[House Report 114-238]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress     {                                 }    Rept. 114-238
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session       {                                 }          Part 1
======================================================================
 
          ALL ECONOMIC REGULATIONS ARE TRANSPARENT ACT OF 2015

                                _______
                                

 July 29, 2015.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Chaffetz, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 1759]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 1759) to amend title 5, United 
States Code, to provide for the publication, by the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information relating to 
rulemakings, and for other purposes, having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend 
that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Committee Statement and Views....................................     2
Section-by-Section...............................................     4
Explanation of Amendments........................................     5
Committee Consideration..........................................     5
Roll Call Votes..................................................     5
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch.....................     9
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the 
  Committee......................................................     9
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     9
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     9
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     9
Federal Advisory Committee Act...................................     9
Unfunded Mandates Statement......................................     9
Earmark Identification...........................................    10
Committee Estimate...............................................    10
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate...    10
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............    11
Minority Views...................................................    15

                     Committee Statement and Views


                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    H.R. 1759, the All Economic Regulations are Transparent 
(ALERT) Act brings needed transparency to the regulatory 
process. The bill requires agencies to submit monthly 
regulatory updates to the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs (OIRA) for all rules expected to be proposed or 
released in the upcoming year. OIRA is then required to make 
the monthly regulatory updates publicly available on the 
Internet. The regulatory updates will include a summary, the 
objective of each rule, its legal basis, and other information. 
If a notice of proposed rulemaking has been issued for a rule, 
the update must include a schedule for completing the 
rulemaking, an estimate of the cost, and the economic effects 
considered. A rule must be noticed for at least six months 
before it can become effective.
    H.R. 1759 requires OIRA to publish two annual cumulative 
assessments of agency rulemaking on October 1st of each year. 
One assessment, to be published in the Federal Register, 
provides information about regulatory activity of the past 
year, including the number of rules issued, any deregulatory 
actions, and information received in the monthly updates. The 
other assessment, to be published on the Internet, provides 
information about the regulatory review process during the past 
year, including cost-benefit analyses, the number of OIRA 
reviews, and rules submitted to the Government Accountability 
Office under the Congressional Review Act.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Regulatory transparency is essential for public 
participation. Enhanced transparency and public participation 
in the regulatory process requires that the public be apprised 
in a timely manner about upcoming rulemaking activity.
    In recent years, regulatory transparency has diminished. 
The public has been given less time to prepare for the 
opportunity to participate in the regulatory process and less 
time to prepare for the impact of the regulation itself. 
Currently, the primary regulatory transparency tools are the 
government-wide semi-annual ``Unified Agenda of Regulatory and 
Deregulatory Actions'' (Unified Agenda) and annual agency 
``Regulatory Plans,'' both required under Executive Order 
12866.\1\ These tools are intended to provide notice and 
transparency into both near term and long term anticipated 
regulatory activity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Exec. Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 Fed. 
Reg. 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    While President Obama's Executive Order 13563 reaffirmed 
Executive Order 12866, the current Administration has been 
inconsistent in meeting the requirements for the Unified Agenda 
and Regulatory Plans.\2\ Traditionally the Unified Agenda has 
been issued in April and October of each year and the Executive 
Order requires that the Regulatory Plans be issued with the 
October agenda.\3\ The Administration never issued the Spring 
2012 Unified Agenda and the Fall 2012 edition was issued in 
late December.\4\ In 2013, the Spring Unified Agenda was issued 
in July and the Fall Unified Agenda was issued in late 
November, but it was not published in the Federal Register 
until January 2014.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Exec. Order No. 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory 
Review, 76 Fed. Reg. 3821 (Jan. 18, 2011).
    \3\See Exec. Order No. 12291, Federal Regulation, 3 C.F.R. 127 
(Feb. 17, 1981), and Exec. Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and 
Review, 58 Fed. Reg. 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
    \4\See Leland E. Beck, OMB Releases Fall 2012 Unified Agenda & 
Regulatory Plan: Meaning What?, Federal Regulations Advisor (Dec. 22, 
2012), http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2012/12/22/omb-releases-fall-2012-
unified-agenda-regulatory-plan-meaning-what/.
    \5\See Sofie Miller, New Regulatory Agenda Lists Thousands of New 
Rules, Reg. Studies Center GWU (July 10, 2013) available at: http://
research.columbian.gwu.edu/regulatorystudies/sites/default/files/u41/
20130710_spring2013unifiedagenda.pdf, Leland E. Beck, Fall 2013 Unified 
Agenda Published: Something New, Something Old, Federal Regulations 
Advisor (Nov. 27, 2013), http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2013/11/27/fall-
2013-unified-agenda-published-something-new-something-old/, and 
Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 
Deregulatory Actions, 79 Fed. Reg. 895 (Jan. 7, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Additionally, OIRA Administrators under the current 
Administration have actively sought to shrink the scope of the 
Unified Agenda.\6\ The Executive Order requires agencies to 
provide information for the Unified Agenda for ``all 
regulations under development or review.''\7\ However, in June 
2012, OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein issued a memorandum 
encouraging agencies to reduce the number of rules included on 
the agenda, by removing rules that are listed as long-term or 
rules that are not expected to move forward within the next 
year.\8\ In 2013, Administrator Howard Shelanski issued a 
substantially similar memorandum.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Clyde Wayne Crews, Big Sexy Holiday Fun with the Unified Agenda 
of Federal Regulations, Forbes (Dec. 2, 2013) available at: http://
www.forbes.com/sites/waynecrews/2013/12/02/big-sexy-holiday-fun-with-
the-unified-agenda-of-federal-regulations/.
    \7\Exec. Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 Fed. 
Reg. 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
    \8\Memorandum from OIRA Admin. Cass Sunstein ``Fall 2012 Regulatory 
Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory 
Actions'' (Jun. 13, 2012).
    \9\Memorandum from OIRA Admin. Howard Shelanski ``Fall 2013 
Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and 
Deregulatory Actions'' (Aug. 7, 2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The ALERT Act will modernize and expand the regulatory 
transparency tools available to the public by requiring 
agencies to make monthly updates for rules that are anticipated 
to be proposed or finalized within the upcoming year. The ALERT 
Act also creates a statutory deadline for OIRA to submit 
information to the public about the rulemaking process and the 
regulatory effects of rules issued and proposed during the past 
year. The regulatory transparency tools in the ALERT Act will 
create greater certainty about anticipated regulatory action 
and the effects of such action on the public.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    H.R. 1759, the All Economic Regulations are Transparent 
(ALERT) Act of 2015, was introduced on April 13, 2015 by Rep. 
John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and referred to the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on the 
Judiciary. On April 15, 2015, the Committee on the Judiciary 
favorably reported H.R. 1759 without amendment by a roll call 
vote 14 to 9. On May 19, 2015, the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform held a Full Committee Business Meeting to 
consider H.R. 1759. Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) offered an 
amendment that was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 18. 
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) offered an amendment that 
was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 19. The bill was 
then ordered favorably reported by a roll call vote 20 to 17.
    In the 113th Congress, identical legislation (H.R. 2804) 
was introduced on July 24, 2013 by Congressman George Holding 
(R-NC). The bill was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
Government Reform and the Committee on the Judiciary. The 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ordered the bill 
favorably reported by roll call vote of 19 to 15 on February 
11, 2015. H.R. 2804 passed the House on February 27, 2014 by a 
vote of 236 to 179. The text of H.R. 2804 was included in H.R. 
4, which passed the House on September 18, 2014.

