effect on the date that is 7 years after 
the date on which the final version of the covered rule is published.
    (b) Extension of Rule.--
            (1) In general.--Before the end of the 7-year period 
        described in subsection (a), an agency may take action to renew 
        a covered rule in accordance with the process described in 
        paragraph (2) and if such action is taken, the covered rule 
        shall remain in effect until modified or repealed by the agency 
        action or statute.
            (2) Renewal process.--
                    (A) In general.--An agency may renew a covered rule 
                by using the notice and comment rulemaking process.
                    (B) Requirements.--In conducting a rulemaking to 
                renew a covered rule under subparagraph (A), an agency 
                shall--
                            (i) solicit and respond to public comment 
                        from entities affected by the covered rule;
                            (ii) compare the projected costs of the 
                        covered rule to the actual costs realized by 
                        implementation of the covered rule and 
                        determine whether modifications can be made to 
                        the covered rule to lower the cost of the 
                        covered rule;
                            (iii) consider whether any regulatory 
                        alternatives exist that would accomplish the 
                        same regulatory objective as the covered rule 
                        with less of an impact on affected small 
                        entities; and
                            (iv) make modifications to the covered 
                        rule, if necessary, to reflect--
                                    (I) comments solicited under clause 
                                (i);
                                    (II) modifications described in 
                                clause (ii); and
                                    (III) any regulatory alternatives 
                                described in clause (iii).
                                 <all>