[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2153 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2153
To establish a National Regulatory Budget, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 25, 2014
Mr. Rubio introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a National Regulatory Budget, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Regulatory Budget Act of
2014''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF REGULATORY ANALYSIS.
(a) In General.--Part I of title 5, United States Code, is amended
by inserting after chapter 6 the following:
``CHAPTER 6A--NATIONAL REGULATORY BUDGET AND OFFICE OF REGULATORY
ANALYSIS
``Sec.
``613. Definitions.
``614. Office of Regulatory Analysis; establishment; powers.
``615. Functions of Office of Regulatory Analysis; Executive branch
agency compliance.
``616. Public disclosure of estimate methodology and data; privacy.
``617. National Regulatory Budget; timeline.
``618. Executive branch agency cooperation mandatory; information
sharing.
``619. Enforcement.
``620. Regulatory Analysis Advisory Board.
``Sec. 613. Definitions
``In this chapter--
``(1) the term `aggregate costs', with respect to a covered
Federal rule, means the sum of--
``(A) the direct costs of the covered Federal rule;
and
``(B) the regulatory costs of the covered Federal
rule;
``(2) the term `covered Federal rule' means--
``(A) a rule (as defined in section 551);
``(B) an information collection requirement given a
control number by the Office of Management and Budget;
or
``(C) guidance or a directive that--
``(i) is not described in subparagraph (A)
or (B);
``(ii)(I) is mandatory in its application
to regulated entities; or
``(II) represents a statement of agency
position that regulated entities would
reasonably construe as reflecting the
enforcement or litigation position of the
agency; and
``(iii) imposes not less than $25,000,000
in annual costs on regulated entities;
``(3) the term `direct costs' means--
``(A) expenditures made by an Executive branch
agency that relate to the promulgation, administration,
or enforcement of a covered Federal rule; or
``(B) costs incurred by an Executive branch agency,
a Government corporation, the United States Postal
Service, or any other instrumentality of the Federal
Government because of a covered Federal rule;
``(4) the term `Director' means the Director of the Office
of Regulatory Analysis established under section 614(b);
``(5) the term `Executive branch agency' means--
``(A) an Executive department (as defined in
section 101); and
``(B) an independent establishment (as defined in
section 104);
``(6) the term `regulated entity' means--
``(A) a for-profit private sector entity (including
an individual who is in business as a sole proprietor);
``(B) a not-for-profit private sector entity; or
``(C) a State or local government; and
``(7) the term `regulatory costs' means all costs incurred
by a regulated entity because of covered Federal rules.
``Sec. 614. Office of Regulatory Analysis; establishment; powers
``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the executive branch
an independent establishment to be known as the `Office of Regulatory
Analysis'.
``(b) Director.--
``(1) Establishment of position.--There shall be at the
head of the Office of Regulatory Analysis a Director, who shall
be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate.
``(2) Term.--
``(A) In general.--The term of office of the
Director shall--
``(i) be 4 years; and
``(ii) expire on the last day of February
following each Presidential election.
``(B) Appointments prior to expiration of term.--
Subject to subparagraph (C), an individual appointed as
Director to fill a vacancy prior to the expiration of a
term shall serve only for the unexpired portion of the
term.
``(C) Service until appointment of successor.--An
individual serving as Director at the expiration of a
term may continue to serve until a successor is
appointed.
``(3) Powers.--
``(A) Appointment of deputy directors, officers,
and employees.--
``(i) In general.--The Director may appoint
Deputy Directors, officers, and employees,
including attorneys, in accordance with chapter
51 and subchapter III of chapter 53.
``(ii) Term of deputy directors.--A Deputy
Director shall serve until the expiration of
the term of office of the Director who
appointed the Deputy Director (and until a
successor to that Director is appointed),
unless sooner removed by the Director.
``(B) Contracting.--
``(i) In general.--The Director may
contract for financial and administrative
services (including those related to budget and
accounting, financial reporting, personnel, and
procurement) with the General Services
Administration, or such other Federal agency as
the Director determines appropriate, for which
payment shall be made in advance, or by
reimbursement, from funds of the Office of
Regulatory Analysis in such amounts as may be
agreed upon by the Director and the head of the
Federal agency providing the services.
``(ii) Subject to appropriations.--Contract
authority under clause (i) shall be effective
for any fiscal year only to the extent that
appropriations are available for that purpose.
``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Office of Regulatory Analysis for each fiscal year
such sums as may be necessary to enable the Office of Regulatory
Analysis to carry out its duties and functions.