                           Section-by-Section


Section 1. Short title

    Designates the short title of the bill as the All Economic 
Regulations are Transparent (ALERT) Act of 2015.

Section 2. OIRA publication of information relating to rules

    Requires agency heads to submit to the Administrator of the 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a monthly 
update of each rule the agency expects to propose or finalize 
in the upcoming year which includes for each rule: summary; 
objectives; legal basis; whether comments will be requested on 
the proposed rule; the stage of the rulemaking process; whether 
the rule is subject to a regulatory review under 5 U.S.C. 
Sec. 610; and, if a notice of proposed rulemaking has been 
issued for a rule, the agency must also include a schedule for 
completion and an estimate of the cost.
    Requires the Administrator to make the monthly updates 
publicly available on the Internet.
    Requires the Administrator to publish an annual cumulative 
assessment of agency rulemaking in the Federal Register. The 
following information shall be included: information received 
in the monthly submissions; cost and benefit analyses of rules; 
agency action that reduced the scope of the regulatory state; 
the total costs of rules; and the total number of rules for 
which a cost estimate was unavailable.
    Requires the OIRA Administrator to make publicly available 
on the Internet on an annual basis certain information about 
the review and analysis of each proposed or finalized rule. The 
following information will be included: cost and benefits 
analyses; docket numbers; regulatory identifier number; the 
number and a list of rules reviewed by OIRA; and the number and 
list of rules covered under the Congressional Review Act. The 
first publication will require the cost and benefit analyses 
for all proposed and final rules in the past 10 years.
    Provides that a rule may not take effect until the monthly 
submission to OIRA has been publicly available on the Internet 
for not less than 6 months. The 6 month requirement does not 
apply to rules that do not require notice and public comment 
and rules the President issues an executive order declaring 
necessary.

