[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 133 (Saturday, August 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4245-S4247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5225. Mr. RISCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 5376, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to
title II of S. Con. Res. 14; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the end of title VII, add the following:
SEC. 70008. REGULATORY REFORM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the
term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Agency rro.--The term ``agency RRO'' means the
Regulatory Reform Officer of an agency designated under
subsection (b)(1).
(3) Costs.--The term ``costs'' means opportunity cost to
society.
(4) Cost savings.--The term ``cost savings'' means the cost
imposed by a regulatory action that is eliminated by the
repeal, replacement, or modification of the regulatory
action.
(5) Deregulatory action.--The term ``deregulatory action''
means the repeal, replacement, or modification of an existing
regulatory action.
(6) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
(7) Incremental regulatory cost.--The term ``incremental
regulatory cost'' means the difference between the estimated
cost of issuing a significant regulatory action and the
estimated cost saved by issuing any deregulatory action.
(8) Regulation; rule.--The term ``regulation'' or ``rule''
has the meaning given the term ``rule'' in section 551 of
title 5, United States Code.
(9) Regulatory action.--The term ``regulatory action''
means--
(A) any regulation; and
(B) any other regulatory guidance, statement of policy,
information collection request, form, or reporting,
recordkeeping, or disclosure requirements that imposes a
burden on the public or governs agency operations.
(10) Significant regulatory action.--The term ``significant
regulatory action'' means any regulatory action, other than
monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open
Market Committee, that is likely to--
(A) have an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or
more or 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;
(B) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere
with an action taken or planned by another agency;
(C) materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements,
grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights and
obligations of recipients thereof; or
(D) raise a novel legal or policy issue.
(11) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, and each territory or
possession of the United States.
(12) Task force.--The term ``Task Force'' means the
regulatory reform task force of an agency described in
subsection (b)(2).
(b) Establishing Regulatory Reform Capacity.--
(1) Regulatory reform officers.--
(A) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (e), each
agency shall designate an employee or officer of the agency
as the Regulatory Reform Officer.
(B) Duties.--In accordance with applicable law and in
consultation with relevant senior agency officials, each
agency RRO shall oversee--
(i) the implementation of regulatory reform initiatives and
policies for the agency to ensure that the agency effectively
carries out regulatory reforms; and
(ii) the termination of programs and activities that derive
from or implement statutes, Executive orders, guidance
documents, policy memoranda, rule interpretations, and
similar documents, or relevant portions thereof, that have
been repealed or rescinded.
(2) Regulatory reform task forces.--
(A) Establishment of agency task force; membership.--Except
as provided in subsection (e), not later than 60 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency
shall appoint and may remove members to the regulatory reform
task force of the agency, which shall be composed of the
following members:
(i) The agency RRO.
(ii) A senior agency official from each relevant component
or office of the agency with significant authority for
issuing or repealing regulatory actions.
(iii) Additional senior agency officials involved in the
development of rulemaking or other regulatory action at the
agency, as determined by the head of the agency.
(B) Chair.--Unless otherwise designated by the head of the
agency, the agency RRO shall chair the Task Force of the
agency.
(C) Joint task forces.--
(i) In general.--For the consideration of a joint
rulemaking, the Director may form a joint regulatory reform
task force composed of not less than 1 member from the Task
Force of each relevant agency.
(ii) Consultation.--Any joint regulatory reform task force
formed under this paragraph shall consult with each relevant
Task Force.
(D) Duties.--Each Task Force shall--
(i) conduct ongoing evaluations of regulations and other
regulatory actions and make recommendations that are
consistent with and that could be implemented in accordance
with applicable law to the head of the agency regarding
repeal, replacement, or modification of regulations and
regulatory actions; and
(ii) to the extent practicable--
(I) not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, complete a review of each regulation issued by the
agency;
(II) for each regulation or regulatory action reviewed and
identified for repeal, replacement, or modification, estimate
the cost savings of the repeal, replacement, or modification,
as applicable; and
(III) identify regulations that are appropriate for repeal,
replacement, or modification, and prioritize the evaluation
of regulations that--
(aa) eliminate or have eliminated jobs or inhibit or have
inhibited job creation;
(bb) are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;
(cc) impose costs that exceed benefits;
(dd) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere
with regulatory reform initiatives and policies;
(ee) were issued or are maintained in a manner that is
inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of the
Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44
U.S.C. 3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that
section, including any rule that relies in whole or in part
on data, information, or methods that are not publicly
available or that are insufficiently transparent to meet the
standard for reproducibility; or
(ff) were made pursuant to or to implement statutes,
Executive orders, or other Presidential directives that have
been subsequently rescinded or substantially modified.
