Government Regulatory Improvement and Performance Act of 1998

Summary: Government Regulatory Improvement and Performance Act of 1998 - Declares that:  (1) Federal agencies should promulgate only such regulations as are required by law, necessary to interpret the law, or necessary to protect and promote or improve the health and safety of the public, the environment, or the well-being of the American people; and (2) in deciding whether and how to regulate, agencies should assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives, including the alternative of not regulating. 
Sets forth principles of regulation to ensure that the agencies' regulatory programs are consistent with such philosophy, including that each agency:  (1) identify the problem that it intends to address by regulation, assess its significance, and if possible conduct a risk analysis; (2) identify and assess available alternatives to direct regulation; (3) wherever feasible, seek views of appropriate State, local, and tribal officials before imposing requirements that might significantly or uniquely affect those governmental entities. 
(Sec. 3) Directs the Office of Management and Budget to carry out coordinated review of agency rulemaking.  Designates its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) as the repository of expertise concerning regulatory issues. 
(Sec. 4) Directs the OIRA Administrator, early in each year's planning cycle, to convene a meeting of the regulatory policy advisers to the President and agency heads to seek a common understanding of priorities and to coordinate regulatory efforts for the upcoming year. 
Requires each agency to prepare:  (1) a unified regulatory agenda of all regulations under development or review; and (2) a regulatory plan of the most important significant regulatory actions that the agency reasonably expects to issue in that fiscal year or thereafter. 
Directs the Administrator to:  (1) convene and chair a regulatory working group, which shall meet at least quarterly, to assist agencies in identifying and analyzing important regulatory issues; (2) meet quarterly, along with agency heads, with representatives of State, local, and tribal governments to identify exiting and proposed regulations that may uniquely or significantly affect those governmental entities; and (3) convene periodic conferences with representatives of businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and the public to discuss regulatory issues. 
(Sec. 5) Requires that:  (1) each agency submit to OIRA a program under which the agency will periodically review its existing significant regulations; and (2) any significant regulations selected for review be included in the agency's annual plan, and the agency identify any legislative mandates that require the agency to promulgate or continue to impose unnecessary or outdated regulations. 
(Sec. 5) Requires each agency to:  (1) submit to the OIRA a program under which the agency will periodically review its existing significant regulations for possible modification or elimination; (2) provide the public with meaningful participation in the regulatory process and a meaningful opportunity to comment on any proposed regulation, generally including a comment period of not less than 60 days; and (2) explore and, where appropriate, use consensual mechanisms for developing regulations, including negotiated rulemaking. 
Directs:  (1) each agency head to designate a Regulatory Policy Office; (2) each agency to develop its regulatory actions in a timely fashion and adhere to specified procedures; (3) each agency to provide the OIRA with a list of its planned regulatory actions, including significant regulatory actions; and (4)  the Administrator to provide meaningful guidance and oversight. 
(Sec. 8) Prohibits an agency from publishing a regulation until the Administrator has waived review of the action, completed such review, or the review period has passed, whichever occurs first.

OF CONFLICTS.

    To the extent permitted by law, disagreements or conflicts between 
or among agency heads or between OMB and any agency that cannot be 
resolved by the Administrator of OIRA shall be resolved by the 
President or a designee of the President.

SEC. 8. PUBLICATION.

    Except to the extent required by law, an agency shall not publish 
in the Federal Register or otherwise issue to the public any regulatory 
action that is subject to review under section 6 until--
            (1) the Administrator of OIRA notifies the agency that OIRA 
        has waived its review of the action or has completed its review 
        without any requests for further consideration, or
            (2) the applicable time period in section 6(b)(2) expires 
        without OIRA having notified the agency that it is returning 
        the regulatory action for further consideration under section 
        6(b)(3),
whichever occurs first. If the terms of the preceding sentence have not 
been satisfied and an agency wants to publish or otherwise issue a 
regulatory action, the head of that agency may request Presidential 
consideration through the Administrator of OIRA, as provided under 
section 8. Upon receipt of this request, the Administrator of OIRA 
shall notify the Advisers. The guidelines and time period set forth in 
section 8 shall apply to the publication of regulatory actions for 
which Presidential consideration has been sought.

SEC. 9. AGENCY AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed as displacing the agencies' 
authority or responsibilities, as authorized by law.

SEC. 10. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    Nothing in this Act shall affect any otherwise available judicial 
review of agency action. This Act is intended only to improve the 
internal management of the Federal Government and does not create any 
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or 
equity by a party against the United States, its agencies or 
instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Advisers'' refers to such regulatory policy 
        advisers to the President as the President and the 
        Administrator of OIRA may from time to time consult, including, 
        among others--
                    (A) the Director of OMB;
                    (B) the Chair (or another member) of the Council of 
                Economic Advisers;
                    (C) the Assistant to the President for Economic 
                Policy;
                    (D) the Assistant to the President for Domestic 
                Policy;
                    (E) the Assistant to the President for National 
                Security Affairs;
                    (F) the Assistant to the President for Science and 
                Technology;
                    (G) the Assistant to the President for 
                Intergovernmental Affairs;
                    (H) the Assistant to the President and Staff 
                Secretary;
                    (I) the Assistant to the President and Chief of 
                Staff to the Administrator of OIRA;
                    (J) the Assistant to the President and Counsel to 
                the President; and
                    (K) the Deputy Assistant to the President and 
                Director of the White House Office on Environmental 
                Policy.
            (2) Except as provided in section 4(f), the term ``agency'' 
        means any authority of the United States that is an ``agency'' 
        under section 3502(1) of title 44, United States Code, other 
        than those considered to be independent regulatory agencies, as 
        defined in section 3502(10) of title 44, United States Code.
            (3) The term ``Director'' means the Director of OMB.
            (4) The term ``regulation'' or ``rule'' means an agency 
        statement of general applicability and future effect, which the 
        agency intends to have the force and effect of law, that is 
        designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or 
        to describe the procedure or practice requirements of an 
        agency. It does not, however, include--
                    (A) regulations or rules issued in accordance with 
                the formal rulemaking provisions of sections 556 and 
                557 of title 5, United States Code;
                    (B) regulations or rules that pertain to a military 
                or foreign affairs function of the United States, other 
                than procurement regulations and regulations involving 
                the import or export of non-defense articles and 
                services;
                    (C) regulations or rules that are limited to agency 
                organization, management, or personnel matters; or
                    (D) any other category of regulations exempted by 
                the Administrator of OIRA.
            (5) The term ``regulatory action'' means any substantive 
        action by an agency (normally published in the Federal 
        Register) that promulgates or is expected to lead to the 
        promulgation of a final rule or regulation, including notices 
        of inquiry, advance notices of proposed rulemaking, and notices 
        of proposed rulemaking.
            (6) The term ``significant regulatory action'' means any 
        regulatory action that is likely to result in a rule that may--
                    (A) have an annual effect on the economy of $100 
                million or more or adversely affect in a material way 
                the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, 
                competition, jobs, the environment, public health or 
                safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or 
                communities;
                    (B) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise 
                interfere with an action taken or planned by another 
                agency;
                    (C) materially alter the budgetary impact of 
                entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan programs or 
                the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or
                    (D) raise novel legal or policy issues arising out 
                of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the 
                principles set forth in this Act.