II

Calendar No. 424

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1198

[Report No. 106–225]

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide for a report

by the General Accounting Office to Congress on agency regulatory

actions, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 9, 1999

Mr. SHELBY (for himself, Mr. BOND, Mr. LOTT, Mr. THOMPSON, Mrs. LINCOLN, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. KERREY, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. BREAUX, Mr.

BENNETT, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. ROBB, Mr. ROTH, and Mr.

HAGEL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

DECEMBER 7, 1999

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of November 19, 1999,

by Mr. THOMPSON, with an amendment and an amendment to the title

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide

for a report by the General Accounting Office to Congress on agency regulatory actions, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•S 1198 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Ac3 countability for Regulatory Information Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) many Federal regulations have improved

7 the quality of life of the American public, however,

8 uncontrolled increases in regulatory costs and lost

9 opportunities for better regulation cannot be contin10 ued;

11 (2) the legislative branch has a responsibility to

12 ensure that laws passed by Congress are properly

13 implemented by the executive branch; and

14 (3) in order for the legislative branch to fulfill

15 its responsibilities to ensure that laws passed by

16 Congress are implemented in an efficient, effective,

17 and fair manner, the Congress requires accurate and

18 reliable information on which to base decisions.

19 SEC. 3. REPORTS ON REGULATORY ACTIONS BY THE GEN20 ERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 801(a)(2) of title 5,

22 United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph

23 (B) and inserting the following:

24 ‘‘(B)(i) After an agency publishes a regulatory action,

25 a committee of either House of Congress with legislative

26 or oversight jurisdiction relating to the action may request
3

•S 1198 RS

1 the Comptroller General to review the action under clause

2 (ii).

3 ‘‘(ii) Of requests made under clause (i), the Comp4 troller General shall provide a report on each regulatory

5 action selected under clause (iv) to the committee which

6 requested the report (and the committee of jurisdiction in

7 the other House of Congress) not later than 180 calendar

8 days after the committee request is received. The report

9 shall include an independent analysis of the regulatory ac10 tion by the Comptroller General using any relevant data

11 or analyses available to or generated by the General Ac12 counting Office.

13 ‘‘(iii) The independent analysis of the regulatory ac14 tion by the Comptroller General under clause (ii) shall

15 include—

16 ‘‘(I) an analysis by the Comptroller General of

17 the potential benefits of the regulatory action, in18 cluding any beneficial effects that cannot be quan19 tified in monetary terms and the identification of

20 those likely to receive the benefits;

21 ‘‘(II) an analysis by the Comptroller General of

22 the potential costs of the regulatory action, including

23 any adverse effects that cannot be quantified in

24 monetary terms and the identification of those likely

25 to bear the costs;
4

•S 1198 RS

1 ‘‘(III) an analysis by the Comptroller General

2 of any alternative regulatory approaches, which have

3 been identified, that could achieve the same goal in

4 a more cost-effective manner or that could provide

5 greater net benefits, and, if applicable, a brief expla6 nation of any statutory reasons why such alter7 natives could not be adopted;

8 ‘‘(IV) an analysis of the extent to which the

9 regulatory action would affect State or local govern10 ments; and

11 ‘‘(V) a summary of how the results of the

12 Comptroller General’s analysis differ, if at all, from

13 the results of the analyses of the agency in promul14 gating the regulatory action.

15 ‘‘(iv) In consultation with the Majority and Minority

16 Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and Minority

17 Leader of the House of Representatives, the Comptroller

18 General shall develop procedures for determining the pri19 ority and number of those requests for review under clause

20 (i) that will be reported under clause (ii).

21 ‘‘(C) Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Comp22 troller General by promptly providing the Comptroller

23 General with such records and information as the Comp24 troller General determines necessary to carry out this sec25 tion.’’.
5

•S 1198 RS

1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 804 of title 5, United

2 States Code, is amended—

3 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as

4 paragraphs (3) and (5), respectively;

5 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘independent analysis’ means a

8 substantive review of the agency’s underlying assess9 ments and assumptions used in developing the regu10 latory action and any additional analysis the Comp11 troller General determines to be necessary.’’; and

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) (as redesig13 nated by paragraph (1) of this subsection) the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(4) The term ‘regulatory action’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) notice of proposed rule making;

17 ‘‘(B) final rule making, including interim

18 final rule making; or

19 ‘‘(C) a rule.’’.