[[Page S4246]]
(3) Consultation with stakeholders.--In performing the
tasks under this subsection, each agency RRO and Task Force--
(A) shall seek input and other assistance from the public
and from entities significantly affected by regulations,
including State, local, and Tribal governments, small
businesses, consumers, non-governmental organizations, and
trade associations; and
(B) may--
(i) incorporate specific suggestions from stakeholders in
identifying the list of deregulatory actions to recommend to
the head of the agency; and
(ii) accept or solicit input from the public in any manner,
if--
(I) the process is transparent to the public and Congress;
(II) a list of each meeting, a list of each stakeholder
that submitted a comment, and a copy of each written comment
are made publicly available online; and
(III) the Task Force issues a public notice of any public
meeting to solicit input not less than 7 days before the
public meeting and makes detailed minutes of the meeting
available online not less than 7 days after the date of the
meeting.
(4) Transparent regulatory reform.--
(A) Website.--To the extent practicable, the head of each
agency shall publish information about the Task Force of the
agency and other regulatory reform initiatives on the website
of the agency--
(i) which shall include--
(I) a list of the members of the Task Force of the agency;
(II) a copy of each report issued under this subsection;
and
(III) a link to or copy of each notice of a meeting or
solicitation of public comments issued by the Task Force of
the agency; and
(ii) which may include--
(I) an online forum to receive comments from the public;
and
(II) any other information about the Task Force or other
regulatory reform initiatives at the agency.
(B) Report.--Not less frequently than twice per year, each
agency RRO shall submit to the head of the agency a report on
the activities performed under this section and any
recommendations resulting from those activities, which shall
be posted by the head of the agency on a publicly accessible
website and shall include the following:
(i) A description of any improvement made toward
implementation of regulatory reform initiatives and policies.
(ii) For each regulation or other regulatory action
reviewed by the Task Force, a detailed description of the
review.
(iii) An inventory of each regulation or regulatory action
the Task Force recommends the agency consider for repeal,
replacement, or modification.
(iv) A list of all activities conducted under paragraph
(3), a summary of all comments received, and a hyperlink to
copies of each public comment received.
(c) Accountability.--
(1) Incorporation in performance plans.--
(A) In general.--Each agency listed in section 901(b)(1) of
title 31, United States Code, shall incorporate in the annual
performance plan of the agency required under section 1115(b)
of title 31, United States Code, performance indicators that
measure progress implementing this section.
(B) OMB guidance.--The Director shall issue, and update as
necessary, guidance regarding the implementation of this
paragraph.
(2) Performance assessment.--The head of each agency shall
consider the progress implementing this section in assessing
the performance of the Task Force of the agency and those
individuals responsible for developing and issuing agency
rules.
(d) Regulatory Planning and Budget.--
(1) Unified agenda and annual regulatory plan.--
(A) Unified regulatory agenda.--During the months of April
and October of each year, the Director shall publish a
unified regulatory agenda, which shall include--
(i) regulatory and deregulatory actions under development
or review at agencies;
(ii) a Federal regulatory plan of all significant
regulatory actions and associated deregulatory actions that
agencies reasonably expect to issue in proposed or final form
in the current and following fiscal year; and
(iii) all information required to be included in the
regulatory flexibility agenda under section 602 of title 5,
United States Code.
(B) Agency submissions.--In accordance with guidance issued
by the Director and not less than 60 days before each date of
publication for the unified regulatory agenda under
subparagraph (A), the head of each agency shall submit to the
Director an agenda of all regulatory actions and deregulatory
actions under development at the agency, including the
following:
(i) For each regulatory action and deregulatory action:
(I) A regulation identifier number.
(II) A brief summary of the action.
(III) The legal authority for the action.
(IV) Any legal deadline for the action.
(V) The name and contact information for a knowledgeable
agency official.
(VI) Any other information as required by the Director.
(ii) An annual regulatory plan, which shall include a list
of each significant regulatory action the agency reasonably
expects to issue in proposed or final form in the current and
following fiscal year, including for each significant
regulatory action:
(I) A summary, including the following:
(aa) A statement of the regulatory objectives.