``Sec. 615. Functions of Office of Regulatory Analysis; Executive
branch agency compliance
``(a) Annual Report Required.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than January 30 of each year,
the Director shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Small
Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on Small Business of the
House of Representatives a Report on National Regulatory Costs
(referred to in this section as the `Report') that includes the
information specified under paragraph (2).
``(2) Contents.--Each Report shall include-
``(A) an estimate, for the fiscal year during which
the Report is submitted and for the preceding fiscal
year, of--
``(i) the regulatory costs imposed by each
Executive branch agency on regulated entities;
``(ii) the aggregate costs imposed by each
Executive branch agency;
``(iii) the aggregate costs imposed by all
Executive branch agencies combined;
``(iv) the direct costs incurred by the
Federal Government because of covered Federal
rules issued by each Executive branch agency;
``(v) the sum of the costs described in
clauses (iii) and (iv);
``(vi) the regulatory costs imposed by each
Executive branch agency on small businesses,
small organizations, and small governmental
jurisdictions (as those terms are defined in
section 601); and
``(vii) the sum of the costs described in
clause (vi);
``(B) an analysis of any major changes in
estimation methodology used by the Office of Regulatory
Analysis since the previous annual report;
``(C) an analysis of any major estimate changes
caused by improved or inadequate data since the
previous annual report;
``(D) recommendations, both general and specific,
regarding--
``(i) how regulations may be streamlined,
simplified, and modernized;
``(ii) regulations that should be repealed;
and
``(iii) how the Federal Government may
reduce the costs of regulations without
diminishing the effectiveness of regulations;
and
``(E) any other information that the Director
determines may be of assistance to Congress in
determining the National Regulatory Budget required
under section 617.
``(b) Regulatory Analysis of New Rules.--
``(1) Requirement.--The Director shall publish in the
Federal Register and on the website of the Office of Regulatory
Analysis a regulatory analysis of each proposed covered Federal
rule issued by an Executive branch agency, and each proposed
withdrawal or modification of a covered Federal rule by an
Executive branch agency, that--
``(A) imposes costs on a regulated entity; or
``(B) reduces costs imposed on a regulated entity.
``(2) Contents.--Each regulatory analysis published under
paragraph (1) shall include--
``(A) an estimate of the change in regulatory cost
of each proposed covered Federal rule (or proposed
withdrawal or modification of a covered Federal rule);
and
``(B) any other information or recommendation that
the Director may choose to provide.
``(3) Timing of regulatory analysis.--
``(A) Initial regulatory analysis.--Not later than
60 days after the date on which the Director receives a
copy of a proposed covered Federal rule from the head
of an Executive branch agency under paragraph (4), the
Director shall publish an initial regulatory analysis.
``(B) Revised regulatory analysis.--The Director
may publish a revised regulatory analysis at any time.
``(4) Notice to director of proposed covered federal
rule.--The head of an Executive branch agency shall provide a
copy of each proposed covered Federal rule to the Director in a
manner prescribed by the Director.
``(c) Effective Dates.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a
covered Federal rule may not take effect earlier than 75 days
after the date on which the head of the Executive branch agency
proposing the covered Federal rule submits a copy of the
proposed covered Federal rule to the Director in the manner
prescribed by the Director under subsection (b)(4).
``(2) Exception.--If the head of the Executive branch
agency proposing a covered Federal rule determines that the
public health or safety or national security requires that the
covered Federal rule be promulgated earlier than the date
specified under paragraph (1), the head of the Executive branch
agency may promulgate the covered Federal rule without regard
to paragraph (1).
``Sec. 616. Public disclosure of estimate methodology and data; privacy
``(a) Privacy.--The Director shall comply with all relevant privacy
laws, including--
``(1) the Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note);
``(2) section 9 of title 13; and
``(3) section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
``(b) Disclosure.--
``(1) In general.--To the maximum extent permitted by law,
the Director shall disclose, by publication in the Federal
Register and on the website of the Office of Regulatory
Analysis, the methodology and data used to generate the
estimates in the Report on National Regulatory Costs required
under section 615.
``(2) Goal of disclosure.--In disclosing the methodology
and data under paragraph (1), the Director shall seek to
provide sufficient information so that outside researchers may
replicate the results contained in the Report on National
Regulatory Costs.
``Sec. 617. National Regulatory Budget; timeline
``(a) Definition.--In this section--
``(1) the term `annual overall regulatory cost cap' means
the maximum amount of regulatory costs that all Executive
branch agencies combined may impose in a fiscal year;
``(2) the term `annual agency regulatory cost cap' means
the maximum amount of regulatory costs that an Executive branch
agency may impose in a fiscal year; and
``(3) the term `National Regulatory Budget' means an Act of
Congress that establishes, for a fiscal year--
``(A) the annual overall regulatory cost cap; and
``(B) an annual agency regulatory cost cap for each
Executive branch agency.
