Early Participation in Regulations Act of 2017

Summary: Early Participation in Regulations Act of 2017 This bill directs agencies to publish advance notice of a proposed rulemaking not later than 90 days before publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking for a major rule that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) determines is likely to impose: (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S. enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises. The advance notice shall:  include a written statement identifying the nature and significance of the problem to be addressed, a general description of regulatory alternatives, the legal authority under which the rule is proposed, and an achievable objective for the rule and metrics by which the agency expects to measure progress toward that objective; and  solicit and provide a period of at least 60 days for submission of written data, views, and argument from interested persons.  Any deviation between policies set forth in such statement and any final agency action shall not be considered arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill is inapplicable to a major rule:   for which the proposing agency is not required to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking,  if OIRA determines that complying with the requirements described in this bill would not serve the public interest or would be unduly burdensome and duplicative of processes required by specific statutory requirements as rigorous as those prescribed in this bill, or  if the agency proposing the major rule is otherwise specifically exempted by law from notice and comment rule making procedures.  Such a determination made by OIRA shall not be subject to judicial review.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Early Participation in Regulations 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING.

    Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in section 551--
                    (A) in paragraph (13), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) `major rule' means any rule that the Administrator 
        of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs determines 
        is likely to impose--
                    ``(A) an annual effect on the economy of 
                $100,000,000 or more;
                    ``(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 
                consumers, individual industries, Federal, State, 
                local, or tribal government agencies, or geographic 
                regions; or
                    ``(C) significant effects on competition, 
                employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on 
                the ability of United States-based enterprises to 
                compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and 
                export markets; and
            ``(16) the  `Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs' 
        means the office established under section 3503  of chapter 35 
        of title 44 and any successor to that office.''; and
            (2) in section 553, by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making for Major Rules.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), not 
        later than 90 days before the date on which an agency publishes 
        a notice of proposed rule making for a major rule in the 
        Federal Register, the agency shall publish an advance notice of 
        proposed rule making for the major rule in the Federal 
        Register.
            ``(2) Requirements.--An advance notice of proposed rule 
        making published under paragraph (1) shall--
                    ``(A) include a written statement identifying, at a 
                minimum--
                            ``(i) the nature and significance of the 
                        problem the agency may address with a major 
                        rule, including data and other evidence and 
                        information on which the agency expects to rely 
                        for the proposed major rule;
                            ``(ii) a general description of regulatory 
                        alternatives under consideration;
                            ``(iii) the legal authority under which a 
                        major rule may be proposed, including whether a 
                        rule making is required by statute, and if so, 
                        whether by a specific date, or whether the 
                        agency has discretion to commence a rule 
                        making; and
                            ``(iv) an achievable objective for the 
                        major rule and metrics by which the agency 
                        expects to measure progress toward that 
                        objective;
                    ``(B) solicit written data, views, and argument 
                from interested persons concerning the information and 
                issues addressed in the advance notice; and
                    ``(C) provide for a period of not less than 60 days 
                for interested persons to submit such written data, 
                views, or argument to the agency.
            ``(3) Exceptions.--This subsection shall not apply to a 
        major rule if--
                    ``(A) the agency proposing the major rule is not 
                required to publish a notice of proposed rule making in 
                the Federal Register for the major rule under 
                subsection (b) (3)(B);
                    ``(B) the Administrator of the Office of 
                Information and Regulatory Affairs determines that 
                complying with the requirements described in this 
                subsection--
                            ``(i) would not serve the public interest; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) would be unduly burdensome and 
                        duplicative of processes required by specific 
                        statutory requirements as rigorous as those 
                        prescribed in paragraph (2); or
                    ``(C) the agency proposing the major rule is 
                otherwise specifically exempted by law from the notice 
                and comment rule making procedures under this section.
            ``(4) Judicial review.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A determination made by the 
                Administrator of the Office of Information and 
                Regulatory Affairs in accordance with paragraph (3)(B) 
                shall not be subject to judicial review.
                    ``(B) Arbitrary and capricious.--Any deviation 
                between policies set forth in the written statement of 
                an agency under paragraph (2)(A) and any final agency 
                action shall not be considered arbitrary, capricious, 
                an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance 
                with the law under section 706(2)(A).''.