(bb) The legal authority for the action.
(cc) A statement of the need for the action.
(dd) The agency's schedule for the action.
(II) The estimated cost.
(III) The estimated benefits.
(IV) Any deregulatory action identified to offset the
estimated cost of such significant regulatory action and an
explanation of how the agency will continue to achieve
regulatory objectives if the deregulatory action is taken.
(V) A best approximation of the total cost or savings and
any cost or savings associated with a deregulatory action.
(VI) An estimate of the economic effects, including any
estimate of the net effect that such action will have on the
number of jobs in the United States, that was considered in
drafting the action, or, if such estimate is not available, a
statement affirming that no information on the economic
effects, including the effect on the number of jobs, of the
action has been considered.
(iii) Information required under section 602 of title 5,
United States Code.
(iv) Information required under any other law to be
reported by agencies about significant regulatory actions, as
determined by the Director.
(2) Federal regulatory budget.--
(A) Establishment.--In the April unified regulatory agenda
described in paragraph (1), the Director--
(i) shall establish the annual Federal Regulatory Budget,
which specifies the net amount of incremental regulatory
costs allowed by the Federal Government and at each agency
for the next fiscal year; and
(ii) may set the incremental regulatory cost allowance to
allow an increase, prohibit an increase, or require a
decrease of incremental regulatory costs.
(B) Default net incremental regulatory cost.--If the
Director does not set a net amount of incremental regulatory
costs allowed for an agency, the net incremental regulatory
cost allowed shall be zero.
(C) Balance rollover of incremental regulatory cost
allowance.--
(i) In general.--If an agency does not exhaust all of the
incremental regulatory cost allowance for a fiscal year, the
balance may be added to the incremental regulatory cost
allowance for the subsequent fiscal year, without increasing
the incremental regulatory costs allowed for the Federal
Government for the subsequent fiscal year.
(ii) Total carryover.--The Director shall identify the
total carryover incremental regulatory cost allowance
available to an agency in the Federal Regulatory Budget.
(3) Significant regulatory action requirements.--Except as
otherwise required by law, a significant regulatory action
shall have no effect unless--
(A) the--
(i) head of the agency identifies not less than 2
deregulatory actions to offset the costs of the significant
regulatory action, and to the extent feasible, issues those
deregulatory actions before or on the same schedule as the
significant regulatory action;
(ii) incremental costs of the significant regulatory action
as offset by any deregulatory action issued before or on the
same schedule as the significant regulatory action do not
cause the agency to exceed or contribute to the agency
exceeding the incremental regulatory cost allowance of the
agency for that fiscal year; and
(iii) significant regulatory action was included on the
most recent version or update of the published unified
regulatory agenda; or
(B) the issuance of the significant regulatory action was
approved in advance in writing by the Director and the
written approval is publicly available online prior to the
issuance of the significant regulatory action.
(4) Guidance by omb.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish and issue
guidance on how agencies should comply with the requirements
of this subsection, which shall include the following:
(i) A process for standardizing the measurement and
estimation of regulatory costs, including cost savings
associated with deregulatory actions.
(ii) Standards for determining what qualifies as a
deregulatory action.
(iii) Standards for determining the costs of existing
regulatory actions that are considered for repeal,
replacement, or modification.
(iv) A process for accounting for costs in different fiscal
years.
(v) Methods to oversee the issuance of significant
regulatory actions offset by cost savings achieved at
different times or by different agencies.
(vi) Emergencies and other circumstances that may justify
individual waivers of the requirements of this section.
(vii) Standards by which the Director will determine
whether a regulatory action or a collection of regulatory
actions qualifies as a significant regulatory action.
(B) Updates to guidance.--The Director shall update the
guidance issued pursuant to this subsection as necessary.
(e) Waiver.--
[[Page S4247]]
(1) Waiver authority.--Upon the written request of the head
of an agency, the Director may issue a written waiver of the
requirements of subsection (b) if the Director determines
that the agency generally issues very few or no rules.
(2) Revocation of waiver.--The Director may revoke at any
time a waiver issued under this subsection.
(3) Public availability of waivers.--The Director shall
maintain a publicly available list of each agency that is
operating under a waiver issued under this subsection.
(4) Requirement for waiver.--A waiver shall not be
effective unless the written waiver and the written request
of the agency are publicly available on the website of the
Office of Management and Budget.
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