``(b) Committee Deadlines.--
``(1) Referral.--Not later than March 31 of each year--
``(A) the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate shall refer to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
of the Senate a bill that sets forth a National
Regulatory Budget for the fiscal year beginning on
October 1 of that year; and
``(B) the Committee on Small Business of the House
of Representatives shall refer to the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives a bill that sets forth a National
Regulatory Budget for the fiscal year beginning on
October 1 of that year.
``(2) Reporting.--Not later than May 31 of each year--
``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate shall report a bill
establishing a National Regulatory Budget for the
fiscal year beginning on October 1 of that year; and
``(B) the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform of the House of Representatives shall report a
bill establishing a National Regulatory Budget for the
fiscal year beginning on October 1 of that year.
``(c) Passage.--Not later than July 31 of each year, the House of
Representatives and the Senate shall each pass a bill establishing a
National Regulatory Budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1
of that year.
``(d) Presentment.--Not later than September 15 of each year,
Congress shall pass and present to the President a National Regulatory
Budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of that year.
``(e) Default Budget.--
``(1) In general.--If a National Regulatory Budget is not
enacted with respect to a fiscal year, the most recently
enacted National Regulatory Budget shall apply to that fiscal
year.
``(2) Default initial budget.--
``(A) Calculation.--If a National Regulatory Budget
is not enacted with respect to a fiscal year, and no
National Regulatory Budget has previously been
enacted--
``(i) the annual agency regulatory cost cap
for an Executive branch agency for the fiscal
year shall be equal to the amount of regulatory
costs imposed by that Executive branch agency
on regulated entities during the preceding
fiscal year, as estimated by the Director in
the annual report submitted to Congress under
section 615(a); and
``(ii) the annual overall regulatory cost
cap for the fiscal year shall be equal to the
sum of the amounts described in clause (i).
``(B) Effect.--For purposes of section 619, an
annual agency regulatory cost cap described in
subparagraph (A) that applies to a fiscal year shall
have the same effect as if the annual agency regulatory
cost cap were part of a National Regulatory Budget
applicable to that fiscal year.
``(f) Initial Budget.--The first National Regulatory Budget shall
be with respect to fiscal year 2016.
``Sec. 618. Executive branch agency cooperation mandatory; information
sharing
``(a) Executive Branch Agency Cooperation Mandatory.--Not later
than 45 days after the date on which the Director requests any
information from an Executive branch agency, the Executive branch
agency shall provide the Director with the information.
``(b) Memoranda of Understanding Regarding Confidentiality.--
``(1) In general.--An Executive branch agency may require
the Director to enter into a memorandum of understanding
regarding the confidentiality of information provided by the
Executive branch agency to the Director under subsection (a) as
a condition precedent to providing any requested information.
``(2) Degree of confidentiality or data protection.--An
Executive branch agency may not require a greater degree of
confidentiality or data protection from the Director in a
memorandum of understanding entered into under paragraph (1)
than the Executive branch agency itself must adhere to.
``(3) Scope.--A memorandum of understanding entered into by
the Director and an Executive branch agency under paragraph (1)
shall--
``(A) be general in scope; and
``(B) govern all pending and future requests made
to the Executive branch agency by the Director.
``(c) Sanctions for Non-Cooperation.--
``(1) In general.--The appropriations of an Executive
branch agency for a fiscal year shall be reduced by one-half of
1 percent if, during that fiscal year, the Director finds
that--
``(A) the Executive branch agency has failed to
timely provide information that the Director requested
under subsection (a);
``(B) the Director has provided notice of the
failure described in subparagraph (A) to the Executive
branch agency;
``(C) the Executive branch agency has failed to
cure the failure described in subparagraph (A) within
30 days of being notified under subparagraph (B); and
``(D) the information that the Director requested
under subsection (a)--
``(i) is in the possession of the Executive
branch agency; or
``(ii) may reasonably be developed by the
Executive branch agency.
``(2) Sequestration.--The Office of Management and Budget,
in consultation with the Office of Federal Financial Management
and Financial Management Service, shall enforce a reduction in
appropriations under paragraph (1) by sequestering the
appropriate amount of funds and returning the funds to the
Treasury.
``(3) Appeals.--
``(A) In general.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget may reduce the amount of, or
except as provided in subparagraph (B), waive, a
sanction imposed under paragraph (1) if the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget finds that--
``(i) the sanction is unwarranted;
``(ii) the sanction is disproportionate to
the gravity of the failure;
``(iii) the failure has been cured; or
``(iv) providing the requested information
would adversely affect national security.
