Lessening Regulatory Costs and Establishing a Federal Regulatory Budget Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3860 To provide for a method by which the economic costs of significant regulatory actions may be offset by the repeal of other regulatory actions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2020 Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To provide for a method by which the economic costs of significant regulatory actions may be offset by the repeal of other regulatory actions, 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 ‘‘Lessening Regulatory Costs and Establishing a Federal 5 Regulatory Budget Act of 2020’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Sense of Congress; purpose. VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3860 IS Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Establishing regulatory reform capacity. Sec. 5. Accountability. Sec. 6. Regulatory planning and budget. Sec. 7. Waiver. SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE. 1 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 2 gress that— 3 (1) the Federal Government should be prudent 4 and financially responsible in the expenditure of 5 funds, from both public and private sources; and 6 (2) in addition to the management of the direct 7 expenditure of taxpayer dollars through the budg- 8 eting process, it is essential to manage the costs as- 9 sociated with the governmental imposition of private 10 expenditures required to comply with Federal regula- 11 tions. 12 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is— 13 (1) to remove unnecessary or outdated regula- 14 tions when a new significant regulation is issued; 15 and 16 (2) to prudently manage and control the cost of 17 planned regulations through an annual budgeting 18 process. 19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this Act: 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3860 IS (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 1 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 2 United States Code. 3 (2) AGENCY RRO.—The term ‘‘agency RRO’’ 4 means the employee or officer of an agency des- 5 ignated as the Regulatory Reform Officer under sec- 6 tion 4(a)(1). 7 (3) COSTS.—The term ‘‘costs’’ means oppor- 8 tunity cost to society. 9 (4) COST SAVINGS.—The term ‘‘cost savings’’ 10 means the cost imposed by a regulatory action that 11 is eliminated by the repeal, replacement, or modifica- 12 tion of such regulatory action. 13 (5) DEREGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘de- 14 regulatory action’’ means the repeal, replacement, or 15 modification of an existing regulatory action. 16 (6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 17 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 18 et. 19 (7) INCREMENTAL REGULATORY COST.—The 20 term ‘‘incremental regulatory cost’’ means the dif- 21 ference between the estimated cost of issuing a sig- 22 nificant regulatory action and the estimated cost 23 saved by issuing any deregulatory action. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3860 IS (8) REGULATION; RULE.—The term ‘‘regula- 1 tion’’ or ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given the term 2 ‘‘rule’’ in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 3 (9) REGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘regu- 4 latory action’’ means— 5 (A) any regulation; and 6 (B) any other regulatory guidance, state- 7 ment of policy, information collection request, 8 form, or reporting, recordkeeping, or disclosure 9 requirement that imposes a burden on the pub- 10 lic or governs agency operations. 11 (10) SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTION.—The 12 term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ means any reg- 13 ulatory action, other than monetary policy proposed 14 or implemented by the Board of Governors of the 15 Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market 16 Committee, that is likely to— 17 (A) have an annual effect on the economy 18 of $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect in 19 a material way the economy, a sector of the 20 economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 21 environment, public health or safety, or State, 22 local, or Tribal governments or communities; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3860 IS (B) create a serious inconsistency or other- 1 wise interfere with an action taken or planned 2 by another agency; 3 (C) materially alter the budgetary impact 4 of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan pro- 5 grams or the rights and obligations of recipi- 6 ents thereof; or 7 (D) raise a novel legal or policy issue. 8 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 9 the several States, the District of Columbia, and 10 each territory or possession of the United States. 11 (12) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 12 means a regulatory reform task force established 13 under section 4(b)(1). 14 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING REGULATORY REFORM CAPACITY. 15 (a) REGULATORY REFORM OFFICERS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sec- 17 tion 7, not later than 60 days after the date of en- 18 actment of this Act, the head of each agency shall 19 designate an employee or officer of the agency as the 20 Regulatory Reform Officer. 21 (2) DUTIES.—In accordance with applicable law 22 and in consultation with relevant senior agency offi- 23 cials, each agency RRO shall oversee— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3860 IS (A) the implementation of regulatory re- 1 form initiatives and policies for the agency to 2 ensure that the agency effectively carries out 3 regulatory reforms; and 4 (B) the termination of programs and ac- 5 tivities that derive from or implement statutes, 6 Executive orders, guidance documents, policy 7 memoranda, rule interpretations, and similar 8 documents, or relevant portions thereof, that 9 have been repealed or rescinded. 10 (b) REGULATORY REFORM TASK FORCES.— 11 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY TASK FORCE; 12 MEMBERSHIP.—Except as provided in section 7, not 13 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 14 this Act, the head of each agency shall appoint and 15 may remove members to the regulatory reform task 16 force of the agency, which shall be composed of the 17 following members: 18 (A) The agency RRO. 19 (B) A senior agency official from each rel- 20 evant component or office of the agency with 21 significant authority for issuing or repealing 22 regulatory actions. 23 (C) Additional senior agency officials in- 24 volved in the development of rulemaking or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3860 IS other regulatory action at the agency, as deter- 1 mined by the head of the agency. 2 (2) CHAIR.—Unless otherwise designated by the 3 head of the agency, the agency RRO shall chair the 4 Task Force of the agency. 