Section 3. Effective dates

    Establishes effective dates for the monthly updates and 
OIRA publications, and provides that the 6 month requirement 
not take effect until 8 months after enactment.

                       Explanation of Amendments

    Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) offered an amendment to 
require the reporting of benefits in the monthly and annual 
reports in addition to the costs, which the bill requires. The 
amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 18. 
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) offered an amendment to 
strike the six month provision in the underlying bill. The 
amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 19. The 
bill was then adopted and favorably reported to the House by a 
roll call vote of 20 to 17.

                        Committee Consideration

    On May 19, 2015 the Committee met in open session and 
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 1759, by a roll call 
vote of 20 to17, a quorum being present.

                            Roll Call Votes

    There were three recorded votes during consideration of 
H.R. 1759:


              Application of Law to the Legislative Branch

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this bill to the legislative 
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of 
employment or access to public services and accommodations. 
This bill amends title 5, United States Code, to provide for 
the publication, by the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, of information relating to rulemakings. As such this 
bill does not relate to employment or access to public services 
and accommodations.

  Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of 
this report.

         Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance 
goal or objective of this bill is to amend title 5, United 
States Code, to provide for the publication, by the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information relating to 
rulemakings.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    No provision of this bill establishes or reauthorizes a 
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of 
another Federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings

    The Committee estimates that enacting this bill does not 
direct the completion of any specific rule makings within the 
meaning of 5 U.S.C. 551.

                     Federal Advisory Committee Act

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish 
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within 
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).

                      Unfunded Mandates Statement

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement as to 
whether the provisions of the reported include unfunded 
mandates. In compliance with this requirement the Committee has 
received a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included 
herein.

                         Earmark Identification

    This bill does not include any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of rule XXI.

                           Committee Estimate

    Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out 
this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has 
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the 
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974.

     Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received 
the following cost estimate for this bill from the Director of 
Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 1759--ALERT Act of 2015

    H.R. 1759 would require federal agencies to provide certain 
information to the public regarding proposed and final 
regulations. The bill would require federal agencies to submit 
information for a proposed new supplement to the Unified Agenda 
of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (a semiannual 
compilation of the federal regulations under development) that 
would be published monthly. The Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs would be required to post that information 
on the Internet on a monthly and annual basis. With certain 
exceptions, regulations would not be effective until six months 
after they have appeared in the proposed monthly report.
    CBO estimates that preparing the monthly supplemental 
reports for 3,000 to 4,000 final regulations each year would 
cost less than a million dollars a year, subject to the 
availability of appropriated funds, over the 2016-2020 period. 
Because agencies routinely monitor the status of regulations 
that are being processed, CBO does not expect this additional 
reporting requirement would add a significant administrative 
burden. Based on information from the Congressional Research 
Service about the current regulatory process, CBO also expects 
that the requirements in H.R. 1759 would not significantly 
delay the implementation of final regulations.
    Enacting H.R. 1759 could affect direct spending by some 
agencies (such as the Tennessee Valley Authority) because their 
operating costs are covered by receipts from the sale of goods, 
fees, and other collections. Therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures apply. Because most of those agencies can adjust the 
amounts collected, CBO estimates that any net changes in direct 
spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting 
the bill would not affect revenues.
    H.R. 1759 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    On May 4, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
1759 as ordered reported by the House Committee on the 
Judiciary on April 15, 2015. The two versions of the 
legislation are identical, and the CBO cost estimates are the 
same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                      TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE





           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
                     PART I. THE AGENCIES GENERALLY

Chapter                                                             Sec.
      Organization...................................................101
     * * * * * * *
      The Analysis of Regulatory Functions...........................601
      The Analysis of Regulatory Functions...........................601
      Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Publication of    6A.
651   Information Relating to Rules...................................

