[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8204 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8204

  To amend titles 5 and 31, United States Code, to require regulatory 
           early notice by agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 1, 2024

    Mr. Davis of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Burchett, and Mr. 
Reschenthaler) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Small 
Business, 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 titles 5 and 31, United States Code, to require regulatory 
           early notice by agencies, 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 ``Regulatory Early Notice and 
Engagement Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Federal agencies regulate via grants of authority 
        contained in public laws.
            (2) To earn and maintain public trust, this regulatory 
        power must be exercised with full transparency. Providing such 
        transparency early in the process of developing regulations 
        also enables the public to provide informed input into that 
        process.
            (3) Agencies should promulgate only such regulations as are 
        necessary.
            (4) Agencies should report to Congress on the necessity of 
        developing each new regulation.
            (5) This information should be made publicly accessible 
        upon initiation of a new rulemaking to facilitate both public 
        engagement and congressional oversight.

SEC. 3. REGULATORY EARLY NOTICE.

    (a) Online Notice of Initiation.--Chapter 6 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding after section 601 the following:
``Sec. 601A. Regulatory early notice
    ``(a) Regulatory Early Notice Webpage.--
            ``(1) Webpage required.--The head of each agency shall 
        maintain on the website of the agency a regulatory early notice 
        webpage.
            ``(2) Requirement to publish on webpage.--Not later than 7 
        days after the date on which the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget assigns a regulation identifier number to 
        an agency rulemaking, the head of the relevant agency shall--
                    ``(A) publish on the regulatory early notice web 
                page of the agency a regulatory early notice for that 
                rulemaking; and
                    ``(B) provide the regulatory early notice to the 
                Comptroller General.
    ``(b) Regulatory Early Notice Contents.--A regulatory early notice 
under subsection (a) shall identify the problem that the rule is 
intended to address, and shall include the following:
            ``(1) Whether the rule is required by law, necessary to 
        interpret the law, or made necessary by compelling public need, 
        such as material failures of private markets to protect the 
        health and safety of the public, the environment, or the well-
        being of the American people.
            ``(2) Whether regulations (or other law) have created, or 
        contributed to, the problem that a new regulation is intended 
        to correct and whether those regulations (or other law) should 
        be modified to achieve the intended goal of regulation more 
        effectively.
            ``(3) Whether the agency identified and assessed available 
        alternatives to direct regulation, including the alternative of 
        not regulating, and including providing economic incentives to 
        encourage the desired behavior, such as user fees or marketable 
        permits, or providing information upon which choices can be 
        made by the public.
            ``(4) An invitation for the public to provide the agency 
        with recommendations on how to accomplish the objectives of the 
        rule most effectively and at least cost.
    ``(c) Regulation Identifier Number Defined.--The term `regulation 
identifier number' means the regulation identifier number assigned to 
an agency rulemaking by the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to 
section 4(b) of Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 note; relating to 
regulatory planning and review), or any successor thereto.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed to require the head of an agency to respond to any 
recommendation submitted under subsection (b)(4) and any such 
recommendation may not be cited in a challenge to a final rule.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding after 
the item related to section 601 the following new item:

        ``601A. Regulatory early notice.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall establish the 
regulatory early notice webpage of the agency required pursuant to 
section 601A of title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection 
(b). Each agency webpage shall contain regulatory early notices for 
every agency rulemaking for which the Office of Management and Budget 
assigned a regulation identifier number after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.

SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORTING; DATABASE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 31, United State Code, is 
amended by adding after section 721 the following new section:
``Sec. 722. Regulatory early notice database and report
    ``(a) Database.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Comptroller General shall establish and 
maintain on the website of the Comptroller General a searchable 
database of each regulatory early notice provided to the Comptroller 
General pursuant to section 601A of title 5.
    ``(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller 
General shall submit to Congress and publish on the website of the 
Government Accountability Office a report that details agency 
compliance with this this section and section 601A of title 5.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
chapter 7 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding after 
the item related to section 721 the following new item:

        ``722. Regulatory early notice database and report.''.
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