5 (3) JOINT TASK FORCES.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—For the consideration 7 of a joint rulemaking, the Director may form a 8 joint regulatory reform task force composed of 9 not fewer than 1 member from the Task Force 10 of each relevant agency. 11 (B) CONSULTATION.—Any joint regulatory 12 reform task force formed under this paragraph 13 shall consult with each relevant Task Force. 14 (4) DUTIES.—Each Task Force shall— 15 (A) conduct ongoing evaluations of regula- 16 tions and other regulatory actions and make 17 recommendations that are consistent with and 18 that could be implemented in accordance with 19 applicable law to the head of the agency regard- 20 ing repeal, replacement, or modification of reg- 21 ulations and regulatory actions; and 22 (B) to the extent practicable— 23 (i) not later than 5 years after the 24 date of enactment of this Act, complete a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3860 IS review of each regulation issued by the 1 agency; 2 (ii) for each regulation or regulatory 3 action reviewed and identified for repeal, 4 replacement, or modification, estimate the 5 cost savings of such repeal, replacement, or 6 modification, as applicable; and 7 (iii) identify regulations that are ap- 8 propriate for repeal, replacement, or modi- 9 fication, and prioritize the evaluation of 10 regulations that— 11 (I) eliminate or have eliminated 12 jobs or inhibit or have inhibited job 13 creation; 14 (II) are outdated, unnecessary, or 15 ineffective; 16 (III) impose costs that exceed 17 benefits; 18 (IV) create a serious inconsist- 19 ency or otherwise interfere with regu- 20 latory reform initiatives and policies; 21 (V) were issued or are main- 22 tained in a manner that is incon- 23 sistent with the requirements of sec- 24 tion 515 of the Treasury and General 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3860 IS Government Appropriations Act, 2001 1 (Public Law 106–554; 44 U.S.C. 2 3516 note), or the guidance issued 3 pursuant to that section, including 4 any rule that relies in whole or in part 5 on data, information, or methods that 6 are not publicly available or that are 7 insufficiently transparent to meet the 8 standard for reproducibility; or 9 (VI) were made pursuant to or to 10 implement statutes, Executive orders, 11 or other Presidential directives that 12 have been subsequently rescinded or 13 substantially modified. 14 (c) CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—In per- 15 forming the tasks under this section, each agency RRO 16 and Task Force— 17 (1) shall seek input and other assistance from 18 the public and from entities significantly affected by 19 regulations, including State, local, and Tribal gov- 20 ernments, small businesses, consumers, non-govern- 21 mental organizations, and trade associations; and 22 (2) may— 23 (A) incorporate specific suggestions from 24 stakeholders in identifying the list of deregula- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3860 IS tory actions to recommend to the head of the 1 agency; and 2 (B) accept or solicit input from the public 3 in any manner, if— 4 (i) the process is transparent to the 5 public and Congress; 6 (ii) a list of each meeting, a list of 7 each stakeholder that submitted a com- 8 ment, and a copy of each written comment 9 are made publicly available online; and 10 (iii) the Task Force issues a public 11 notice of any public meeting to solicit input 12 not less than 7 days before the public 13 meeting and makes detailed minutes of the 14 meeting available online not less than 7 15 days after the date of the meeting. 16 (d) TRANSPARENT REGULATORY REFORM.— 17 (1) WEBSITE.—To the extent practicable, the 18 head of each agency shall publish information about 19 the Task Force of the agency and other regulatory 20 reform initiatives on the website of the agency— 21 (A) which shall include— 22 (i) a list of the members of the Task 23 Force of the agency; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3860 IS (ii) a copy of each report issued under 1 this subsection; and 2 (iii) a link to or copy of each notice of 3 a meeting or solicitation of public com- 4 ments issued by the Task Force of the 5 agency; and 6 (B) which may include— 7 (i) an online forum to receive com- 8 ments from the public; and 9 (ii) any other information about the 10 Task Force or other regulatory reform ini- 11 tiatives at the agency. 12 (2) REPORT.—Not less than twice a year, each 13 agency RRO shall submit to the head of the agency 14 a report on the activities performed under this sec- 15 tion and any recommendations resulting from such 16 activities (which shall be posted by the head of the 17 agency on a publicly accessible website), and shall 18 include the following: 19 (A) A description of any improvement 20 made toward implementation of regulatory re- 21 form initiatives and policies. 22 (B) For each regulation or other regu- 23 latory action reviewed by the Task Force, a de- 24 tailed description of the review. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3860 IS (C) An inventory of each regulation or reg- 1 ulatory action the Task Force recommends the 2 agency consider for repeal, replacement, or 3 modification. 4 (D) A list of all activities conducted under 5 subsection (c), a summary of all comments re- 6 ceived, and a hyperlink to copies of each public 7 comment received. 8 SEC. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY. 9 (a) INCORPORATION IN PERFORMANCE PLANS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency listed in section 11 901(b)(1) of title 31, United States Code, shall in- 12 corporate in the annual performance plan of the 13 agency required under section 1115(b) of title 31, 14 United States Code, performance indicators that 15 measure progress implementing this Act. 16 (2) OMB GUIDANCE.—The Director shall issue, 17 and update as necessary, guidance regarding the im- 18 plementation of this subsection. 19 (b) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT.—The head of each 20 agency shall consider the progress implementing this Act 21 in assessing the performance of the Task Force of the 22 agency and those individuals responsible for developing 23 and issuing agency rules. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:40 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3860.IS S3860 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3860 IS SEC. 6. REGULATORY PLANNING AND BUDGET. 1 (a) UNIFIED AGENDA AND ANNUAL REGULATORY 2 PLAN.— 3 (1) UNIFIED REGULATORY AGENDA.—During 4 the months of April and October of each year, the 5 Director shall publish a unified regulatory agenda, 6 which shall include— 7 (A) regulatory and deregulatory actions 8 under development or review at agencies; 9 (B) a Federal regulatory plan of all signifi- 10 cant regulatory actions and a [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]