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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.
Sec. 652. Office of information and regulatory affairs publications.
Sec. 653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly 
          publication.
Sec. 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 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 if not, whether 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 
                pursuant to 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 for which the agency expects to 
        finalize during the following year and 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) $50,000,000 or more but less 
                        than $100,000,000;
                          (iii) $100,000,000 or more but less 
                        than $500,000,000;
                          (iv) $500,000,000 or more but less 
                        than $1,000,000,000;
                          (v) $1,000,000,000 or more but less 
                        than $5,000,000,000;
                          (vi) $5,000,000,000 or more but less 
                        than $10,000,000,000; or
                          (vii) $10,000,000,000 or more; and
                  (C) 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. 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 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 pursuant to 
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 pursuant to 
                                section 553(b)(B); and
                                  (III) the rule was issued 
                                pursuant to a statutory mandate 
                                or 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 rule 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 
                under section 801.
                  (F) The number of rules and a list of each 
                such rule for which a resolution of disapproval 
                was introduced in either 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 such rule pursuant to 
section 652(a) has been so available for not less than 6 
months.
  (b) Exceptions The requirement of 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) which the President determines by Executive order 
        should take effect because the rule is--
                  (A) necessary because of an imminent threat 
                to health or safety or other emergency;
                  (B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 
                laws;
                  (C) necessary for national security; or
                  (D) issued pursuant to 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.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    H.R. 1759, the ALERT Act, is another attack on agency 
rulemakings that is mischaracterized by its proponents as 
improving transparency. H.R. 1759 would be unnecessarily 
burdensome for agencies. Agencies already are required to 
provide status updates twice a year on their plans for 
proposing and finalizing rules pursuant to the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866. This bill would 
require agencies to report monthly.
    The bill would impose an arbitrary and unnecessary 
moratorium on rulemakings that would prohibit a rule from 
taking effect until the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs (OIRA) has posted certain information online for at 
least six months. The only narrow exceptions to this moratorium 
would be if an agency claims an exception from the notice and 
comment provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act or if 
the President issues an executive order.
    The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, which includes more 
than 150 labor, scientific, health, and good government groups, 
sent a letter to the Committee opposing the ALERT Act on May 
18, 2015. The letter stated:

        We are particularly concerned with the provision 
        contained in Section 653(a) that would delay important 
        rules, essential to protecting the health, safety, and 
        welfare of the American public, until six months after 
        information supplied by agency heads is posted on the 
        Internet by the Administrator of the Office of 
        Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), unless such 
        rules meet certain limited exceptions. As a result of 
        this requirement, the benefits of critically needed 
        regulations--whether measured in lives saved, 
        environmental damage averted, or money saved--would be 
        put on hold unnecessarily for six months or longer.

    The bill would also require the Administrator of OIRA to 
issue a cumulative report annually. Some of the reporting 
requirements would be duplicative with current law and even 
other sections of this legislation. The bill, for example, 
would require OIRA to report the same information it is 
required to report on a monthly basis under a different section 
of this bill.
    OIRA would also be required to report the total cost of all 
rules proposed or finalized and the number of rules for which a 
cost estimate was not available. OIRA is already required to 
issue an annual report on the costs and benefits of federal 
rules and paperwork under the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act 
(P.L. 106-554). Unlike the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act, 
however, this bill would explicitly prohibit OIRA from taking 
into account benefits when providing the estimated cumulative 
costs of proposed and final rules.
    H.R. 1759 would require OIRA to provide a report on the 
``number of rules and a list of each such rule for which a 
resolution of disapproval was introduced in either the House or 
Senate under section 802.'' This requirement exemplifies the 
unnecessary and duplicative nature of H.R. 1759. Under this 
requirement, the legislative branch would be requiring the 
executive branch to report on the activities of the legislative 
branch.
    Ranking Member Cummings offered an amendment during the 
Committee's consideration of H.R. 1759 that would have removed 
the bill's six month moratorium on rules taking effect.
    Representative Lynch offered an amendment that would have 
required agencies to report on the benefits of proposed rules 
instead of only the costs and that would have required OIRA to 
include an estimate of the total benefits of all rules proposed 
or finalized in the required annual cumulative reports.
    These amendments, which were not adopted, would have 
mitigated significant flaws in the underlying bill.

                                   Elijah E. Cummings,
                                           Ranking Member.