``(B) No waiver for historically non-compliant
agencies.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget may not waive a sanction imposed on an Executive
branch agency under paragraph (1) if the Executive
branch agency has a history of non-compliance with
requests for information by the Director of the Office
of Regulatory Analysis under subsection (a).
``(d) National Security.--The Director may not require an Executive
branch agency to provide information under subsection (a) that would
adversely affect national security.
``Sec. 619. Enforcement
``(a) Exceeding Annual Agency Regulatory Cost Cap.--An Executive
branch agency that exceeds the annual agency regulatory cost cap
imposed by the National Regulatory Budget for a fiscal year may not
promulgate a new covered Federal rule that increases regulatory costs
until the Executive branch agency no longer exceeds the annual agency
regulatory cost cap imposed by the applicable National Regulatory
Budget.
``(b) Determination of Director.--
``(1) In general.--An Executive branch agency may not
promulgate a covered Federal rule unless the Director
determines, in conducting the regulatory analysis of the
covered Federal rule under section 615(b)(3)(A) that, after the
Executive branch agency promulgates the covered Federal rule,
the Executive branch agency will not exceed the annual agency
regulatory cost cap for that Executive branch agency.
``(2) Timing.--The Director shall make a determination
under paragraph (1) with respect to a proposed covered Federal
rule not later than 60 days after the Director receives a copy
of the proposed covered Federal rule under section 615(b)(4).
``(c) Effect of Violation of This Section.--
``(1) No force or effect.--A covered Federal rule that is
promulgated in violation of this section shall have no force or
effect.
``(2) Judicial enforcement.--Any party may bring an action
in a district court of the United States to declare that a
covered Federal rule has no force or effect because the covered
Federal rule was promulgated in violation of this section.
``Sec. 620. Regulatory Analysis Advisory Board
``(a) Establishment of Board.--In accordance with the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the Director shall--
``(1) establish a Regulatory Analysis Advisory Board; and
``(2) appoint not fewer than 9 and not more than 15
individuals as members of the Regulatory Analysis Advisory
Board.
``(b) Qualifications.--The Director shall appoint individuals with
technical and practical expertise in economics, law, accounting,
science, management, and other areas that will aid the Director in
preparing the annual Report on National Regulatory Costs required under
section 615.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Table of chapters.--The table of chapters for part I of
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the
item relating to chapter 6 the following:
``6A. National Regulatory Budget and Office of Regulatory 613''.
Analysis.
(2) Internal revenue code of 1986.--Section 6103(j) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(7) Office of regulatory analysis.--Upon written request
by the Director of the Office of Regulatory Analysis
established under section 614 of title 5, United States Code,
the Secretary shall furnish to officers and employees of the
Office of Regulatory Analysis return information for the
purpose of, but only to the extent necessary for, an analysis
of regulatory costs.''.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON DUPLICATIVE PERSONNEL; REPORT ON REGULATORY ANALYSIS.
(a) Report on Duplicative Personnel.--Not later than December 31,
2014, the Director shall submit to Congress a report determining
positions in the Federal Government that are--
(1) duplicative of the work performed by the Office of
Regulatory Analysis established under section 614 of title 5,
United States Code; or
(2) otherwise rendered cost ineffective by the work of the
Office of Regulatory Analysis.
(b) Report on Regulatory Analysis.--
(1) Report required.--Not later than June 30, 2015, the
Director shall provide to Congress a report analyzing the
practice with respect to, and the effectiveness of--
(A) chapter 6 of this title (commonly known as the
``Regulatory Flexibility Act'');
(B) the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note);
(C) chapter 35 of title 44 (commonly known as the
``Paperwork Reduction Act'';
(D) each Executive order that mandates economic
analysis of Federal regulations; and
(E) Office of Management and Budget circulars,
directives, and memoranda that mandate the economic
analysis of Federal regulation.
(2) Recommendations.--The report under paragraph (1) shall
include recommendations about how Federal regulatory analysis
may be improved.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE.
(a) Definition of ``Rule''.--Section 551(4) of title 5, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after ``requirements of an
agency'' the following: ``, whether or not the agency statement amends
the Code of Federal Regulations and including, without limitation, a
statement described by the agency as a regulation, rule, directive, or
guidance,''.
(b) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.--Section 553(b) of title 5,
United States Code, is amended, following the flush text, in
subparagraph (A) by striking ``interpretative rules, general statements
of policy, or''.
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