Children’s Protection Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3716 To require agencies to analyze how certain rules impact children, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2021 Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. COOPER, and Mr. KHANNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require agencies to analyze how certain rules impact children, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Children’s Protection Act of 2021’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Initial regulatory children’s analysis. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3716 IH Sec. 3. Final regulatory children’s analysis. Sec. 4. Exception, delay, and preparation of analyses. Sec. 5. Procedures for gathering comments. Sec. 6. Avoidance of duplicative or unnecessary analyses. Sec. 7. Reports. Sec. 8. Applicability. Sec. 9. Judicial review. Sec. 10. Definitions. SEC. 2. INITIAL REGULATORY CHILDREN’S ANALYSIS. 1 (a) PUBLICATION AND PUBLIC COMMENT RE- 2 QUIRED.—Except as provided for in subsections (a) and 3 (b) of section 4, with respect to any proposed applicable 4 rule, the head of an agency shall include an initial regu- 5 latory children’s analysis, or a summary of the analysis, 6 in the general notice of proposed rulemaking published in 7 the Federal Register under section 553 of title 5, United 8 States Code, or other applicable law, and make such anal- 9 ysis or summary available for public comment. 10 (b) CONTENTS OF INITIAL ANALYSIS.—Each initial 11 regulatory children’s analysis required under this section 12 shall describe the impact of the proposed applicable rule 13 on children and contain the following: 14 (1) An estimate of the number of children who 15 may be directly or indirectly negatively affected by 16 the proposed rule. 17 (2) An analysis of how children may be directly 18 or indirectly negatively affected by the proposed ap- 19 plicable rule, including with respect to the following: 20 (A) Physical safety. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3716 IH (B) Mental, emotional, and physical health, 1 including the unique vulnerabilities of children’s 2 specific stages of development. 3 (C) Relationship with and attachment to a 4 parent, legal guardian, sibling, or other ex- 5 tended family, Tribe, or community member. 6 (D) Well-being and security, including eco- 7 nomic security, education, and healthy develop- 8 ment. 9 (E) Identity, including race, ethnicity, reli- 10 gion, gender, gender identity, sexual orienta- 11 tion, and immigration status. 12 (3) Data sources and a description of any un- 13 certainties. 14 (4) A description of the demographic groups of 15 children negatively affected. 16 (5) Any reasonably foreseeable projected in- 17 crease in negative health or educational outcomes for 18 children, including reduced access to health insur- 19 ance, health care, and behavioral health care serv- 20 ices. 21 (6) Any significant alternatives to the proposed 22 applicable rule that could accomplish the stated ob- 23 jectives of the proposed applicable rule and that 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3716 IH minimize any negative impacts to children or that 1 provide greater benefits to children. 2 (c) REQUIREMENTS BEFORE PUBLICATION OF INI- 3 TIAL ANALYSIS.—Before the publication of an initial regu- 4 latory children’s analysis by an agency: 5 (1) The head of the agency shall convene a re- 6 view panel for the proposed applicable rule con- 7 sisting of full-time Federal employees of the office 8 within the agency responsible for carrying out the 9 proposed applicable rule, 3 children’s representa- 10 tives, a board certified pediatrician, a member of the 11 National Academy of Sciences with expertise in chil- 12 dren’s health, a licensed early childhood educator, 13 and 1 career employee from the Office of Informa- 14 tion and Regulatory Affairs. 15 (2) The review panel convened pursuant to 16 paragraph (1) shall review any material related to 17 the applicable rule that the agency has prepared in 18 connection with the requirements of this Act, includ- 19 ing any draft proposed applicable rule, and collect 20 advice and recommendations of each individual rep- 21 resentative identified by the agency on issues de- 22 scribed in subsection (b). 23 (3) Not later than 60 days after the date on 24 which an agency convenes a review panel pursuant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3716 IH to paragraph (1), the review panel shall submit to 1 the head of the agency a report on the comments of 2 the children’s representatives and any findings on 3 issues described in subsection (b). Such report shall 4 be made public as part of the rulemaking record. 5 (4) Where appropriate, the agency shall publish 6 any modification of the proposed applicable rule, the 7 initial regulatory children’s analysis, or the decision 8 on whether an initial regulatory children’s analysis is 9 required. 10 (d) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—In consultation 11 with the individuals identified in subsection (c)(1), the Ad- 12 ministrator may waive the requirements of paragraph (2), 13 (3), or (4) of subsection (c) by including in the rulemaking 14 record a written finding with reasons therefor that those 15 requirements would not advance the effective participation 16 of children’s representatives in the rulemaking process. 17 For purposes of this subsection, the factors to be consid- 18 ered in making such a finding are as follows: 19 (1) In developing a proposed applicable rule, 20 the extent to which the agency consulted with indi- 21 viduals representing and advocating for affected chil- 22 dren with respect to the potential impacts of the ap- 23 plicable rule and took such concerns into consider- 24 ation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3716 IH (2) Special circumstances requiring prompt 1 issuance of the applicable rule. 2 SEC. 3. FINAL REGULATORY CHILDREN’S ANALYSIS. 3 (a) PUBLICATION REQUIRED.—Except as provided 4 for in subsections (a) and (b) of section 4, simultaneously 5 with the promulgation of a final applicable rule under sec- 6 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code, or any other appli- 7 cable statue, the head of the agency shall publish a final 8 regulatory children’s analysis, or a summary of the anal- 9 ysis, in the Federal Register. In a case in which only the 10 summary is published, the head of the agency shall make 11 the final regulatory children’s analysis available on a pub- 12 lic website of the agency and include a link to that website 13 in the summary. 14 (b) CONTENTS OF FINAL ANALYSIS.