Sunset Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 903 To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for Congressional oversight of agency rulemaking, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 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 chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for Congressional oversight of agency rulemaking, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sunset Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE- 5 MAKING. 6 Chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 7 to read as follows: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 903 IH ‘‘CHAPTER 8—CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW 1 OF AGENCY RULEMAKING 2 ‘‘801. Congressional review. ‘‘802. Congressional approval procedure for rules. ‘‘803. Definitions. ‘‘804. Judicial review. ‘‘805. Exemption for monetary policy. ‘‘806. Review of rules currently in effect. ‘‘807. Sunset for rules. ‘‘§ 801. Congressional review 3 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) Beginning on the date that is 3 months 4 after the date of enactment of this section and every 3 5 months thereafter, each agency shall submit to each 6 House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General a 7 report including each rule made by that agency during 8 that 3-month period, containing— 9 ‘‘(i) a copy of each such rule; 10 ‘‘(ii) a concise general statement relating to the 11 rule; 12 ‘‘(iii) a list of any other related regulatory ac- 13 tions intended to implement the same statutory pro- 14 vision or regulatory objective as well as the indi- 15 vidual and aggregate economic effects of those ac- 16 tions; and 17 ‘‘(iv) the proposed effective date of the rule. 18 ‘‘(B) No rule may take effect before the submission 19 of a report under subparagraph (A) that includes that 20 rule. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(C) On the date of the submission of the report 1 under subparagraph (A), the Federal agency promulgating 2 each rule included in the report shall submit to the Comp- 3 troller General and make available to each House of Con- 4 gress— 5 ‘‘(i) a complete copy of the cost-benefit analysis 6 of the rule, if any; 7 ‘‘(ii) the agency’s actions pursuant to title 5 of 8 the United States Code, sections 603, 604, 605, 9 607, and 609; 10 ‘‘(iii) the agency’s actions pursuant to title 2 of 11 the United States Code, sections 1532, 1533, 1534, 12 and 1535; and 13 ‘‘(iv) any other relevant information or require- 14 ments under any other Act and any relevant Execu- 15 tive orders. 16 ‘‘(D) Upon receipt of a report submitted under sub- 17 paragraph (A), each House shall provide copies of the re- 18 port to the chairman and ranking member of each stand- 19 ing committee with jurisdiction under the rules of the 20 House of Representatives or the Senate to report a bill 21 to amend the provision of law under which each rule in- 22 cluded in the report is issued. 23 ‘‘(2)(A) The Comptroller General shall provide a re- 24 port on each rule to the committees of jurisdiction by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 903 IH end of 15 calendar days after the submission or publica- 1 tion date as provided in section 802(b)(2). The report of 2 the Comptroller General shall include an assessment of the 3 agency’s compliance with procedural steps required by 4 paragraph (1)(C). 5 ‘‘(B) Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Comp- 6 troller General by providing information relevant to the 7 Comptroller General’s report under subparagraph (A). 8 ‘‘(3) A rule included in a report submitted under 9 paragraph (1) shall take effect upon enactment of a joint 10 resolution of approval described in section 802 or as pro- 11 vided for in the rule following enactment of a joint resolu- 12 tion of approval described in section 802, whichever is 13 later. 14 ‘‘(4) If a joint resolution of approval relating to a 15 rule is not enacted within the period provided in sub- 16 section (b)(2), then a joint resolution of approval relating 17 to the same rule may not be considered under this chapter 18 in the same Congress by either the House of Representa- 19 tives or the Senate. 20 ‘‘(b)(1) A rule shall not take effect unless the Con- 21 gress enacts a joint resolution of approval described under 22 section 802. 23 ‘‘(2) If a joint resolution described in subsection (a) 24 is not enacted into law by the end of 70 session days or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 903 IH legislative days, as applicable, beginning on the date on 1 which the report referred to in section 801(a)(1)(A) is re- 2 ceived by Congress (excluding days either House of Con- 3 gress is adjourned for more than 3 days during a session 4 of Congress), then each rule described in that resolution 5 shall be deemed not to be approved and such rule shall 6 not take effect. 7 ‘‘(3) Such a rule may not be reissued in substantially 8 the same form, and a new rule that is substantially the 9 same as such a rule may not be issued, unless the reissued 10 or new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted 11 after the date described in this subsection. 12 ‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 13 section (except subject to paragraph (3)), a rule may take 14 effect for one 90-calendar-day period if the President 15 makes a determination under paragraph (2) and submits 16 written notice of such determination to the Congress. 17 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) applies to a determination made 18 by the President by Executive order that the rule should 19 take effect because such rule is— 20 ‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent threat 21 to health or safety or other emergency; 22 ‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 23 laws; 24 ‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute imple- 1 menting an international trade agreement. 2 ‘‘(3) An exercise by the President of the authority 3 under this subsection shall have no effect on the proce- 4 dures under section 802. 5 ‘‘(d)(1) In addition to the opportunity for review oth- 6 erwise provided under this chapter, in the case of any rule 7 included in a report submitted in accordance with sub- 8 section (a)(1)(A) during the period beginning on the date 9 occurring— 10 ‘‘(A) in the case of the Senate, 60 session days, 11 or 12 ‘‘(B) in the case of the House of Representa- 13 tives, 60 legislative days, 14 before the date the Congress is scheduled to adjourn a 15 session of Congress through the date on which the same 16 or succeeding Congress first convenes its next session, sec- 17 tion 802 shall apply to such rule in the succeeding session 18 of Congress. 