20 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Gen22 eral Accounting Office to carry out chapter 8 of title 5,

23 United States Code, $5,200,000 for each of fiscal years

24 2000 through 2003.
6

•S 1198 RS

1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

3 take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this

4 Act.

5 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

6 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Truth in Regulating

7 Act of 1999’’.

8 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

9 The purposes of this Act are to—

10 (1) increase the transparency of important regu11 latory decisions;

12 (2) promote effective congressional oversight to

13 ensure that agency rules fulfill statutory requirements

14 in an efficient, effective, and fair manner; and

15 (3) increase the accountability of Congress and

16 the agencies to the people they serve.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act, the term—

19 (1) ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given such term

20 under section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code;

21 (2) ‘‘economically significant rule’’ means any

22 proposed or final rule, including an interim or direct

23 final rule, that may have an annual effect on the

24 economy of $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect

25 in a material way the economy, a sector of the econ26 omy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment,
7

•S 1198 RS

1 public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal gov2 ernments or communities; and

3 (3) ‘‘independent evaluation’’ means a sub4 stantive evaluation of the agency’s data, methodology,

5 and assumptions used in developing the economically

6 significant rule, including—

7 (A) an explanation of how any strengths or

8 weaknesses in those data, methodology, and as9 sumptions support or detract from conclusions

10 reached by the agency; and

11 (B) the implications, if any, of those

12 strengths or weaknesses for the rulemaking.

13 SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECT FOR REPORT ON RULES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—

15 (1) REQUEST OF REVIEW.—When an agency

16 publishes an economically significant rule, the Comp17 troller General of the United States may review the

18 rule at the request of a committee of jurisdiction of

19 either House of Congress.

20 (2) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall

21 submit a report on each economically significant rule

22 selected under paragraph (4) to the committees of ju23 risdiction in each House of Congress not later than

24 180 calendar days after a committee request is re25 ceived. The report shall include an independent eval-
8

•S 1198 RS

1 uation of the economically significant rule by the

2 Comptroller General.

3 (3) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—The inde4 pendent evaluation of the economically significant

5 rule by the Comptroller General under paragraph (2)

6 shall include—

7 (A) an evaluation of the agency’s analysis

8 of the potential benefits of the rule, including

9 any beneficial effects that cannot be quantified

10 in monetary terms and the identification of the

11 persons or entities likely to receive the benefits;

12 (B) an evaluation of the agency’s analysis

13 of the potential costs of the rule, including any

14 adverse effects that cannot be quantified in mon15 etary terms and the identification of the persons

16 or entities likely to bear the costs;

17 (C) an evaluation of the agency’s analysis

18 of alternative approaches set forth in the notice

19 of proposed rulemaking and in the rulemaking

20 record, as well as of any regulatory impact anal21 ysis, federalism assessment, or other analysis or

22 assessment prepared by the agency or required

23 for the economically significant rule; and
9

•S 1198 RS

1 (D) a summary of the results of the evalua2 tion of the Comptroller General and the implica3 tions of those results.

4 (4) PROCEDURES FOR PRIORITIES OF RE5 QUESTS.—The Comptroller General shall have discre6 tion to develop procedures for determining the pri7 ority and number of requests for review under para8 graph (1) for which a report will be submitted under

9 paragraph (2).

10 (b) AUTHORITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Each

11 agency shall promptly cooperate with the Comptroller Gen12 eral in carrying out this Act. Nothing in this Act is in13 tended to expand or limit the authority of the General Ac14 counting Office.

15 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the General

17 Accounting Office to carry out this Act $5,200,000 for each

18 of fiscal years 2000 through 2002.

19 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND DURATION OF PILOT

20 PROJECT.

21 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amendments

22 made by this Act shall take effect 90 days after the date

23 of enactment of this Act.

24 (b) DURATION OF PILOT PROJECT.—The pilot project

25 under this Act shall continue for a period of 3 years, if
10

•S 1198 RS

1 in each fiscal year, or portion thereof included in that pe2 riod, a specific annual appropriation not less than

3 $5,200,000 or the pro-rated equivalent thereof shall have

4 been made for the pilot project.

5 (c) REPORT.—Before the conclusion of the 3-year pe6 riod, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a

7 report reviewing the effectiveness of the pilot project and

8 recommending whether or not Congress should permanently

9 authorize the pilot project.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to establish

a 3-year pilot project for the General Accounting Office

to report to Congress on economically significant rules of

Federal agencies, and for other purposes.’’.

Calendar No. 424

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1198

[Report No. 106–225]

A BILL

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code,

to provide for a report by the General AccountingOffice to Congress on agency regulatory actions,and for other purposes.

DECEMBER 7, 1999

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the

title