—Each final reg- 15 ulatory children’s analysis required under this section 16 shall contain the following: 17 (1) A statement of the significant issues raised 18 by the public comments in response to the initial 19 regulatory children’s analysis including the impacts 20 on children and the regulatory analysis, a statement 21 of the assessment by the agency of such issues, and 22 a statement of any changes made to the proposed 23 applicable rule as a result of such comments. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3716 IH (2) An estimate of the number of children who 1 may be directly or indirectly negatively impacted by 2 the final applicable rule and the basis of such esti- 3 mate or a substantiated explanation of why such es- 4 timate is unavailable. 5 (3) A description of the demographic groups of 6 children impacted by the final applicable rule. 7 (4) A description of the steps the agency has 8 taken to minimize the negative impact on children, 9 and to maximize the benefits to children, including 10 a statement of the factual, policy, and legal reasons 11 for selecting any alternative adopted in the final ap- 12 plicable rule and why any other alternative that had 13 less negative impact on children’s health was not 14 adopted. 15 (5) An appendix containing the following: 16 (A) Any draft of the proposed applicable 17 rule submitted by the agency to the Office of 18 Management and Budget for any interagency 19 review process prior to proposal of any such 20 rule and each document accompanying any such 21 draft. 22 (B) Each written comment to any draft 23 described in subparagraph (A) by any other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3716 IH agency and each written response to such writ- 1 ten comment by the Administrator. 2 (C) Each draft of the final applicable rule 3 submitted for such review process prior to pro- 4 mulgation and each written comment thereon 5 and any document accompanying each such 6 draft and any written response thereto. 7 SEC. 4. EXCEPTION, DELAY, AND PREPARATION OF ANAL- 8 YSES. 9 (a) EXCEPTION.—The requirements of sections 2 and 10 3 do not apply if the head of an agency— 11 (1) certifies that an applicable rule will not 12 have a negative impact on a substantial number of 13 children; and 14 (2) publishes such certification in the Federal 15 Register at the time of publication of general notice 16 of proposed rulemaking for the applicable rule along 17 with a statement providing details for the factual 18 basis for such certification. 19 (b) DELAYS.— 20 (1) EMERGENCY.—The head of an agency may 21 delay the completion of the requirements of section 22 2 by publishing in the Federal Register, not later 23 than the date of publication of the final applicable 24 rule, a written finding that the final applicable rule 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3716 IH is being promulgated in response to an emergency 1 that makes timely compliance impracticable. 2 (2) IMPRACTICABILITY.—The head of an agen- 3 cy may delay the completion of the requirements of 4 section 3 for a period of not more than 180 days 5 after the date of publication in the Federal Register 6 of a final applicable rule by publishing in the Fed- 7 eral Register with the final applicable rule, a written 8 finding that the final applicable rule is being pro- 9 mulgated in response to an emergency that makes 10 timely compliance with the provisions of section 3 11 impracticable. If the agency has not prepared and 12 published the final regulatory analysis as described 13 in section 3 within 180 days after the date of publi- 14 cation of the final applicable rule, such applicable 15 rule shall lapse and have no effect. 16 (c) PREPARATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In complying with sections 2 18 and 3, an agency shall include in any analysis— 19 (A) a quantifiable or numerical description 20 of the effects of a proposed and final applicable 21 rule or alternatives to the proposed and final 22 applicable rule; and 23 (B) a qualitative analysis and description 24 of the effects of a proposed and final applicable 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3716 IH rule or alternatives to the proposed and final 1 applicable rule. 2 (2) SPECIAL ATTENTION TO UNIQUE 3 VULNERABILITIES.—An agency shall consider the 4 unique vulnerabilities of children, including the 5 unique behaviors, exposure routes, developing bodies, 6 and dependence on adults for their care, in pre- 7 paring the analysis and description described in 8 paragraph (1). 9 SEC. 5. PROCEDURES FOR GATHERING COMMENTS. 10 For any applicable rule, the head of the agency pro- 11 mulgating the applicable rule shall assure that children’s 12 representatives have been given an opportunity to partici- 13 pate in the rulemaking for the applicable rule through rea- 14 sonable use of techniques, including the following: 15 (1) The inclusion in an advanced notice of pro- 16 posed rulemaking, if issued, of a statement that the 17 proposed applicable rule may have a negative effect 18 on a substantial number of children. 19 (2) The issuance of the notice through an easily 20 accessible publicly available press release or official 21 statement. 22 (3) The conduct of an open conference or a 23 public hearing concerning the applicable rule for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:57 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3716.IH H3716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3716 IH children’s representatives, including soliciting and 1 receiving comments through the internet. 2 SEC. 6. AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATIVE OR UNNECESSARY 3 ANALYSES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—An agency may perform the anal- 5 yses required by sections 2 and 3 in conjunction with any 6 other required analysis, such as subchapter I of chapter 7 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to 8 as the Paperwork Reduction Act), or Executive Order 9 12866 (relating to regulatory planning and review). 10 (b) CONSOLIDATION OF RULES.—In order to avoid 11 duplicative action, an agency may consider a series of 12 closely related applicable rules as one rule for the purposes 13 of sections 2, 3, 4, and 5. 14 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 15 (a) OIRA REPORT ON COMPLIANCE.—The Adminis- 16 trator shall monitor agency compliance with this Act and 17 not less frequently than annually submit to the President, 18 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 19 Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Oversight 20 and Reform of the House of Representatives a report on 21 such compliance. 22 (b) AGENCY BIANNUAL SUBMISSION TO OFFICE OF 23 INFORMATI [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]