19 ‘‘(2)(A) In applying section 802 for purposes of such 20 additional review, a rule described under paragraph (1) 21 shall be treated as though— 22 ‘‘(i) such rule were published in the Federal 23 Register on— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(I) in the case of the Senate, the 15th 1 session day, or 2 ‘‘(II) in the case of the House of Rep- 3 resentatives, the 15th legislative day, 4 after the succeeding session of Congress first con- 5 venes; and 6 ‘‘(ii) a report on such rule were submitted to 7 Congress under subsection (a)(1) on such date. 8 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed 9 to affect the requirement under subsection (a)(1) that a 10 report shall be submitted to Congress before a rule can 11 take effect. 12 ‘‘(3) A rule described under paragraph (1) shall take 13 effect as otherwise provided by law (including other sub- 14 sections of this section). 15 ‘‘§ 802. Congressional approval procedure for rules 16 ‘‘(a) For purposes of this section, the term ‘joint res- 17 olution’ means only a joint resolution introduced on or 18 after the date on which the report referred to in section 19 801(a)(1)(A) is received by Congress (excluding days ei- 20 ther House of Congress is adjourned for more than 3 days 21 during a session of Congress), the matter after the resolv- 22 ing clause of which is as follows: ‘That Congress approves 23 the rules submitted by the ll relating to ll.’ (The 24 blank spaces being appropriately filled in). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 903 IH ‘‘(1) In the House, the majority leader of the 1 House of Representatives (or his designee) and the 2 minority leader of the House of Representatives (or 3 his designee) shall introduce such joint resolution 4 described in subsection (a) (by request), within 3 5 legislative days after Congress receives the report re- 6 ferred to in section 801(a)(1)(A). 7 ‘‘(2) In the Senate, the majority leader of the 8 Senate (or his designee) and the minority leader of 9 the Senate (or his designee) shall introduce such 10 joint resolution described in subsection (a) (by re- 11 quest), within 3 session days after Congress receives 12 the report referred to in section 801(a)(1)(A). 13 ‘‘(b)(1) A joint resolution described in subsection (a) 14 shall be referred to the committees in each House of Con- 15 gress with jurisdiction under the rules of the House of 16 Representatives or the Senate to report a bill to amend 17 the provision of law under which the rule is issued. 18 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘submis- 19 sion date’ means the date on which the Congress receives 20 the report submitted under section 801(a)(1). 21 ‘‘(c) In the Senate, if the committee or committees 22 to which a joint resolution described in subsection (a) has 23 been referred have not reported it at the end of 15 session 24 days after its introduction, such committee or committees 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 903 IH shall be automatically discharged from further consider- 1 ation of the resolution and it shall be placed on the cal- 2 endar. A vote on final passage of the resolution shall be 3 taken on or before the close of the 15th session day after 4 the resolution is reported by the committee or committees 5 to which it was referred, or after such committee or com- 6 mittees have been discharged from further consideration 7 of the resolution. 8 ‘‘(d)(1) In the Senate, when the committee or com- 9 mittees to which a joint resolution is referred have re- 10 ported, or when a committee or committees are discharged 11 (under subsection (c)) from further consideration of a 12 joint resolution described in subsection (a), it is at any 13 time thereafter in order (even though a previous motion 14 to the same effect has been disagreed to) for a motion 15 to proceed to the consideration of the joint resolution, and 16 all points of order against the joint resolution (and against 17 consideration of the joint resolution) are waived. The mo- 18 tion is not subject to amendment, or to a motion to post- 19 pone, or to a motion to proceed to the consideration of 20 other business. A motion to reconsider the vote by which 21 the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall not be in 22 order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration of the 23 joint resolution is agreed to, the joint resolution shall re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 903 IH main the unfinished business of the Senate until disposed 1 of. 2 ‘‘(2) In the Senate, debate on the joint resolution, 3 and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection 4 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, which 5 shall be divided equally between those favoring and those 6 opposing the joint resolution. A motion to further limit 7 debate is in order and not debatable. It shall be in order 8 to consider any amendment that provides for specific con- 9 ditions on which the approval of a particular rule included 10 in the joint resolution is contingent. 11 ‘‘(3) In the Senate, immediately following the conclu- 12 sion of the debate on a joint resolution described in sub- 13 section (a), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of 14 the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the 15 Senate, the vote on final passage of the joint resolution 16 shall occur. 17 ‘‘(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating 18 to the application of the rules of the Senate to the proce- 19 dure relating to a joint resolution described in subsection 20 (a) shall be decided without debate. 21 ‘‘(e)(1) In the House of Representatives, if the com- 22 mittee or committees to which a joint resolution described 23 in subsection (a) has been referred have not reported it 24 at the end of 15 legislative days after its introduction, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Feb 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H903.IH H903 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 903 IH such committee or committees shall be automatically dis- 1 charged from further consideration of the resolution and 2 it shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. A vote on 3 final passage of the resolution shall be taken on or before 4 the close of the 15th legislative day after the resolution 5 is reported by the committee or committees to which it 6 was referred, or after such committee or committees have 7 been discharged from further consideration of the resolu- 8 tion. 9 ‘‘(2)(A) A motion in the House of Representatives to 10 proceed to the consideration of a resolution shall be privi- 11 leged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion 12 shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to 13 reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to o [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]