Protecting Jobs and Wages from Regulations Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8035 To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze and formulate new regulations and guidance documents, to clarify the nature of judicial review of agency interpretations, to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small entities of rules, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 14, 2020 Mr. BURCHETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze and formulate new regulations and guidance documents, to clarify the nature of judicial review of agency interpre- tations, to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small entities of rules, 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 ‘‘Protecting Jobs and 4 Wages from Regulations Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:19 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8035.IH H8035 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8035 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 Section 551 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 4 end; 5 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 6 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (3) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(15) ‘negative-impact on jobs and wages rule’ 9 means any rule that the agency that made the rule 10 or the Administrator of the Office of Information 11 and Regulatory Affairs determines is likely to— 12 ‘‘(A) in one or more sectors of the economy 13 that has a 6-digit code under the North Amer- 14 ican Industry Classification System, reduce em- 15 ployment not related to new regulatory compli- 16 ance by 1 percent or more annually during the 17 1-year, 5-year, or 10-year period after imple- 18 mentation; 19 ‘‘(B) in one or more sectors of the econ- 20 omy that has a 6-digit code under the North 21 American Industry Classification System, re- 22 duce average weekly wages for employment not 23 related to new regulatory compliance by 1 per- 24 cent or more annually during the 1-year, 5- 25 year, or 10-year period after implementation; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:19 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8035.IH H8035 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8035 IH ‘‘(C) in any industry area (as such term is 1 defined in the Current Population Survey con- 2 ducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) in 3 which the most recent annual unemployment 4 rate for the industry area is greater than 5 per- 5 cent, as determined by the Bureau of Labor 6 Statistics in the Current Population Survey, re- 7 duce employment not related to new regulatory 8 compliance during the first year after imple- 9 mentation; or 10 ‘‘(D) in any industry area in which the Bu- 11 reau of Labor Statistics projects in the Occupa- 12 tional Employment Statistics program that the 13 employment level will decrease by 1 percent or 14 more, further reduce employment not related to 15 new regulatory compliance during the first year 16 after implementation.’’. 17 SEC. 3. RULE MAKING. 18 (a) Section 553(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 19 amended by striking ‘‘(a) This section applies’’ and insert- 20 ing ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies’’. 21 (b) Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is 22 amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:19 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8035.IH H8035 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8035 IH ‘‘(b) RULE MAKING CONSIDERATIONS.—In a rule 1 making, an agency shall make all preliminary and final 2 factual determinations based on evidence and consider, in 3 addition to other applicable considerations, the following: 4 ‘‘(1) The legal authority under which a rule 5 may be proposed, including whether a rule making 6 is required by statute, and if so, whether by a spe- 7 cific date, or whether the agency has discretion to 8 commence a rule making. 9 ‘‘(2) Other statutory considerations applicable 10 to whether the agency can or should propose a rule 11 or undertake other agency action. 12 ‘‘(3) The specific nature and significance of the 13 problem the agency may address with a rule (includ- 14 ing the degree and nature of risks the problem poses 15 and the priority of addressing those risks compared 16 to other matters or activities within the agency’s ju- 17 risdiction), whether the problem warrants new agen- 18 cy action, and the countervailing risks that may be 19 posed by alternatives for new agency action. 20 ‘‘(4) Whether existing rules have created or 21 contributed to the problem the agency may address 22 with a rule and whether those rules could be amend- 23 ed or rescinded to address the problem in whole or 24 part. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:19 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8035.IH H8035 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8035 IH ‘‘(5) Any reasonable alternatives for a new rule 1 or other response identified by the agency or inter- 2 ested persons, including not only responses that 3 mandate particular conduct or manners of compli- 4 ance, but also— 5 ‘‘(A) the alternative of no Federal re- 6 sponse; 7 ‘‘(B) amending or rescinding existing 8 rules; 9 ‘‘(C) potential regional, State, local, or 10 tribal regulatory action or other responses that 11 could be taken in lieu of agency action; and 12 ‘‘(D) potential responses that— 13 ‘‘(i) specify performance objectives 14 rather than conduct or manners of compli- 15 ance; 16 ‘‘(ii) establish economic incentives to 17 encourage desired behavior; 18 ‘‘(iii) provide information upon which 19 choices can be made by the public; or 20 ‘‘(iv) incorporate other innovative al- 21 ternatives rather than agency actions that 22 specify conduct or manners of compliance. 23 ‘‘(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of 24 law— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:19 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8035.IH H8035 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8035 IH ‘‘(A) the potential costs and benefits asso- 1 ciated with potential alternative rules and other 2 responses considered under section 553(b)(5), 3 including direct, indirect, and cumulative costs 4 and benefits and estimated impacts on jobs (in- 5 cluding an estimate of the net gain or loss in 6 domestic jobs), wages, economic growth, innova- 7 tion, economic competitiveness, and impacts on 8 low income populations; 9 ‘‘(B) means to increase the cost-effective- 10 ness of any Federal response; and 11 ‘‘(C) incentives for innovation, consistency, 12 predictability, lower costs of enforcement and 13 compliance (to government entities, regulated 14 entities, and the public), and flexibility.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:19 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8035.IH H8035 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS